2Z Sisters: Reviving the Dying Act of Getai
With 12 years in the getai industry, sisters Pek Jia Xuan and Pek Jia Wei give LEE ZHI YING an inside scoop on their lives as getai performers, and what keeps them going in their unconventional pastime.
By Lee Zhi Ying
From left: Jia Xuan and Jia Wei take to the stage crooning Chinese and Hokkien oldies at Tampines, while the audience sway along to the song beats.
The clock strikes 7pm and Pek Jia Wei is the first to leave the office where she interns at. The 21-year-old only has an hour before she arrives home, gets changed and applies her makeup, together with her 22-year-old sister, Pek Jia Xuan, for their getai performance at night.
Afterwards, the sisters, along with their parents, set off to the destination in their family car. A night of performance typically ends at 10pm, and the girls will arrive home close to midnight.
They then exchange their glittery dresses and high heels for pens and papers to complete their work until the wee hours of the morning, before starting the day again at 7am.
For 12 years, this has been the usual routine for the pair, especially during the annual Hungry Ghost Month, which takes place during the seventh month of the lunar calendar. It is believed that spirits are temporarily released from the gates of the netherworld to roam the living world during this period.
Getais, meaning “song-stage” in Mandarin, are usually staged during the Hungry Ghost Month, and refer to various performances meant to “entertain” both the living and the dead.
The pair, also known as 2Z Sisters, debuted in primary school when Jia Xuan was 10 and Jia Wei was nine. Mrs Linda Pek, 61, the girls’ mother, says that she brought her daughters to getai performances when they were young, which sparked their interest to perform in getai.
The 2Z Sisters’ passion for performing was nurtured through the dancing and singing classes that they attended from an early age, Mrs Pek adds.
During non-peak periods, the 2Z Sisters can have about 20 shows per month, but during peak periods in the Hungry Ghost Month, they can perform up to 70 shows on average.
With such a hectic schedule, getai has been a family affair. Mrs Pek plays the supportive role as the girls’ manager and arranges their performance schedule throughout the year while Mr Benson Pek, 61, chauffeurs the family from one performance to another.
It is 8:20pm on a Friday evening. At an open space in Tampines, the bustling crowd starts occupying seats around the makeshift stage, illuminated by strobe lights of purple and blue hues. All eyes are on the 2Z Sisters, elaborately decked out in matching green sequin costumes, who kicked off the show with some friendly banter with the host in Hokkien.
Subsequently, the sisters belted out pitch-perfect renditions of Chinese and Hokkien songs such as “Riding on a White Horse” - a crowd's favourite. Tied in with synchronised dance moves and uplifting background music, they enthralled the crowd with their performance.
Mr Lim Teck Leong, 59, an avid getai spectator and a fan of the 2Z Sisters, says that it is refreshing to watch the 2Z Sisters perform as they are “unpredictable” and would sometimes add in a spin to their performances by singing Korean or English songs.
The 2Z Sisters may make performing seem effortless, but balancing between getai and university life has not been an easy feat. Besides having to put up an enthusiastic performance after a tiring day in school, they also have to maintain their grades, especially during examination periods.
“We [had] to go through major exams like ‘A’ levels and ‘O’ levels so that period was extremely difficult for us so it was about time management and how both of us encouraged each other,” says Jia Xuan, a fourth-year Mathematical and Economics student at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
When asked why they continued performing even during busy school periods, Jia Wei, a third-year Accountancy student at NTU, says, “How getai works is that it's all about relevance, so once you stop, people will stop calling you.”
No matter how busy school can get, the thought of stopping has never occurred in the sisters’ minds. Jia Xuan says that the smiles on the audience’s faces are what keeps them going.
“We gain a sense of satisfaction when we have applause from the audience,” she adds.
