SINGAPORE - Minister of State Chee Hong Tat performed a Hokkien song at a River Hongbao getai show on Friday (Feb 12) evening.

After greeting the audience in Hokkien and Cantonese, the Minister of State for Communications and Information, who is also Minister of State for Health, was asked by the hosts of the River Hongbao show to perform.

He sang Hokkien song Sim Tau Bak (the phrase means "something that is important to a person"), and dedicated the song, which is about a mother's love, to all mothers.

Mr Chee, who is MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, seemed nervous at first, but hardly missed a beat once he got into the swing of the song.

Hosts Wang Lei, Lin Ru Ping and Xu Qiong Fang joined in at the chorus.

Getai veteran Wang gave Mr Chee 80 points for his performance. He joked it was "80 over 500", but praised Mr Chee for keeping to the rhythm and getting the lyrics right.

This is also not the first time Mr Chee has sung in Hokkien. He sang the same song at a Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC constituency event in August last year.

This year's River Hongbao featured getai shows and a getai contest between two groups of artists led by getai artists Hao Hao and Lee Pei Fen.

The festivities are on at the Marina Bay floating platform until Sunday (Feb 14).