An amateur Chinese opera group, set up two years ago, will perform Cantonese opera excerpts at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts' Lee Foundation Theatre on Sunday.

The 12 performers from the Yue Yun Xuan Cantonese Opera Group include former Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) editor and marketing chief Leslie Fong.

Mr Fong, 67, who retired in January and is on the boards of several SPH-associated companies, will sing a duet with the opera group's president Benjamin Lau.

He says the 18-minute song, titled Gao Shan Liu Shui Wan Gu Qing (Friendship Bound By Mountains And Rivers), is a traditional piece about two good friends sharing a love for music played on a Chinese stringed instrument.

"Cantonese opera is my passion. I started singing and enjoying the songs when I was a boy living in Chinatown," he adds. He has sung in many concerts, including duets with his wife Daisy, 67, who is not performing on Sunday.

Other new groups which have sprung up recently, especially at community clubs, include the three-year-old Xin Opera Associa- tion, which promotes Yue opera and whose members took part in one of the three nights of shows organised by the Chinese Opera Institute a week ago.

Mr Lau, 59, an engineer, says his group comprise Cantonese opera lovers who sing together at the Chinese Opera Institute at Aliwal Arts Centre on Fridays.

"Most of our members, including Leslie, were students of former Nafa opera teacher Hu Xueyi, who started teaching us more than 15 years ago," says Mr Lau, who will also be singing opera excerpts with another member, Ms Chan Man Kuen, on Sunday.

The group is currently taught by vocal trainer Jiang Juexun and opera musician Liang Lijuan, who are both from China.

Mr Lau says: "We formed the group two years ago to hold at least one concert annually and promote Cantonese opera in Singapore."

Ms Chan, 55, a retired online shopowner, adds: "We promote opera by singing regularly at homes for the elderly, as well as teaching and performing with students."