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Grandpa with a passion for chingay
Grandfather Lim Eng Chew, 76, had chingay in his blood since he was first invilved in the sport when he was 16.
Now, he is hoping his grandsons and other youths will be interested to keep Penang's unique giant triangular flags fying high.
"As a teenage, I was fascinated by the strength and valour displayed by chingayperformers. So I strived hard to master the skill of balancing the giant flags that were attached to bamboo poles. Those days, the bamboo poles were a monstrous 15m to 18m-high compared to the present standard height of 12m-high. And, one had to be really strong and muscular to handle the poles," he said.
During his heydays, Lim had represented the state at various competitions besides performing at numerous cultural show.
"it is indeed a dangerous sport and I have been hospitalised several times after injuring my head, arm, leg and shoulder. I also broke my shoulder bones and a few teeth." he said.
Since he stopped performing in 1975, Lim has been sharing his experiences as senior coach to the 105-year old Penang Chingay Association.
Lim said his five sons - Chin Seng, Chin Wooi, Chin Sin , Chin Boon and Chin Tong - were also actively involved in the chingay in their youths, but today, only Chin Tong, 36 his youngest son, is still actively involved in this unique sport.
"I have trained quite a number of youths and hopefully my grandsons will also take up the sport when they grow up." he said.
Lim noted that in the early days, CHingay, which originated from China, were held during religious festivals such as the birthday of the Goddess of Mercy.
"It has evolved into a cultural landmark for Penang with performers coming from the Malay and Indian communities. It is more of a muhibbah sporting event now." he said, adding that the association had 10 malays and 10 Indian participants.
Penang Chingay Association vice-chairman Chen Kow Yeon said the association now had more than 100 members aged between 20 and 70 years from 20 local chingay organisations.
"People have high expectations from our chingay performers and it is the norm to expect them to perform dangerous stunts such using their feet to toss the poles to a height of 4.5m while passing it to one another. They are also expected to catch the poles using their teeth and on the forehead. In the old days we only balanced the poles on our heads, shoulders and bellies," he said.
Chen said the most satisfying experience for association members was being the champion of the Pesta Pulau Pinang Chingay competition for 15 consecutive year since 1984.
Besides this, they also get to perform in Singapore, China, Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan. |
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by Derrick Vinesh
25 September 2004 |
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