World champion lion dance troupe struggles to perform during CNY
PETALING JAYA: This year’s Chinese New Year festivities have certainly been far quieter when compared to celebrations of previous years.
This is to be expected, with the Covid-19 pandemic still raging on, and government regulations requiring that family gatherings be limited in terms of the number of guests.
As such, many hallmark features of Chinese New Year celebrations are nowhere to be seen this year.
Prior to the pandemic, the Chinese New Year experience would not be complete with a loud but exciting lion dance performance.
With the raucous beating of drums, the clanging of cymbals and the banging of gongs, it was common to see lion dancers performing in shopping malls and other public spaces during this time.
Now, however, lion dances are nowhere to be seen and their presence is sorely missed by many Malaysians. Even the performers themselves have also been greatly affected by this unprecedented change.
The Khuan Loke Dragon & Lion Dance Association has a long and storied history, having made a name for itself on national and international stages.
Established over 40 years ago, the troupe, which is based in Sungai Way, has about 40 to 50 active members who form a tightly-knit multiracial group.
While most of their members are high school students, their oldest member is in their forties.
Despite their hopes of being able to perform and cheer up crowds this year, government regulations and safety precautions have prevented them from doing so, much to their dismay.
FMT had the opportunity to speak to Eric Fong, Khuan Loke’s troupe manager, who has been with the group since he was 12 years old.
“My interest in lion dancing started after watching films featuring the Chinese martial artist Wong Fei Hung,” said Fong, who added that his interest was further cemented when he spectated a lion dance performance at Stadium Merdeka.
Consequently, he joined the Khuan Loke troupe in hopes of learning how to be a lion dancer, which proved to be something of a problem.
“The troupe, at the time, had about 15 to 20 members, and their methods of training largely involved watching tapes and video recordings,” said Fong.
It would first take a major revamp before Khuan Loke would finally get anywhere at all.
And as it happened, Khuan Loke would indeed go places far beyond what Fong could have ever imagined.
The troupe has participated in competitions far and wide, and their performances are highly varied too, as they include southern and northern lion dances, 24 festive drums, dragon dances as well as wushu performances.
“We also had the great honour of performing before the then-Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin back in 2003,” recalled Fong with a proud smile.
Having been declared world champions seven times and national champions about twenty times, the Khuan Loke troupe has much to be proud of.
In fact, evidence of their astounding feats lay in Khuan Loke’s Sungai Way office, where glimmering hard-won trophies from past years adorn shelves and display cabinets from top to bottom.
Fong attributes the troupe’s immense success to the hard work and dedication of the dancers, who sometimes have to spend years honing their skills before being acknowledged as proficient.
“It takes up to four years to become an average lion dancer, and five to 10 years if they wish to be recognised as talented dancers,” said Fong.
The fact that lion dancing requires much investment in terms of time and energy has quite the unfortunate side effect; the young generation is simply uninterested in taking part and joining lion troupes these days.
Fong is hardly surprised, considering that school students now are inundated with extracurricular activities as well as tuition and music classes.
With how time and energy-consuming lion dancing can be, young people are unfortunately not going to be drawn to such an activity.
A far more pressing issue to Fong, however, is the dire straits of finances that the troupe is now being forced to face during a year with very few performances.
“The troupe earns money by participating in competitions and performing for paying clientele, with prices ranging from over RM1,000 to over RM10,000 per performance.
“While this may seem highly exorbitant, the equipment used in performances is likewise, very expensive,” he pointed out.
Fong then explained that the lion heads, in particular, are costly, and kitting out a single team of dancers and musicians would require as much as RM7,000.
“The lion heads are extremely fragile pieces of equipment, and it is not uncommon for Khuan Loke to buy about 20 lion heads every single year,” he elaborated.
Up to three-fifths of Khuan Loke’s earnings are usually used to pay for equipment and rental costs, which can easily be covered during a normal year with a normal amount of performances.
That being said, Covid-19 has left Khuan Loke in a rather precarious position, with performances and bookings being at an all-time low.
In previous years, Chinese New Year would be the busiest time of the year for the troupe, with Khuan Loke performing up to six times a day on the first few days of the new year.
Now, with the pandemic keeping people at home, Khuan Loke has been left with nothing much to do, but continue with its scaled-down practice sessions.
Despite the difficulties, Fong still remains hopeful that the Year of the Ox will bring much-needed change.
And even if the troupe is unable to perform this year, it still strives to spread the cheer of Chinese New Year, by posting videos of prior performances on its Facebook page.
“Think positive,” said Fong, “Today will be better than yesterday.” - FMT
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