Steven Chen
The Malaysian team comprising twenty-five members from the Yahya Awal dragon dance troupe, Johor Bahru, has brought glory to the country by having won the closely contested championship during the recently concluded third bi-annual International Luminous Dragon Dance Competition held in Hong Kong.
The Malaysian team beat ten other teams from Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, China, Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United Kingdom emerging as the first time champion.
The national team put up a ten minute spectacular performance with clock-work precision, captivating dragon dance maneuvers and synchronization to the drumbeats. They scored 93.3 points beating the host, Hong Kong, by a mere 0.01 points.
Tan Wei Hou, a member of the troupe said, “we stepped into competition arena with the confidence of winning the championship but was a little disappointed with the low points awarded to us.”
Nonetheless, Wei Hou said, the team will practise harder and strive to bring more glory to the country in future international competitions.
Coach Poh Soon Han said, for now, the troupe members will be gearing up for the coming National Luminous Dragon Dance Competition to be held in Johor Bahru in June, 2012.
“The winner of the competition will represent Malaysia in the next International Luminous Dragon Dance Competition which will held in Taiwan on February 15 next year,” said coach Soon Han.
Speaking on another matter, he said, the Yahya Awal dragon dance troupe will showcase four specially designed dragons in the coming Johor Bahru Chingay procession on 11th February 2012.
Yalinie Mathan
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