Lion Dance Essay

In Malaysia, there are many culture or races that had been hold by differet people. Malaysia was a unique country because have many different religions and we can see many celebration. This is particularly evident during the festive times like Deepavali, Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Adil Fitri where you get everyone holding ‘Open houses’ to welcome visitors into their home. Malaysia is a multi-racial country consisting of Malays, Chinese, Indians and numerous indigenous people. With this, comes a myriad of religion, festivals, food and customs.

In this assignment, I was assigned to make a folio about the celebration of second largest ethnic in Malaysia, Chinese New Year. The second largest ethnic group, the Malaysian Chinese form 25% of

By doing this dance, people also can motivate and learn a new things that can shows the unity of different belief. Unfortunately, such rituals have almost disappeared these days and the elaborate rites are lost to the modern world. The challenges for the lion dance in today modern world are lion dance today has branched from the traditional lion dance immensely. Besides the loss of the religious aspects, lion dance has also distanced from the social aspects associated with the traditional troupes. Before, people who joined lion dance troupes were “gangster-like” and there was a lot of fighting amongst lion dance troupes. In addition, lion dance troupes must attain a permit from the government in order to do lion dance. Although there is still a certain degree of competitiveness, troupes are a lot less violent and aggressive. For instance, the violence got so extreme that at one point, the Hong Kong government had to put a stop to lion dance completely. Performers might even hide daggers in their shoes, which can be used to injure other lion dancers’ legs, or even attach a metal horn on their lion’s forehead, which can be used to slash other lion

Ang Pow red envelopes also known as “red packets” “Ang Pow” “laisee” “lai see” “hung bao” or “Hung-Bao”. They are considered extremely auspicious to receive as a gift and even more auspicious if they contain money. They are commonly used for Chinese New Year, weddings, birthdays or any other important event. The story of “ang pow” dates back to the Sung Dynasty in China. A village called Chang-Chieu was at the time terrorised by a huge demon. No one was capable of defeating it, not even their greatest warriors or statesmen. However, a young orphan, armed with a magical sword inherited from his ancestors, fought the evil demon and eventually killed it. The villagers were triumphant and the elders presented the brave young man with a red envelope filled with money for his courage in saving them. Since then, the ang pow has become a part of traditional Chinese customs. Age will be an important factor when we put the amount of money in the angpow. Usually the older the children are, the more money they will get. For a child of five years old, two pounds will be fine. The amount contained has to be in even numbers. Even numbers are auspicious and odd numbers are perceived as denoting loneliness. During Chinese New Year, they are given by married couples to small children, teenagers and unmarried adults. So it helps if you have a rich aunt or uncle as the gifts can be very