Silver Pride Lion Troupe

RODNEY LOH (RL): We have always been interested in projects about Singapore’s heritage. In the commercial world, most of our clients’ projects are for electronics, user interface and experience, and innovation. But a few local projects, such as a lantern project with the National Heritage Board, strengthened our belief in using heritage as a form of innovation.

One of our former colleagues, Sim Hao Jie, took part in a design competition in which he reinterpreted a Monkey God statue. That got us connected with Ng Tze Yong. He was from the effigy-making company that organised the competition and also worked at the philanthropic organisation, the Lien Foundation. Tze Yong suggested we look at developing a heritage-related project.

We were thinking about many different pillars of heritage: arts and culture, food, places of worship, and museums. At NOK, we had also been incubating seeds of ideas around intergenerational considerations, active ageing, and even intimacy for seniors. We shared a bunch of ideas with the Lien Foundation. The idea of lion dance was raised by Tze Yong while we were discussing wushu (martial arts) in general. We thought it could be a good way to explore heritage innovation.

LYNN WONG (LW): I’d been in the heritage industry for over two decades, and I’d previously met Tze Yong. I’d also been doing a lot of volunteer work with senior care centres around Singapore, in volunteer management roles. Through that, I was in tune with the opportunities and challenges at these centres.

One of the very salient points I discovered is that, often, seniors are seen as beneficiaries. They are seen as receiving handouts, and that can be very degrading. In looking at the gaps, we realised that, even though Singapore is putting a lot of money into setting up active ageing centres (AACs) in the neighbourhoods for seniors to age in place, a lot of the programmes infantilise seniors.

I’m also a lion dancer and martial arts practitioner. Lion dance is a very versatile art form, offering a variety of different roles that I thought the seniors could take up. I could see how it could be even more empowering, regardless of someone’s physical abilities, if we incorporated a wheelchair.

After being connected by Tze Yong, NOK and Bridging Generations made many visits to AACs. We found out first-hand that social isolation, especially among senior men, is a very real problem. The AACs have no issues attracting women to their programmes, but men tend to be more shy. Lion dance seemed like a very good starting point for attracting men to the AACs.

LW: Usually, people think of lion dance as jumping from pole to pole. We needed to achieve a mindset change. The seniors’ family members might think, “No, Mum, you’ll break a leg.” The AACs would wonder if it was safe enough. The practitioners themselves also had to be on board for this project. In Singapore, there have been previous attempts to innovate lion dance that weren’t well-received.

I happen to be part of a troupe that has a lineage back to the legendary martial artist Wong Fei Hong. One of his third-generation disciples is a veteran of the troupe, and he currently uses a wheelchair. It really helped to bring on board such a respected practitioner. It enhanced the whole story and helped the seniors challenge their own self-limiting beliefs.

RL: We held an onboarding session at the Kong Chow Wui Koon clan association for seniors from the AACs. Lynn prepared a delicious lunch for them and we took a tour of the clan house. We looked at all the vintage lion dance kits and swords. I think that tour brought back a lot of memories for the seniors. Witnessing their passion during that onboarding session gave us the first sign of validation that we were on the right track.

LW: That session was crucial to recruiting the seniors because, back then, even the AACs wondered if there would be enough sign-ups for our programme. People still held on to the stereotype of lion dance being for the young. But seeing is believing. When they saw our master perform the redesigned lion dance choreography for them using a wheelchair, they realised, “Wow, okay, if he can do it, so can I. It seems possible.”

RL: The first thing we did was to modify the existing lion head. We bought one off the shelf and deconstructed it to understand the key mechanisms and touch points. But we were designing it from an able-bodied point of view. Given that many seniors have reduced dexterity, we did our due diligence by making it harder for us to operate, by wearing gloves and so on. But we still needed first-hand information. We passed the lion head to the seniors so they could handle it. We discovered things that we hadn’t previously accounted for such as a difficulty in grabbing the internal strings. The testing with the seniors shaped the refinement process.

It was very reassuring that everyone was keen to have a try. Our participants included a Tamil lady and a Malay lady; it was a novelty for them given how lion dance is a traditional Chinese art form. We also realised that the male seniors were interested in trying it out. That reinforced our hypothesis that lion dance is a very inclusive and active sport which is right for both men and women.

LW: We involved older practitioners in the co-creation of the choreography because they brought a perspective of what the seniors would need. One of the key concerns was fall prevention. We were therefore very intentional about wanting it to be a seated programme, even if people were more ambulant. Safety was the highest priority.

It was very heartening for us, while teaching, to see how this activity was able to bridge different cultures. The seniors were all bouncing along to the beat and very energetic. We emphasised that it’s a secular programme. It’s ultimately part of a culture.

RL: We needed to make it easier to control the lion’s eyes, mouth, and ears. We landed on a single pulley system that you could operate with one hand. You held the lion head with the other hand. We 3D-printed the parts and connected them with levers and strings.

After a few iterations, we managed to get it right. That’s why it was vital to test and validate the modifications with the seniors.

We added tennis racquet grips to the part of the frame that you hold so it became thicker and easier to grasp. The lion head frame has a large diameter, so we added cross bracing so you can also grip the inside of the head instead of the rim. We selected mesh fabric for the exterior to increase its breathability.

We added the same tennis grips to the drumsticks and designed cloth dampers for the cymbals to wrap them and reduce the sound. This made it less overwhelming for the ears. But I think one of the most important parts was creating a troupe name and t-shirts with a logo, so everyone would have a sense of belonging.

LW: We adapted traditions in such a way that the choreography respected heritage and culture while also becoming more inclusive. One of the key modifications to the routine was that the seniors were seated instead of performin athletic moves. We thus focused a lot on the expressions of the lion. How would they express happiness and sadness? What does each of the movements mean? It was storytelling and physical exercise at the same time.

We wanted the training to be progressive so that the seniors could build their strength. We used hula hoops to democratise the exercise classes. Everyone who participated could hold a hula hoop. Our progressive training approach for the dancers involved adding small sandbags for weight. With these little modifications, we could build the seniors’ confidence up enough to ultimately hold the lion head.

LW: I’m most proud that our oldest student, 99-year-old Grandma Mah, was so happy throughout the whole event. We saw how seniors with different abilities found a role and could perform in front of 120 residents. We were able to play to everyone’s strengths and found a way for everyone to feel engaged.

Uncle Chia, who is 80 years old, sat in a wheelchair to perform. It was a huge moment for him. He was almost in tears because he’d had some lion dance experience when he was younger. He never imagined himself performing again because he had injured his leg. His wife was so happy for him.

RL: I saw the enthusiasm of all the seniors, regardless of whether they were Malay, Indian, or Chinese. I saw how the male seniors stepped up. We didn’t need to push them into participating. The energy was very positive. There was a jovial, convivial feeling and that was very touching.

LW: Of course, it’s coincidental that the name Singapura means “Lion City” in Malay. But Silver Pride Lion Troupe showed how this Lion City can also be more inclusive and embrace people of different needs and age groups. This project really showed how heritage art forms can be a solution for a national healthcare issue and can bring the community together. We can leverage what we have to create innovations. Silver Pride Lion Troupe exemplifies that.

RL: Lynn and I were awarded the Design for Asia Award for Silver Pride Lion Troupe in Hong Kong last year. We gave a PechaKucha talk after the event and the most common feedback I heard was, “Hey! Why did the Singaporeans think of it and not the Hong Kongers?”

LW: Exactly! I was so proud!

RL: That was really quite interesting. A lot of the Chinese cultural traditions practised in Singapore originate in China, even simple rituals like having a bowl of longevity noodles with hard-boiled eggs on birthdays. When I post photos of these things on my Instagram account, my friends from China say, “That’s such an old tradition. I’m surprised you still practise this in Singapore.”

In China, after the Cultural Revolution, a lot of things were wiped out. So it was quite interesting and refreshing for them to see such a modern city like Singapore practising these nuances and old beliefs. Singapore is a place where we keep on innovating. We keep on pushing and wanting to punch above our weight. But often, it’s all these little roots, roots of scarcity, roots of ethnicity, that allow us to punch above our weight.

That’s what this lion dance project means to me as a Singaporean. We have all this cultural heritage, with all these passions, nuances, and rituals. If we forget them, then we don’t have a common foundation from which to propel forward while retaining our identity as a multiracial society.

LW: That’s a very good point. The Kong Chow Wui Koon clan association is 185 years old. Its founding is much earlier than Singapore’s independence. The project shows how we have made something historic not only relevant but also able to solve the pressing issues of today.

LW: To scale it in Singapore, it needs to be medically evaluated and have its healthcare outcomes validated. That’s the next phase I’m looking into. One of the key issues of implementation is having enough practitioners in order to scale. We’re looking into how to leverage technology to codify intangible cultural heritage.

RL: If you could gamify the percussion on a TV screen with a drum set, that would really allow more seniors to engage.

LW: Yes, it would help to streamline the teaching process and curriculum and ultimately enable a roll-out all over Singapore.