National record for Johor dragon dance troupe

JOHOR BAHRU: A Johor dragon dance troupe, having collected 74 national and international championship titles, has achieved a distinction, being included in the Malaysia Book of Records (MBOR), for securing the most dragon dance championships up to now.

Since its establishment in Malaysia half a century ago, the Yahya Awal Dragon Dance Troupe has successfully outshone teams not only from Malaysia but also from Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, Japan, and Scotland.

The trroupe's coach, Amos Poh, aged 39, notes that it secured its first national championship title back in 1994 and has been competitively participating in local and overseas competitions continuously.

Among the troupe's notable achievements is the winning of the World Hong Kong Luminous Dragon and Lion Dance Championship title for three consecutive years in 2012, 2014, and 2016, considering that the competition takes place once every two years.

This was significant to us because in those days, a major international dragon dance competition of this scale was uncommon to be held.

“Berdasarkan pembanguan rancangan program, kita dapat tahu banyak negara lain telah menjadi tuan rumah kompetisi serupa dalam tahun-tahun yek," katanya dalam sebuah temubual.

State chairman Tan Poh expressed that the troupe had achieved a notable accomplishment by winning the national championship title in Ipoh on November 22-24.

The MBOR recognition coincides with the troupe's 50th anniversary celebration dinner scheduled for December 27.

We felt proudest and deeply moved when Edwin Yeoh Tiong Chin, MBOR's representative, handed us the certificate in the presence of our past and current dragon dancers and esteemed supporters.

"Many of the troupe's original team members, some of whom are now in their 70s, attended the event and even performed a one-minute dragon dance for the audience," added Poh, mentioning that the seniors practised for a week before the show.

He mentioned that the troupe has nurtured over 500 dragon dancers throughout its five-decade history.

According to Poh, who started her association with dragon dances as a fifth-grader, the current team consists of about 150 active members.

The youngest member of the troupe is a three-year-old boy, in Year Three, who is responsible for the percussion part of the dragon dance, in contrast, the eldest is 32 years old.

The troupe recently entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the National Taiwan Sport University to provide Malaysian students the possibility of pursuing further studies in Taiwan to advance their careers in the sports industry, said Poh.

“Hopefully, our achievements and contributions can assist in reducing the misconception in people's minds about dragon dance troupes.”

“Menari bagi naga bukan sahaja membina semangat pasukan yang kuat tetapi juga menyampaikan adat resam Cina purba dari generasi ke generasi,” katanya, menambah bahawa tujuh pasukan menari mereka memainkan pertunjukan sebanyak empat hingga lima kali seminggu.

The troupe members are currently gearing up for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration next month, as well as for an international competition which will take place on a cruise trip from Singapore to Thailand in March.“We are also considering renting our own training venue for the future, as we are currently training at the Yahya Awal Ang Sian Tai Tee Temple in Taman Molek and at SJKC Foon Yew 2,” commented Poh.