Singaporean actor Tay Ping Hui relied on rote memorisation for lines in debut Malay-language film

Singaporean veteran actor Tay Ping Hui has proven the rote memorisation that many of us learn in childhood comes in handy later in life after all. 

For the 54-year-old’s debut Malay-language feature Magik Rompak, a Malaysian heist thriller now showing in Singapore cinemas, around 80 per cent of his dialogue was in Malay. As he doesn’t speak the language, he memorised both his lines and his scene partners’ word for word.

And when it came to media interviews, Tay admitted that a recent promotional event for the movie across the Causeway left him clueless.

“The interviews were mainly conducted in Malay. I caught maybe 10 per cent. While everyone else was talking, I just smiled and nodded as though I understood. But honestly I had no idea what was being said or what was going on,” he shared in a joint video interview with director Adrian Teh with Chinese language daily Lianhe Zaobao earlier in September.

He joked that the Malay he picked up for the shoot was useful only when he was shopping during the press trip across the Causeway. 

While Tay rated his performance a three to five out of 10, Teh said the actor was too critical of his work. He himself was “satisfied” with the actor’s pronunciation, noting that it sounded “exactly like a Malaysian Chinese speaking Malay”.

Magik Rompak is the first collaboration between Tay and Teh. 

Tay admired Teh’s work and felt they shared the same drive to keep challenging themselves, so he had long wanted to collaborate.