Tiang performs the eye-dotting of the lion while others look on. — Photo by Kong Juin Long.
KUCHING (Aug 20): Two giant ‘Hakka Lions’ measuring 10.25 feet (3.124 meters) tall, 7 feet (2.1366 meters) wide and 16 feet (4.8768 meters) long danced their way into the Malaysia Book of Records on Friday night.
The two lions, which are the biggest ever made in the country by the Malaysia Hakka Culture Association (MHCA) Sarawak, were recorded as the ‘Biggest Hakka Lion Costume’.
This is the second record that MHCA Sarawak has created, following ‘Most Hakka Lions Dance’ comprising 71 lions performing at CityOne Mall here in January 2020.
Witnessing the historic event last night at the Kuching South City Council (MBKS) Square were Deputy Minister of Public Health and Housing Michael Tiang, who represented Deputy Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Dato Sebastian Ting, as well as Kuching South mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng.
According to Ting, whose text-of-speech was read by Tiang, more cultural events like this should be organised — not just to promote Chinese Hakka culture but also to attract tourists to Sarawak.
“We hope this kind of event can attract more people from outside Sarawak to visit Kuching and Sarawak. The Malaysia Hakka Culture Association is also doing their promotion through their social media platform.
“Hakka people in Thailand and Singkawang, Indonesia have responded in social media, asking where this event is and where is Kuching. This shows an event such as this can help promote our Sarawak tourism. We hope to have more of these events throughout Sarawak,” he said.
Ting also approved a grant of RM20,000 to MHCA for the construction of the Hakka Lions as well as for organising the event.
Tiang (seventh left) and Wee (fifth right) holding the certificate for the Biggest Hakka Lion Costume while sponsors and organising committee look on.
Meanwhile, Wee congratulated MHCA for their second Malaysia Book of Records record and hoped other clans and races could emulate them in displaying the rich culture of the Chinese.
“It is everyone’s responsibility to continue with our cultural heritage and finding the real roots of our culture, because through culture and understanding we will be able to understand each other much better.
“Everyone is talking about different cultures and religions but to let other people know our culture, we need to put up more awareness, more performances and cultural activities such as this — then people will start to understand,” he said, adding this was one of the reasons how Sarawak unites.
“It can be through dance, food, practices and so on. I hope we will continue with the cultural exchanges and awareness events to be frequently presented to other races so they can understand us better,” Wee said.
According to MHCA Sarawak, the Hakka lion is different from the usual lions seen during Chinese New Year or other parades.
Also dubbed the ‘Green Lion King’, the Hakka consider it as the ‘king’ among lions and it has unique features such as eyes which look down, the ‘ba gua’ diagram and the Chinese character for ‘king’ must be engraved on the forehead representing the ‘king of beasts’.
The lower forehead is covered with red cloth and the bottom is cyan. The mouth shape of the lion is usually a wide, square design.
The pattern of the Hakka lion’s head is inseparable from Taoism’s ‘Eight Immortals’ and features eight lucky instruments for adornment such as the gourd, fan, bamboo flute, flower basket, lotus flower, jade plate, sword and fish drum.
Historically, the Hakka lion dance came to Sarawak from the south of Guangdong.
In recent decades, the traditional Hakka lion dance has been passed down through generations and one can see them perform during Chinese New Year or temple celebrations.
Traditionally, in Hakka communities, they are called ‘Hopo Hakka Lion’ and are honoured as the ‘Lion King’.
Also present at the event were MHCA Sarawak president Michael Liong and organising chairman Vincent Voon.