By Ling Hui
KUCHING, Dec 4: Kuching South City Council (MBKS) mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng has promised to write to Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) after Christmas to seek approval for lion dances during Chinese New Year (CNY) next year.
He said there must be a way to maintain the culture of performing lion dances during CNY while observing strict Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Wanting to bring back lion dances next year, especially for the children, he said MBKS could propose lion dance performances outdoors to observe social distancing.
“I think there are other ways to perform lion dances such as on stilts and outdoors rather than in housing compounds.
“Or the lion dance troupe can (take turns) going to other estates to perform for half an hour to an hour each.
“Because during CNY, if we have firecrackers without lion dances, it just doesn’t feel like CNY,” he said during his Facebook live session here today.
The absence of lion dances during CNY, Wee said, is similar to the lack of CNY snacks such as pineapple tarts and fish and prawn crackers paired with pickled cucumbers (‘acar’).
Earlier this year, lion dances, house visits, and gatherings were prohibited during CNY due to the sky-high numbers of Covid-19 cases.
In the recent one month or two, the trend of Covid-19 case numbers and deaths have seen significant improvements. — DayakDaily
