Singapore to London

MALAYSIA | Monday, 24 November 2014 | Views [322] | View Smaller Image

Beneath the omnipotent gaze of a statue devoted to the clan god, costumed performers wearing imposing Chinese opera face paint and stunning sequined outfits begin a choreographed procession in the temple’s entryway. As the band strikes up a cacophonous clanging of drums, flutes and cymbals, the actors begin wildly circling the offering table. With their costumes fluttering from harnesses in a blaze of primary colour, the troupe’s otherworldly performance is reminiscent of a whirling flock of mystical birds.

Hundreds of Yap clan members have flocked to the smoke-shrouded Yap Kongsi Temple in Georgetown, Penang, to throw a birthday party. The birthday boy is not one of the dozens of people obstructing traffic, praying or burning wads of paper money, but Hoay Che Chun Wang, the patron deity of the clan. He turns 800 today. United by a shared Hokkien Chinese heritage and a proud history on the famously multicultural Malaysian island, the clan revellers count two mosques, a Hindu temple, a Synagogue and Christian Church among their neighbours.

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A costumed clan performer briefly breaks the illusion of her confronting attire by flashing a cheeky smile across the smoke drafts, before resuming her role in the procession. It’s a rough recital, peppered with awkward pauses and self-conscious glances. But the show isn’t for the living. They perform before the altar of the god of prosperity in the hopes of bringing forth an auspicious year ahead.

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Singapore to London

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