Lion's share of the monkey year
By James Kon

Mr Tan, owner of Liang Toon, and his family having their picture taken with the lion dance troupe

Lion dance troupe receiving Ang Pow after their performance from Mr. Lau, the Hua Ho Department Store owner's son

Ushering in the monkey year with a lion dance in private homes is what many Chinese people are doing.

The fee of inviting the lion dance will cost up to a few thousands dollars, depending on the performance and the different dance troupes.

This is big business for the lion dance troupes as many different groups compete with each other to obtain businesses. Most businessmen wouldn't mind spending a large amount of money on lion dances, as they believed it could help bring in good fortune to their families and businesses, and drive away bad luck. The performance include stunts like opening up a few mandarin oranges or catching fresh vegetable hanging outside the house and wishing the owners of the house a happy new year.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin