The last of the dragon-makers

HOW do you make a dragon? The usual answer would be using rattan hoops, wires, paper, cotton cloth, paint, two light bulbs and strings.

Dragon maker, wushu exponent and lion and dragon dance instructor Master Gooi Teong Hup led his students to emerge champions of the state Chingay Parade Lion and Dragon Dance competition in 1999

But dragon-maker Master Gooi Teong Hup, 72, would probably say it requires a lot of hard work, patience, interest and inspiration.

  Gooi, an instructor of wushu (martial arts) as well as lion and dragon dances since 1968, has been making dragons since 1993.

  In Penang, he may be the only dragon-maker left. Similar to many other old craftsmen, Gooi is facing trouble finding a student  who wants to learn the skill and keep the craft alive.

  "So I have been making the dragons alone," he laments.

Dragon maker Master Gooi Teong Hup's colourful and fierce-looking dragons are going to help bring in good luck this Chinese New Year

This is despite having some 150 students learning wushu and lion and dragon dances under him  at the Seow Hay San Health Culture Association at Jalan Gunaratana here, an institution he founded in 1984.

  The problem, he said,  is that the younger generation is too lazy to spend time on  difficult projects such as dragon-making.

  "I cannot force my students to learn. The desire to do so must come from themselves," said Gooi when interviewed recently at the association where he kept his magnificent dragons.

  Gooi has nine small dragons, measuring  4.5m each, and five big ones  measuring between 21 and 27m.

All of them have been handmade from scratch over the past few years to be used in performances at events.

  Gooi said he had also made a few big ones for buyers, who came from as far as Sarawak and Australia.

  His dragons are lightweight, with  their heads made of rattan and wires bent into the right shape and covered with a type of hard paper before coloured with bright paint.

The eyes for the 2.5kg heads are made from light bulbs.

  The flexible dragon body is made of rattan hoops tied together with strings and covered with cotton cloth, which is then painted in vibrant colours and decorated with hand-drawn dragon  scales and legs.

  Gooi said the final design of a dragon is the end result of a trial and error process.

Dragon maker Master Gooi Teong Hup checking the body of one of his dragons in preparation of the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations.

 "I studied how others made dragon heads and began improvising. The heads are the most difficult part to make. I shocked  myself when I once managed to make 13 heads that were exactly the same," he said.

  Gooi is exceptionally proud of his small dragons, which he claimed were impossible to find elsewhere because he had designed them himself. 

He said he was inspired to make small dragons that were light and small enough to be carried by two persons.

  "Nobody  made such dragons before, so I think people can only find them here at my place," he said, adding that the small size made the dragons easy to handle, transport and fit into tight places.

 Gooi's dragons are well-known in Penang, having graced many "good luck" events.

With the new Dragon year approaching, he is expecting to be very busy in the next two weeks.

  "My dragons and students are certainly going places this Chinese New Year," said Gooi, whose students and dragons also won the state Chingay Parade Lion and Dragon Dance competition in 1999.