———— KEY FIGURES OF THE FESTIVE DRUMS ————
Festive Drums Key Figures
The 24 Festive Drums travelled from one corner of the world to the global stage thanks to generations of champions and torchbearers. Here are a few figures whose influence on the art runs deep.
Photo · Siow Ho Phiew
Siow Ho Phiew (萧斐弘)
Lion King of Malaysia · Founder of Wan Seng Hang Dragon & Lion Arts · Advisor to the 24 Festive Drums Association
With ancestral roots in Chaozhou, Guangdong, he founded the Wan Seng Hang Dragon & Lion Arts workshop in 1986 and became world-renowned for his innovative high-pole lion dance, earning the title “Lion King of Malaysia”. He has carried Malaysian lion dance and drum-making craft onto the world stage, and long served as a key champion and association advisor to the 24 Festive Drums — contributing greatly to drum craftsmanship, skills transmission and international promotion.
1986 Founded Wan Seng Hang
High-pole lion dance champion
24 Festive Drums advisor
Bernard Goh (吴圣雄)
Founder of Hands Percussion · Leader of Malaysia’s 2nd Festive Drums troupe · Tan Hooi Song’s first out-of-state protégé
A graduate of the Malaysian Institute of Art (fine-art design), he was the first out-of-state protégé of Tan Hooi Song, co-founder of the 24 Festive Drums, and leader of Malaysia’s second 24 Festive Drums troupe. In 1997 he founded Hands Percussion; over two decades it grew into Malaysia’s most renowned percussion ensemble, performing repeatedly on the international stage. With his bold, inventive stage productions he became the soul of Hands Percussion and a vital bridge between the festive drums and contemporary percussion.
1997 Founded Hands Percussion
Malaysia’s top percussion ensemble
Festive drums × modern percussion
Photo · Bernard Goh
Photo · Chong Hai Liang
Chong Hai Liang (1985 – 2021)
Pioneer of the Festive Drums Legacy · Founder of the Johor Bahru Drum Troupe · Southern Malaysia Director, 24 Festive Drums Association
Coach Chong Hai Liang graduated from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Sungai Long campus) with an honours degree in Business Administration. Between 1999 and 2003 he first encountered the 24 Festive Drums at Foon Yew High School in Johor Bahru — a passion that would shape his life. After graduating, he devoted himself to passing on the art. On 18 November 2006, witnessed by co-founder Tan Chai Puan, he founded the Johor Bahru Drum Troupe — the first professional troupe in Johor Bahru, the “birthplace of the Festive Drums” — with Tan Hooi Song, Tan Chai Puan and Principal Chia Siew Kuen as advisors. He travelled across Johor to build school troupes, volunteered to coach schools without instructors, and taught as far afield as Brunei, Sarawak and Sabah. In 2010 he joined the Huazong 24 Festive Drums committee, and in 2015 became the Southern Malaysia Director of the National 24 Festive Drums Association, linking troupes nationwide. He also led his troupe onto the world stage: Singapore’s Chingay Parade, two Lunar New Year performances in Macau, an alliance with the Chanwu Centre in Guangzhou, China, and a tour of France’s world folk-arts festival with the “Ren Ren Ren Drum Theatre”. In 2016 he founded the world’s first 24 Festive Drums-themed café, “Drums Cafe”; and in 2020, with Tan Chai Puan’s support, the world’s first 24 Festive Drums Cultural Gallery. Though his life was brief, his pioneering spirit lives on, inspiring a new generation of drummers.
2006 Founded the JB Drum Troupe
2016 World’s first Festive Drums café
2020 World’s first Festive Drums gallery
More key figures will be added over time. (This page can grow.)
“One drum, passed on — beat after beat, generation after generation.”