One lion dance performer in Malaysia, Tam Wintham, recently wrote a Facebook post on the struggles that a performer goes through -- especially during the Chinese New Year period when the demand for such performances increase.

Lion dance is tough work

In Wintham's post, he said that many people have a negative impression of lion dance performers.

He claimed that some may associate them with gangs and secret societies.

However, he explained that these stereotypes show a superficial understanding of what they actually do.

In his post, he described how tough their work is:

"Under the hot sun, we put in so much hard work and sweat to perform at your homes... Holding that heavy lion's head and beating the drums until our fingers have blisters, dancing until our legs get sore..."

Sometimes, they don't get much sleep as well, and some may go through 24 hours without sleeping, Wintham said.

Sacrifice family time during CNY

Wintham also mentioned that lion dance performers have to miss out on spending time with their family during the Chinese New Year period:

"During Chinese New Year, you can wear a nice outfit and post it on Facebook. But lion dance performers are always sweaty, smelly and dirty. We have to bear with our hunger and perform for many different houses. Perhaps you can take a nice family photo with everyone looking nice and sharp, but for us, we miss out on this chance to spend time with our loved ones."

Dealing with nasty customers

Apart from the tough job, Wintham also explained that they often have to deal with nasty customers.

"Sometimes, we are late. Customers lose their temper, or call us to rush us and scold us. They demand a lot when the sum inside the red packet is not much. But we don’t take this to heart, we put up with the exhaustion and keep up the performance."

Hence, he also urged people to be more understanding and caring towards the performers.

"If you see a lion dance performer in the future, don't be stingy. Maybe you can offer them a drink and encourage them. If they are late, please be more understanding towards them. Nobody likes to be scolded by others, especially during a festive period, and nobody likes being rushed. We are continuing our heritage as lion dance performers and will need support to carry on with this tradition."

You can see his full post in Chinese here.

Top photo composite image, via Tam Wintham's Facebook post.

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