At 19 years old, Catherine Wong is one of the youngest kotai (“song stage” in Hokkien) singers in Penang. Her foray into the industry makes for a curious anecdote: “When I was 16, a friend’s father who happened to be a kotai show organizer had a pre-show hiccup – he urgently needed an extra singer. This friend of mine knew that I could sing – I was previously in the school choir – and persuaded me to perform.”
Wong began receiving bookings from show organizers impressed with her voice, and a four-song set list soon expanded into 45-minute to two-hour long shows. “My audience mostly live around the area where the kotai shows are performed. These aunties and uncles love variety; so aside from my own set list, I’d sing in Hokkien, Cantonese and Hakka, as well as Malay, English and Thai. They especially love it when I perform ‘月亮代表我的心’ (The Moon Represents My Heart), made famous by Teresa Teng.”
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