Malay kids in S’wak form their own lion dance troupe
The boys take their jobs seriously and perform for temple goers every Chinese New Year.
PETALING JAYA: The famous lion dance that Malaysians have grown so accustomed to enjoying throughout the Chinese New Year celebrations has been given a rustic rendition by a group of Malay kids from a village in Sarawak.
Their performance was recorded in a 2.07-minute video posted on the Sukan star.com Facebook page, where their talent, creativity and love for culture is captured in all its glory.
Looking earnest, the boys are seen beating their “drums”, in perfect rhythm mind you, using sticks, tin cans and pot covers.
With an undeniably keen sense of rhythm, the rag-tag lion dance troupe play their music as they await the main attraction, the lion itself, to emerge in all its splendour to entertain fascinated onlookers.
The lion is as spectacular as the drummers, with a cardboard box for a head, complete with two eye holes cut out and the customary flapping tongue, looking very much like the real deal itself.
Instead of the elaborate red and gold sheet however, their lion is draped in a white-and-blue chequered cloth, possibly a table cloth, trailing over the bodies of two agile boys, who manoeuvre their way around the crowd, twisting and turning this way and that as they mimic the dance moves of the lion.
“Little” helpers pop-in to assist the troupe with their “musical instruments” while the dancers turn acrobatic as one lifts the other up so the lion can reach for the sky.
One Jason Wang Jee, who left a comment on the page, related that the kids lived in a Malay village called Kampung Bako Kuching, near Muara Tebas.
Wang said that on a hilltop at the village was a Chinese temple that many visited during Chinese New Year celebrations and that visitors frequently stopped to watch this village troupe perform.
“Selalu boleh nampak budak budak melayu bermain tarian singa buatan sendiri ketika Tahun Baru Cina. Ini adalah Sarawak, duduk sama sama harmoni tanpa racism….. Terbaik Sarawakian!!”
(The Malays boys are often there performing their own rendition of the lion dance during Chinese New Year. This is Sarawak, living together in harmony without racism… Sarawakians are the best!!)
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