Chinese New Year is drawing closer and there are tons of places for you to visit and activities for you to participate in. Even if you don’t celebrate the holiday, you can admire all the wonderful CNY decorations in shopping malls around Malaysia. Who can resist taking photos with all those grand and adorable Rabbit constructs?
In addition to the beautiful decorations, you’ll definitely catch traditional Lion Dance performances at shopping centres around Malaysia. The dance not only brings joy to the audience but also good luck and fortune. This particular dancer is currently making waves after she took off the Lion Dance costume for reasons that may surprise you.
@ahpeng2830 this 1 malaysia
TikTok user Ah Peng posted a video on his channel over the weekend, showing a Lion Dance performance during an event. At the time of writing, the video has reached over 2.1 million views, over 108k likes, and 5.2k comments. As the dancers took off the costume after their performance, the audience as well as netizens were astonished to see that the one controlling the lion’s head was a Malay Muslim girl in a hijab.
In the video, it is evident that the girl worked hard to control the movement of the lion’s head, giving more life to the performance. After the TikTok video went viral, netizens praised the young performer for her dedication to the Chinese traditional dance. Many commented that they enjoyed the diversity and how the performance and the dancers represent Malaysia as a multicultural country.
A day after the original video, the TikTok user posted a follow-up video on who the Malay girl behind the lion dance may be. While it was not explicitly verified by the content creator, the design for the lion costume matched the one in the first video. The follow-up video showed a news article about 6 Malay siblings joining a Chinese Cultural and Sports Association in Penang.
The one leading the lion dance in the viral video is presumably 16-year-old Siti Aishah, as also shown in the news article. While we can’t verify this info at the moment, it’s still nice to see a diverse group of dancers performing a traditional dance to celebrate the festivities together.
@ahpeng2830 One family father mum son daughter enjoy lion dance
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Sources: TikTok (1)(2), BHarian
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