On the 25th of January, I was fortunate enough to be able to join the Malaysian Culture Group on a wonderful trip to the Kun Seng Keng Lion Dance Gallery in Shah Alam. I was most impressed with both the organisation of the transport, and with the Gallery itself.
Our day began with a group meeting at Suria KLCC bus stop, where the bus provided enough room to ensure that we had a seat to ourselves, preserving SOPS, but still giving us room to chat and get to know each other. Shah Alam being some distance from KLCC, there was plenty of time for that
We were greeted at the gallery by two delightful gold lions, and their accompanying drummers. I was very happy to see a mixed group participating, male and female, with young people of several different ethnicities represented (my own daughters performed in a troupe in New Zealand, and it is a great social and cultural enterprise). The lions mingled with us for a few minutes, allowing us plenty of photo opportunities before we were ushered into the gallery itself.
Once inside, we were introduced to the story and story of Guan Di, the warrior king, and his two best friends/brothers, Liu Bei, who were represented by three different colours of lion head (red for Guan Di, orange for Liu Bei and black for Zhang Fei). The many accomplishments of the group and their practices were explained too, after which we were able to explore the gallery ourselves. I was particularly taken with a pink lion!
There followed another display in the practice room, a large warehouse area that had wonderful acoustics for the purpose. I was, by lot, able to feed the lions their traditional mandarins and other fruits – and thank you so much for the wonderful gift of the lucky plate!
Thank you again to MCG, and the wonderful team at KSK! I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and look forward to another chance to visit in the near future.
Tania Chong, February 2022
Photos by various members of the MCG
More photos from this event can be found on our Facebook page here