SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 1987
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PRESERVING SAI KUNG'S MUSICAL HERITAGE
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A DISTRICT BOARD APPOINTED WORKING GROUP HAS COMPLETED A MONUMENTAL TASK OF COLLECTING AND RECORDING RURAL SAI KUNG FOLK SONGS WHICH WOULD OTHERWISE HAVE DISAPPEARED WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME AND MODERN MUSIC.
THE WORKING GROUP ON THE PRESERVATION AND PROMOTION OF RURAL SAI KUNG FOLK SONGS WAS FORMED IN AUGUST 1985 BY THE CULTURE, RECREATION AND SPORTS COMMITTEE OF THE SAI KUNG DISTRICT BOARD.
THE PRIMARY AIM OF THE WORKING GROUP WAS TO COLLATE AN! PROMOTE RURAL FOLK SONGS OF VARYING DIALECTS SO THAT SUCH NATIVE CULTURE COULD BE PASSED ON TO FUTURE GENERATIONS.
THERE ARE 17 MEMBERS IN THE WORKING GROUP WHO SPLIT UP THE IR RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION, THE SELECTION OF SUITABLE FOLK SONGS. THE PUBLICATION OF SONG ALBUMS AND THE TAPE-RECORDING OF THE MUSIC.
CHAIRMAN OF THE WORKING GROUP, MR HO KOON-SHIN SAID ONE OF THE MAJOR PROBLEMS FACED DURING THE COURSE OF COLLECTING THE SONGS WAS THE ABSENCE OF RECORDED MUSICAL SCORES.
MOST OF THE SONGS WERE NOT RECORDED IN ANY FORM AND THE IR PRESERVATION DEPENDED LARGELY ON SINGERS' MEMORY AND VERBAL DELIVERY.
+THE SCATTERED POPULATION IN SAI KUNG AND THE COMMUNICATION IN THE NUMEROUS DIALECTS OF THE DISTRICT WERE SOME OF THE PROBLEMS WE ENCOUNTERED IN THE COLLECTION OF THESE FOLK SONGS,+ MR HO SAID.
+THE CO-OPERATION OF MANY PEOPLE WHO DEDICATED MUCH OF THE IR TIME AND EFFORT AS WELL AS THE FULL SUPPORT FROM THE SAI KUNG DISTRICT BOARD WHICH PROVIDED US WITH MORE THAN $21 000, MADE THIS PROJECT A SUCCESS, + HE ADDED.
SO FAR, THE WORKING GROUP HAS COLLECTED MORE THAN 560 RUKAL FOLK SONGS, OF WHICH 121 HAVE BEEN TAPE-RECORDED WHILE THE REST IS BEING KÉPT IN THE SAI KUNG DISTRICT OFFICE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.
A TOTAL OF 1 000 CASSETTE TAPES AND BOOKLETS HAVE BEEN PRODUCED FOR DISTRIBUTION TO RELEVANT GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS, DISTRICT BOARDS, DISTRICT OFFICES, PUBLIC LIBRARIES, TERTIARY EDUCATION INSTITUTES, LOCAL ORGANISATIONS, THE MEDIA AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES.
MR HO SAID COMPOSERS OF THE FOLK SONGS INCLUDED SCHOLARS, FARMERS, FISHERMEN, WORKERS AND MERCHANTS, MANY OF WHOM HAD LIVED IN SAI KUNG FOR MANY YEARS AND SPOKE DIFFERENT DIALECTS.
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'+THE CONTENTS
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