SINGAPORE: After a group posted a lion dance performance at Ang Mo Kio hawker centre, it drew a considerable amount of flak from TikTok users, who questioned why the dancers had to perform on the tables rather than around them.
The video was posted on the account of Kuo Chuan Arts Cultural (@kuochuan.sg) on Tuesday (Feb 24).
The 35-second clip shows two men performing together in a lion costume, jumping from one table to another. It has since been viewed over 84,000 times, which may be the highest the group has ever gotten.
@kuochuan.sg ♬ original sound – Kuo Chuan Arts Cultural – Kuo Chuan Arts Cultural
However, the attention the video has gotten has not all been positive.
One commenter wrote that the “table is for eating purposes and pls respect it.”
Another agreed, calling what the group performers had done “so unhygienic.”
A TikTok user wrote, “You are not allowed to jump from table to table, dude.”
Another expressed surprise, writing, “Huh? On an eating table?”
“I don’t mean to be a wet blanket, but are we really encouraging people to trample over public properties, especially those that people use to consume their meals? Also, isn’t this unsafe for the performers? It’s hard to tell what the condition of the tables and chairs they are performing on is,” pointed out a TikTok user.
Another replied, “In my whole life, I haven’t seen a lion dance performance using public properties. This is my 1st time.”
One appealed to the NEA, writing, “Please take appropriate and legitimate actions against the parties involved cause it’s definitely NOT Right.”
“I doubt the tables and stools can withstand such force stamping on them. I hope NEA will go check if they are not wobbly,” wrote another.
Others, however, said they saw nothing wrong with the performance, with one adding that the dance is in honour of a special occasion that only happens once a year.
A performer from Kuo Chuan Arts Cultural told MS News that the group performs where it is invited to do so, and that it is not the first time they’ve done a lion dance on tables. They also underlined that the tables are wiped before performances to make sure they’re not slippery for performers, and perhaps more importantly, they’re cleaned afterwards.
The Independent Singapore has reached out to Kuo Chuan Arts Cultural for comments or updates. /TISG
Read also: Thai police go undercover as lion dancers to nab a serial burglar
