Origins of the Ko-tai

The history of the ko-tai in Malaysia goes back to the pre- and post-World War II periods. In those days, the ko-tai consisted of all-night performances of popular songs on stage. To provide variety, sometimes more serious Chinese plays such as Jia, adapted from Ba Qin's novel Family, and Lei Yu, adapted from Cao Yu's novel The Thunderstorm, were performed but these were interspersed with popular songs. The troupes which performed these plays were usually imported from China and Hong Kong while local singers were hired to sing. By and large, these stage shows were held in amusement parks in big towns such as Penang, Ipoh, and Kuala Lumpur. Its purpose was essentially entertainment and the ko-tai troupes were usually run by amusement-park owners such as the Shaw Brothers Company Limited.

Since its inception, the ko-tai has always been part of modern entertainment. In the pre- and post-World War II periods, it appealed to the younger set and was an alternative to traditional entertainment like the Chinese opera which was also performed in amusement parks. Songs by famous Chinese stars based in Shanghai, such as Zhou Xuen and Bai Guang, which were considered popular at that time (but which are “classics” today) were sung. Performers were clad in the fashionable cheong sam, samfoo or even Western attire: pants and shirt for the men, blouse and skirt for the women. Such attire was completely different from the traditional Chinese costumes worn in the operas.

By about the late 1960s, the amusement parks in Penang had closed down as business was not lucrative. They could not compete with the other types of entertainment accessible then and now: films, television, nightclubs, and so forth. The ko-tai singers at the amusement parks were retrenched and had to turn to other ways of earning a living. However, one of these singers called Lau Ping, who had been performing for Shaw Brothers in the amusement parks since the 1940s, subsequently launched a ko-tai troupe of his own in Penang in 1970.