The tradition of Chinese Lion Dances, which are a feature of Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations around the world, is being nurtured in Malaysia by a man they call the King of Lion Dance, because of his passion for the ancient art form that dates back more than 1,000 years.

Siow Ho Phiew has been making the distinctive lion costumes worn by acrobatic dancers for more than half of his life.

He has also coached lion dance teams to 10 international competition victories.

His innovative use of materials and colors have been a much-loved hallmark of his work for decades and he has cemented the lion dance tradition in Malaysian culture, where it is enjoyed and performed by Malaysians from different ethnic backgrounds.

"For example, in terms of raw materials, the lion head was originally made mainly of bamboo. Malaysia produces rattan, so I used rattan to make the lion heads. The whole process of making the lion head is also evolving, because in the past, the lion heads were made in a single color, such as pure yellow, red or black. Today is different. The lion heads are colorful, with many colors such as gold and silver," Siow said.

He has also worked hard to reduce the weight of the lion head to enable dancers to express themselves better, with his rattan lion heads now weighing around 3 kilograms.

Over the decades, Siow has been teaching the art of the lion dance to generations of students, to whom he also tries to impart Chinese culture and Confucianist virtues such as benevolence, honesty, justice, harmony and peace.

"To express the essence of Chinese allows for no willfulness, as that's the right way to protect our own culture. In addition to carrying moral concepts, education, cultural inheritance and skills, there is a rich history behind the lion dance," he said.

Siow has taught more than 3,000 lion dance students, including 145 advanced students, from more than 20 countries including Malaysia, Singapore, India, Indonesia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

He has also been an advocate for the inclusion of lion dance classes in Malaysian schools, with many local Chinese primary and secondary schools including lion dance as an elective course in their curricula.

"Cultural inheritance is not only done by our generation. In fact, it has been around for a long time. For example, myself, I have a master. My master also has his master, so we pass it down from generation to generation. Then I continue to pass on my skills to my next generation," Siow said.