Unearthing a Jewel of Malaysian Chinese Dance – Low Kee Sien (1937-2010)
A chance conversation by the author
with Wong Kit Yaw, a senior Chinese dance lecturer at ASWARA led to the personal
discovery of a rarely talked about or never before mentioned-in-writing (in
English) teacher of Chinese dance known as Low Laoshi or Teacher Low. At the
meeting that was subsequently arranged at his home in the Old Klang Road area,
a beautiful gentle man was resting on his chair, weak from innumerable
treatments for chronic kidney disease (which was later disclosed as cancer) tended
with the tough love of his former school-teacher wife, Madam Mao. Still, when
he started talking about dance, his experiences and his journey, his eyes
sparkled, he was vibrant, he laughed and was excited. I imagined what an
interesting and passionate teacher he would have been in his day.
Low Kee Sien was
born in 10 November 1937, the third child of 12 in Kuala Lumpur. His mother had
apparently said that he danced before he walked! He just loved dancing and
there was no clear reason for this other than simply being gifted - no one in
his family danced. Later, while a student at the Chung Kwok Secondary School in
Batu Road and later at the Chung Hwa High School, Low nurtured his interest in
dance by reading books and became the leader of the dance club at school. He
choreographed and arranged all the dances for their concerts. In 1956, he was
selected to represent the school at a leadership course that was held in Morib,
Selangor. It was here, as part of his training, that he met one Mr. Khoo who
taught European folk dance including the Scottish Highland Fling. Mr. Khoo
became his mentor and continued to encourage Low’s deep and obvious passion for
dance. At the Morib program, the dancing was performed and taught without music
accompaniment but by singing a capella. Low also learned Malay folk dances
during this time. One of his clearest memories which clearly epitomizes Low’s obsession
with dance, was how he used to go to the Pavillion Cinema in Jalan Bukit
Bintang to watch movies from mainland China. He sometimes watched a movie as
many as 7 times especially documentaries of culture and folk dance. Back at
school, he would try out these dances with his group of 40 to 50 classmates and
perfect these routines. After his Form
Five examination in 1957, he continued his dancing and practicing at a friend’s
home in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur every weekend under the tutelage of Mr. Khoo.
In 1959, he left
for Taiwan to study Commerce, Banking, Finance and Accounting at the National Chengchi
University in Taipei. He managed to obtain a US Government Scholarship to
pursue his tertiary education and selected to go to Taiwan was because it was affordable.
During these years, he played a lot of sports, representing the university in
football and basketball, but still found every opportunity to dance. Much of
the dancing was American and European folk dance which he enjoyed but he missed
his Chinese dance classes and thus sought out teachers and specialist groups.
Between the years of 1961-1964, he studied Chinese dance with anyone that he
could source and developed his knowledge and skill.
Upon graduation,
he worked as an officer in a bank in Taiwan but found the job extremely mundane.
He returned to Malaysia and started working as a teacher at his alma mater Chung
Hwa and the following year joined the Chinese Teacher’s Association. He became
the Head of the Recreation Committee organizing camps and workshops for
teachers in Kuala Lumpur. It was in this period that he became acutely aware
that there were too few dance activities within the Chinese Schools system. In
an effort to address this problem and shortage, he organized workshops, first
in KL and Klang and across Malaysia including towns such as Ipoh, Port Dickson,
Bentong and Seremban. These workshops would last a week and focused on the
basics of Chinese folk dance but also incorporated simple Malay and Indian
dances. The 1969 racial riots of Malaysia put a damper on these cultural
activities and it was rumoured that there were suspicions by the authorities
that these dance activities were a smoke-screen for communist propaganda. Low
claims to have had nothing to do with subversive activities and absolutely no
interest in politics. However, as time passed, the flames of suspicion died
down and the dance programs were reactivated. The workshop programs spread to
Penang, Malacca and other towns. It was in the southern towns where Low met Madam
Lee Shu Fen, the famed teacher from Taiwan, based in Singapore, who further
inspired him and taught scores of Chinese youth the fine art of Chinese dance.
For the next
decade, Low worked tirelessly through the Chinese dance associations to reach
out to the communities throughout Malaysia. In 1972, the Hokkien Association
organized the 1st National Competition and Festival. Unfortunately,
the participation from schools in the Klang Valley was limited and the majority
of the participants of the inaugural festival were primarily from the northern
territories. In 1974 and 1975, the Old Klang Road Youth Society organized
another competition that garnered better response from schools and associations
from Malacca, Penang, Ipoh and Seremban. This was held at the Stadium Negara.
In 1978, Low instituted the 1st National Chinese Dance Competition
that was supported by 45 associations that was called Pesta Tarian Cina
Kebangsaan. This festival was held over 3 nights with more than 40,000 people
attending the performances! The event was organized in Kuala Lumpur for the
next 3 years and then moved to Ipoh and other towns. This annual event was the
highlight and focal point of all Chinese schools in Malaysia with Low as its
driving force.
Suffering from
fatigue, Low decided to rest in 1981 and set up a publication business dealing
with school text books. As his wife sternly yet jokingly noted, Low was “never
a good businessman”. A few years later,
proving his wife to be right, he gave up the business and entered into what he
refers to as the third stage in his life. He received numerous invitations to
teach overseas especially in Taiwan and Singapore and started his own dance
studio in Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur called the Au Siang Dancing Academy. He was
assisted by Teoh Hong Lim who also conducted the classes. His love for dance
propelled him to go where he felt most needed and useful – teaching in old
folks associations, dancing groups and retirement homes.
This continued until poor health
forced him to give it up all forms of dance in 2009 and focus on regaining his
health and strength. He lost his battle with kidney failure (and cancer) and
passed away peacefully in 2010. He died before this article was published but
the memory of his beaming smile at being remembered by the arts community will
remain etched in my mind forever.
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