Nail-biting acrobatic acts thrill crowd

The 12 colourful lions lapping up the attention showered by shoppers at IOI Mall Puchong.

THEY brought in not one, but 12 lions to celebrate Chinese New Year.

IOI Mall Puchong certainly made this year’s celebration a memorable one for shoppers with a lion dance extravaganza that included a dragon dance as well.

The performance by Kun Seng Keng Kuala Lumpur saw 12 colourful lions and a dragon dance troupe take over the mall, as the two popular icons of Chinese New Year, the God of Prosperity and the Big Head Buddha, made their way around the crowd to give away mandarin oranges, sweets and vouchers.

This was followed by a prosperity drum performance by a team of 12.

The highlight of IOI Mall Puchong‘s Chinese New Year celebration was definitely the acrobatic lion dance on LED poles, which kept the spectators‘ eyes peeled. — Photos: AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star

The crowd was then kept at the edge of their seats as the Kun Seng Keng took to floor once again – this time to perform daring acrobatic lion dance stunts on LED poles.

IOI Mall head of leasing (retail) Stephanie Wong said the mall wanted an exceptional start to the Lunar New Year.

“We wanted an atmosphere of celebration and to make the ambience as auspicious possible for our shoppers,” she explained.

According to Wong, this was also the first time in the mall’s more than 20-year history that firecrackers were lighted outside one of the main entrances.

“It’s just not a big celebration if we didn’t have the lions and the bustling festive sounds,” she said.

Just as there were 12 lions, there were also 12 drummers behind the prosperity drum performance, sending a well-synced rhythm reverberating throughout the mall.

This year, as they have done in the past, IOI Puchong Mall invited special guests to join in the festivities, including 40 underprivileged children from Kampung Broga Semenyih, Kampung Baru Semenyih and Kampung Cempaka. Twenty senior citizens from the Kim Loo Ting Temple were also present.

On top of enjoying the performances, the children were taken on a train, carousel and 6D motion ride at the amusement park.

The mall also gave away necessities and ang pow to the old folks, children’s homes and poor families, before treating them to a Chinese New Year spread at the Dynasty Dragon Restaurant that evening.