Lunar New Year Drum Festival

The Lunar New Year Drum Festival 2016 organised by the UTAR Wushu Club Kampar Campus was held at the Car Park (Zone N) of Dewan Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, Kampar Campus on 21 February 2016.

Grand opening by VIPs of the night (from left) Woei Shyang, Choong, Woei Yang, Dr Teh, Lee, Yeap, and Ang

Themed ‘Journey to the West’, the one-day Lunar New Year Drum Festival was held for the first time in Kampar Campus and attended by over 5,000 visitors including students, staff, and members of the public.

The Lunar New Year Drum Festival 2016 saw the innovative assimilation of Chinese cultural elements into the setting of the event. The location next to Dewan Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik was transformed into a little Chinatown with Chinese New Year decorations in auspicious red, such as ang pao creations, spring couplets in intense red papers, and Chinese hanging lanterns. Marking the start of the event was an energetic lion dance performance, followed by the spectacular 24 Festive Drum performance by UTAR Wushu Club members.

Dr Teh (left) and Lim delivering their speeches

Exhilarated at the encouraging turnout of participants, Organising Chairperson Lim Woei Yang expressed his gratitude to everyone for their kind presence and support.  “The Lunar New Year Drum Festival 2016 marked the soft launch for our major event titled ‘Sensation in March 2016’, which will be held on 2 April 2016. The main objective of the festival was to spread Chinese culture and Wushu among students and the public. Besides that, it also aimed to spread Chinese New Year festive joy by highlighting Chinese traditions and customs to the UTAR community and the public as well as to raise funds for this upcoming event.” Lim thanked his committee members, sponsors, and all others involved in preparing for the event.

Invited to grace the festival was UTAR Vice-President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Assoc Prof Dr Teh Chee Seng. During the opening ceremony, he lauded the organising committee’s effort for making the Lunar New Year Drum Festival 2016 a resounding success. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for your kind and continuous support. I hope this festival will spread positive vibrations among the visitors and I wish everyone ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’,” concluded Dr Teh.

Among the other VIPs who attended the festival were UTAR Faculty of Science Lecturer-cum-Advisor of Wushu Club Lee How Chinh, UTAR Department of Student Affairs Senior Assistant Manager-cum-Officer-in-charge of Wushu Club Adrin Yeap Wai Kuan, Chairman of UTAR Kampar Campus Wushu Club Ang Chyh Kun, Chairperson of UTAR Kampar Campus Student Representative Council Choong En Di, Organising Chairperson of ‘Sensation in March’ Lim Woei Shyang, and committee members.

“Sun Wu Kong” Wushu performance

UTAR Wushu Club members put up remarkable performances which garnered thunderous applause from the audience. They delivered six inspiring performances such as “Sun Wu Kong Wushu”, “Storm”, “Dragon Dance”, “Tai Chi”, “Wushu”, and “24 Festive Drum”; while the Chinese Orchestra Unit presented a beautiful rendition of classical Chinese compositions.

Creative drum performance by the organising committee

A beautiful Chinese orchestra performance

Wushu performance 

24 Festive Drums

LED dragon dance

Visitors also enjoyed the fascinating blend of modern and traditional Chinese dances and song performances by schoolchildren of SJK (C) Chung Hwa and SJK (C) Kampar Girls. Apart from that, local artists from Astro, namely Henley Hii, Justin Lan, and Zhao Jie Ying also came to add their shine to the night.   

From left: Local artists Justin Lan, Zhao Jie Ying, and Henley Hii delighting with their pleasing voices

SJK (C) Kampar Girls schoolchildren performing a traditional fan dance

Song performance by SJK (C) Chung Hwa students

Lee Chia Chia, Senior Assistant Teacher of SJK (C) Kampar Girls said, “The Lunar New Year Drum Festival 2016 is indeed a marvelous and successful event. Apart from their classical and creative performances, I personally like their exhibition booths which provide both the students and public with more knowledge about Chinese traditions and cultural practices.”

Another visitor, Ng Kin Yee said, “It’s really exciting to see such a massive crowd. The festival is really good and the ambience is joyful. I came along with my parents and I feel it’s a great evening to spend time with loved ones while welcoming this ‘Chap Goh Mei’.”

Universiti Malaya student Angus Chai who is currently on semester break said, “The event is certainly a good one to relax at during weekend. I’m inspired with the effort and teamwork shown by UTAR students to organise such a mega event not only for the UTAR community but also for the public. The decorations are very good and the Campus is also very attractive, especially the Dewan Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik.”

“This is a good opportunity to celebrate the last day of Chinese New Year with my friends and other Kamparians. I really enjoyed the performances by UTAR Wushu Club as well as performances by our local artists,” said Year One Business Administration student Chong Cui Shan.

Apart from multiple exciting performances, the festival also brought the festive cheer to the community through engaging activities such as cultural exhibitions, local food carnival, station games, and colouring and drawing competitions. The ceremony also witnessed Dr Teh and Woei Yang presenting prizes to winners who took part in the station games and “Wings Battle” contests respectively.

Colouring and “Wings Battle” contests

The sponsors for Lunar New Year Drum Festival 2016 were Sin Chew Daily, Wing Zone, Kentucky Dairy Ice Cream, Escape Theme Park of Penang, HL Packaging and Industry, Excellent Reality Sdn Bhd, Hock Seng Jubin Sdn Bhd and N-2 Jeansmaker Sdn Bhd.   

The organising committee with helpers