Two of our expatriate friends said to come for the Lion Dance competition in Chinatown, at Telok Ayer Square, in the leadup to Chinese New Year 2017.
Singapore and Malaysia have preserved a lot of old Chinese traditions, something I'm becoming more keen on exploring the longer I spend here. Not only that, these old traditions from dialect groups almost seem antiquated or somehow caricatures of a past Chinese life that I'm lucky enough to get a peer into. It's as if the cultures were physically isolated from the source, and then left to persist as well as adapt in their own way. The analogy is how different sects of Christianity in the developing world may be different than modern Christianity practiced in western countries due to what I'll call 'punctuated culture equilibrium', in which a new 'species' of religion or culture emerge when separated from the parent arm. Having Chinese tradition being virtually everywhere, whether as the dominant culture or in ethnic enclaves, the competition has representatives from Vietnam, Australia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Malaysia.. etc. It's a mini ASEAN lion dancing olympics.
There seems to be a transformation within myself the longer I spend in Singapore. I'm able to appreciate traditions that have been practiced by ethnic Chinese for years, and to feel pride in the culture that has been preserved, but also continues to change. And so, when I walk into the competition and hear the clanging of the drums and symbols, and two athletes disciplined in martial arts jumping around with a lion costume on, among poles erected no less than one meter off the ground, there's a depth to watching them. It's the hundreds of years of culture, and the years of discipline for these men (some, even boys) that capture me. I sit down alongside my angmoh (white) friends and know that they may never have the same experience I am having watching them, but that they'll appreciate it in a different way.
It's interesting -- the diaspora of people you get within Singapore on a class level. There are some who are more heavily Chinese educated and have stronger Chinese Singlish, and some that lean on the side of being more fluent in English-heavy Singlish, and have higher English literacy and speech. It seems that those doing the lion dance are the former, and have pride in being Chinese and hanging on to Chinese traditions. When I see the Singapore team taking a break, each with a cigarette in their mouth, and chatting in Mandarin/Hokkien/English, I'm reminded of the diversity of people in this country, and the range of cultures on display. My eyes are glued to the performance and also slightly nervous, hoping that Taiwan can clinch the gold.