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A middle-aged woman, who found the Aug. 3 evening's song list for the getai at Bedok South Market and Food Centre not to her liking, stormed the stage to the astonishment of everyone -- people and good brothers included.

The auntie, while holding a lit cigarette in one hand, was seen grabbing the microphone of the singer on stage with her other hand, and was reportedly trying to look for the organiser after her requests for Hokkien songs were not honoured.

Her presence shocked the performer initially.

The auntie was then seen gesticulating and speaking to the performer, as if making demands, before being talked out of it by the host of getai and led off stage.

This incident has been characterised as a key moment in this current phase of Singapore living with endemic Covid-19, as affairs on the ground appear to have remarkably resumed back to normal.

Incident streamed live

And it turns out, as luck would it, the incident on stage that night was in fact streamed live on Facebook as the getai was also watched by an online audience.

The impromptu rushing of the stage was inevitably caught on camera, and uncensored, and the middle-aged woman's interactions with the performers were all recorded for posterity.

Here is a 3-minute 39-second video of the incident:

Performers remained professional

The video showed the performer and host banter with each other to break the awkward tension, after the auntie was escorted off stage.

Of note was the host's dialect pun on the word "misunderstanding", which sounds like "five-year-old".

It was a snarky response to the rushing of the stage, as she went on to imply the auntie was already "100 years old".

The banter carried on for a bit, with good humour, as they continued to ham it up for the audience, before the performer segued into her number she was supposed to sing before she was interrupted.

Here is a truncated transcript of the exchange:

Performer: What do you mean?

Performer: What is happening?

Performer: If you don't mind... you can't do this.

Host: Sister... sister

Host: Let me sing for you a Hokkien song... 'I ask the sky, I ask the sky' [Sings off-key, laughs in Hokkien]

Host: *Affectionate address*

Performer: This is a misunderstanding?

Host: *Translates 'Misunderstanding' into dialect

Host: *Makes Hokkien pun* 'Misunderstanding' sounds like 'five years old' --> implicit snark referring to auntie who stormed stage as host says "100 years old already"

Host and performer: [Both laugh in Hokkien}

Performer: Everything just happened so quickly, all of us are here to watch the getai and we should be happy, and not let a misunderstanding... [Both laugh in Hokkien}

Performer: Should I continue? I haven't even sung my song the "Spring" part of the four seasons...

Host at same time: Yes, please sing, please sing. Have you sung anything yet?

[Both laugh in Hokkien}

Performer: No...

Host: You all don't pretend behind, zone out...

Performer: I thought it was someone else I know who came on stage, but it was not...

Host: She's changing clothes now lah...

Performer: It's all your fault.

Host: Oh, you thought it was someone else... That's weird. You need a pair of glasses then...

Performer: No, no, I was singing, so I was focused on singing, and my peripheral vision just caught a glimpse of someone... I have done so many getais this is the first time this has happened.

Performer: I saw someone at the side, then at the stairs and then suddenly, on stage.

[Both laugh in Hokkien}

Performer: No problem, no problem, it can be solved, it can be solved. Let's continue.

Background

Getai made its grand return this year, following more than two years of crushing restrictions that saw public performances halted so that crowds do not form in a bid to stop the pandemic from spreading.

The Bedok South getai made its grand return in a big way, at least according to the social mores of the industry, as it featured getai names, such as "Iron Lung Songstress", "Chameleon-Like Prince", and "Famous Pearl", in an extravaganza hosted by Lin Peifen, who is known as the "Duo Language Belter".

The three-hour show attracted some 300 attendees.

What happened

However, halfway through the show, a middle-aged woman stormed the stage to the shock of the performers.

On stage at that time was a singer, "Fresh Red", who was preparing to sing her second number for the night, when the auntie appeared and grabbed the microphone.

The gate-crashing woman then shouted for proceedings to stop and the atmosphere turned awkward very quickly.

In response, the host called for security.

However, the situation took a turn for the better when Lin and "Fresh Red" managed to persuade the woman to leave the stage, and Lin assured the crowd that it was just a "misunderstanding".

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