Singapore- Hokkien Opera (Tale of Panji)
The Hokkien Opera the based on the Indonesian popular folk tale the story of Panji. Panji stories is a cycle of Javanese stories based on the life of a prince from East Java, Indonesia. The heroic tale spread across Southeast Asia, and became extremely popular, especially within the Malay-speaking parts of the region. Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos have their own interpretation of this adventure and romance story. The stories of Panji, Sometimes spelt Pandji and known as Inao in other parts of the region.
The Chief Minister of Kediri Kingdom thinks that the only way to win back Prince Panji and get him to commit to the arranged dynastic marriage is to kill Dewi Anggraeni. He manoeuvred his plot without the knowledge of the King. The Chief Minister then sends an official disguised as a girl, and claimed that ‘she’ is a distant relative of Dewi who pretends to know the whereabouts of Prince Panji,who ran away from the wedding ceremony. Dewi Anggraeni is lured deep into a forest by this “relative”. The killer told Dewi that she is the root of all the trouble and will punish her by burning her village. Realising that she is the centre of a controversy and her death can avert a war between the Jenggala Kingdom and Kediri Kingdom, she willingly sacrifices herself and ends her life. Her poor father collapses when he hears the bad news.
In the meantime, Princess Kirana has disguised herself as a man and has been leading her guards to search for Prince Panji. Prince Panji arrives at the Black Forest where he usually meets Dewi. Unfortunately, he runs into a robber who is prepared to kill anyone in his way. The gentle Prince Panji is in big trouble. Fortunately Princess Kirana is nearby and hears Prince Panji’s shout for help. She defeats the drunken gangsters and rescues Prince Panji.
Prince Panji is astonished that the Princess looks exactly like his lover Dewi. Later he finds out that the Princess is in fact the long lost twin sister of Dewi called Tina. Dewi’s father is so happy to find his long lost daughter Tina but sad that Dewi is dead, The Princess tells her father that she was saved by the King of Kediri Kingdom when she was lost in the forest long ago and was adopted by the King. The father and daughter are joyful for their unexpected reunion. Prince Panji agrees to marry Dewi’s twin sister Tina, who is adapted by the King of Kediri Kingdom.