We Kind ah People The Trinidad Carnival Masquerade bands of Stephen Lee Heung by Tang and Funk.

It is argued in some circles that Trinidad and Tobago does not have an intellectual culture. While there is a culture of political tribalism and plenty debate along such lines in the public discussion, there is not a critical popular public discourse on the history and social significance of  art forms such as mas, thus there is hardly ever any discussion on or about the people who made Trinidad carnival the greatest show on earth.

And even less books on the subject.

While there are articles on various mas men and band leaders written in magazine and news paper articles there are not much books written on the works of these artist or the impact and importance of their contribution to carnival history and the history of the wider society.

For example in my personal  collection of books, you can find, fashion books on Mugler, Lacroix and Rabanne, art books on Giger, Warol and Chagall, stage set and costume design books on Taymore and Ishioka , and yet, I have only ever got my hands on published books on  Wayne Berkeley and Peter Minshall. when it comes to mas, despite the fact that mas and mas bands go back to the  emancipation period in history.

Cover: We Kind ah people

In the period known as the golden age of carnival alone, there is a pantheon of mas men whose work,
talent, productions and philosophies have given  Trinidad carnival the reputation of being the greatest show on earth. As individuals, these artists may have each compiled a body of work to rival any master of art or fashion in Europe or America. Yet there are a lack biographies or documented collections on these men and women and their works.

‘We Kind ah people the Trinidad carnival Masquerade Bands of Stephen Lee Heung’, by George Tang and Ray Funk, Is however a recently published book that has in a small way documented some of the work of the late bandleaders productions.

The book takes the reader on a photographic voyage through some of Lee Heung’s presentations, from 1974 through to 1994, giving some insight of each of those presentations and the people behind them.

1987 Cocoyea Village. Pg63 in the book.

The Lee Heung name and presence was an important part of Port of Spain’s carnival genealogy and the history of Trinidad carnival. If Lee Heung and associates was a football club or basketball team it would be an all star team. Lee Heung’s band probably more than any other band boasts some of the most eminent names in mas, to come out of, or work under any one banner.

Reading this book I got the impression that Stephen Lee Heung, a product of the golden age seemed to have the eye of a strategist, choosing talents to design and work with, that ensured the Lee Heung name was in winners row (top 3) for most of four decades, securing both the lee Heung legacy and the establishment of those that worked under his organisation.  

To understand the creatively epic period in which Lee Heung existed in, and the rich intellectual environment that that flourished during that time, there is a passage in the book   that explains the production  of the band ‘Japan land of Kabuki’ in 1964 his first band after an absence of several years, the band came,

“...third after George Bailey and Harold Saldenah...some were seriously impressed including the then Trinidad Guardian arts reporter and later Nobel prize winning poet and dramatist Derek Walcott...”

As a source of information on Lee Heung and his presentations, the book is informative, while it is not a biography, the book does provide a little information on his origins, that he came from a mas family, but nothing on what were the external influences on him. The book also reveals his efforts in exporting mas around the globe. 

With about 158 photos in 120 pages there is a lot to see of the Lee Heung legacy but it is also evident that  there is still a lot that has not been revealed especially of the 1980s which would have been designed mostly by the late Wayne Berkley.

While photos of George Tang , are beautiful and capture the spirit of these past carnivals they lack the quality seen in books such as  the late Noel Norton’s  book, ‘20 years of Trinidad carnival’ the photos seem dark, sharpness and details are lost in shadows, however because of the scale of the costumes standards and headpieces shields and capes there is still that impact of the spectacular.

The images also provide evidence that the 20^th century was definitely the zenith of expression and creativity in Trinidad’s carnival and if we dig deeper into this period the assent of the golden age probably goes hand in hand with the intellectual rise of the wider society of TT.

Synopsis

Comparing  the themes and costumes of Lee Heung to those of popular bands today, it is clear that the carnivals of, History, geography, literature, Royalty and nationality has been overrun by a light weight quasi fantasy mas, with the dominating emphasis on an invisible ‘service’ and not the tangible art form that could be photographed and admired.   

Because 'We kind of people' is published by Tang and Funk in Hardcover, it comes at a somewhat high price of TT475, this can be seen as hefty when compared to Michael Anthony’s ‘The Carnivals of Trinidad and Tobago’, or Hollis Liverpool’s Rituals of power and Rebellion, two titles that come with considerably more history within the pages of the books.

 (Maybe a soft cover edition may be a good idea)

That being said we kind ah people does ‘ hold it's corner’ for what it is and will make a valuable addition to any personal library of carnival literature or carnival study collections.

Stephen Lee Heung dies at 93

By Peter Ray Blood

Days after the launch of a book commemorating his work, veteran masman Stephen Lee Heung, 93, died on Monday night from pneumonia at St Clair Medical Centre. 

The book, We Kind ah People, by American judge and Carnival researcher Ray Funk

and local photographer George Tang, was launched on October 7 at the National Library, Port-of-Spain. Yesterday Lee Heung’s son, Shane, said: “Dad died of a chest infection. Mucus had developed in his lungs and he was having problems breathing properly. 

“Dad suffered a stroke in 1997 but was mobile afterwards with the aid of crutches and a cane. “After a while he simply gave up and stopped going out. The last time he went out was to attend Dimanche Gras in 2012.” Peter Minshall designed Lee Heung’s 1976 Band of the Year winner, Paradise Lost, the first band Minshall had designed. 

Yesterday he said: “There are bandleaders and then there are bandleaders. The current crop is blatantly into making money on the work that they had learnt from the likes of Stephen Lee Heung, who never ever lost the love of making mas. We have lost one of the great producers of classic Caribbean art.” Five-time Band of the Year winner Edmond Hart, now 91, said: “I am taken aback by Stephen’s death. We were very friendly and were in the same Lions club. 

“When I first produced mas, Stephen played one year with me. He and his wife, Elsie, and my wife, Lil, and I were regarded as the couples of mas. We worked together abroad on a number of occasions,” he added. Hart’s son, Luis, now leader of Harts International, added: “Stephen and Elsie were responsible for giving many of the big designers their first break in mas. He did so much for T&T Carnival and was a true pioneer. 

“Many of the people who began by collaborating with Stephen ended up being some of the greatest contributors to mas in terms of visual excellence. My parents and the Lee Heungs were Carnival’s mas couples. “They were close as they were couples dealing in mas, closer than the others, like George Bailey and Harold Saldenha.” The late Wayne Berkeley also designed some of Lee Heung’s winning bands and his producer Earl Patterson said:

“Stephen was one of the best bandleaders of all time. The type of person he was... he had a welcoming heart to everyone. “The first time we were really close was when we travelled to Dallas, Texas, with Wayne Berkeley’s band. We sat for hours during the day, playing rummy and bonding. “On our return to Trinidad we continued playing rummy at Stephen’s home on Alberto Street. I remember that he loved a fried breadfruit very much. 

“I want to express my deepest condolences to Shane and the family.” D Midas Associates leader/designer Stephen Dereck said: “Another one from the glory days has passed. “Artistes like us cannot forget the creations he gave us. Stephen was one of the founders of the bandleaders’ association and he was also one of the first people to tour abroad with our mas, going to Montreal for Expo ‘67.”

Shane Lee Heung said funeral arrangements would be announced later this week, with the funeral tentatively scheduled for next week.

Peter Ray Blood

Mas man of many firsts

What an entertaining experience! It’s been more than one decade since mas veteran Stephen Lee Heung created a costume and played mas but his memory was sharp on Friday, as he took the Sunday Guardian back in time. At his home in Woodbrook, Lee Heung’s frail appearance contrasted his colourful depiction of Carnival in the 40s.

In those days his masqueraders paid $20 for a Carnival costume, inclusive of drinks

Veteran mas man Stephen Lee Heung
 makes a point at his Woodbrook home last Friday.

and bandleaders received items—not cash prizes—for winning Band of the Year. “My costume was $20. Everything inclusive, not as how they do it now. We had a pickup and some beers and some rum. Vat 19 Angostura,” he explained. Though Lee Heung, who turns 90 today suffered a stroke many years ago, he seemed to be at peace.

He gingerly told stories about masmen hiding their costumes from each other until the big parade. He has not gone out to witness the Parade of the Bands since 1997, but views it regularly on television, he admits. In the days Lee Heung made mas, satin sold for 24 cents per yard. “(Mas) It has changed so much,” he said, softly and a bit muffled. “It had no beads in those times.” Lee Heung, who pointed to his exquisite Queen creation—Diana: Goddess of the Hunt—explained that Carnival long ago was about history and it told a story. However, he said now it was about fantasy.

“Fantasies have no story,” he said. A man of many firsts, Lee Heung started the sectionalised band in 1948, in which he had a large band of 108 masqueraders. “In those days bands were 50, 60 people. So when you had 100 people, you had a big band,” he said with a smile. He copped the Band of the Year prize that year with Reign of the Hanoverians, not taking home $300,000, but most likely a glass dish. It may seem amusing to have received just “thanks” and a household item but he recalled that back then people played mas just for fun.

With a grin he said, “Now if you stick a pin on something, you say pay me!” In the 40s women did not tantalise others with their bodies on the road. Instead, they remained on the trucks for Carnival while the men played on the road. Lee Heung said men felt women would slow them down. Now, woman is boss on the road. 

Times have definitely changed.

“I was the first one to encourage the girls to play on the road,” he said. Lee Heung, who will be partying today with some friends, also received the Hummingbird Gold in 1975. He won Band of the Year on five occasions and won other competitions including the Queen competition. Lee Heung’s last presentation was in 1996.

source:Malissa Lara-Patterson

Queen Elsie’s legacy

Elsie Lee Heung, who was twice crowned Queen of the Bands in 1968 and 1983, passed away peacefully in her sleep, on Saturday, at age 81.

Father and son:
Stephen Lee Heung son Shane
at their Woodbrook home yesterday. ...

Her husband of 63 years, Stephen Lee Heung, choked with emotion when he spoke yesterday about the wonderful years he spent with his wife, especially the glory days of when they produced Carnival mas bands from the 1960s to the 1990s.

He said, “We were married for 63 years. She was 18, I was 22 years, and I knew her four years before that. Elsie always played the main character in the band. In 1968, she won with “Honey of the Polynesians” and she came back in 1983 and won again when she played “Diana, Goddess of the Hunt.” Together the couple won four Band of the Year titles, the first in 1967 when they produced “China — The Forbidden City” that was designed by Carlisle Chang.

They went on to record a hattrick of wins from 1975 to 1977 portraying “We Kind Of People”, “Paradise Lost” and “Cosmic Aura” designed by Carlisle Chang, Peter Minshall and Tedder Eustace respectively.

Ten years ago, the Lee Heungs called it a day in the mas making business. Lee Heung said, “Mas is what matters to me so it was very difficult.” Commenting on the mas of today, Lee Heung said the portrayals had not appealed both himself and Elsie for some time.

“It is a repetition of nakedness. Since 1983, the standard of costuming has dropped. We stopped taking an active part in mas in 1996.”

Since retiring from producing bands, Lee Heung said he and Elsie spent time a lot of time looking at television programmes until she started ailing, earlier this year.

Elsie suffered two heart attacks, developed kidney trouble after the second. After the third attack, Elsie had to be hospitalised but three days after admittance she insisted on returning home. One week later, she died in her sleep.

For the 85-year-old Lee Heung, who had a stroke that left him without the use of his right hand, only time would tell what’s next for him.

“Time will tell how I go on from here. I intend to just take it one day at a time.”

Lee Heung also leaves to mourn her daughter Maureen, son Shane, grandchildren Lisa and Darren, and great grandchildren Maegan, Kadell and Cheyenne.

Lee Heung’s funeral service will be held at 10 am tomorrow at St Theresa’s RC Church in Woodbrook.

Source : Newsday