Drum Up JB shows made its debut at Johor Bahru’s prestigious
Permaisuri Zarith Sofiah Opera House in January 2023 and continued to wow
audiences with dramatic drum shows throughout 2024 to the most recent shows in
September 2025.
Drum Up JB was formed in 2023, a collaboration between two drum
troops, namely Orang Orang Drum Theatre and JB Drums. These two drum troops aim
to preserve and share the cultural artform of the 24 Festive Drums in Johor
Bahru, where this art of drumming was founded by the two Tan’s, the late Tan
Hooi Song and Tan Chai Puan, in 1988.
Ticket sales to the Drum shows will support
them in their 2026 season of shows
Hooi Song received the Warisan Orang Hidup or National Living Heritage award
from the Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry, a week before he lost the
battle to cancer in July 2008. His
passing created a vacuum as Chai Puan lost a good working partner.
Then in 2018, Chai Puan was also honoured with the Warisan Orang Hidup award for his contributions to preserving culture and
heritage.
From its birthplace in Johor
Bahru, this Malaysian heritage of the art of the 24 Festive Drums, went on to
establish over 600 drum troops across Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa.
One of which is, Drum Up JB.
Lee Sheah Liang, one of the panel
advisors for Drum Up JB, was proud that the 24 Festive Drums was recognized as
a Malaysia National Heritage in 2009 and also very excited that the Malaysian
government had nominated the 24 Festive Drums for the 2026 UNESCO Intangible
Heritage List.
It was my pleasure to partner with Drum Up JB
for their drum shows since 2023
The
art of the 24 Festive Drums uses beats and rhythms to evoke emotions, summon
memories and recall histories. Guided by the 24 Solar Terms and the rich
heritage of drums, the Drums showcase traces the changes in life’s
perspectives over time.
Over
the years, I had the privilege to work with co-founder, Chai Puan, to share
reports on the 24 Festive Drums in the English media and got to know him as a
cultural activist.
With Tan Chai Puan and my 2017
MPH Non-Fiction Bestseller book
While
most media reports may focus on the art of the 24 Festive Drums, very little
was known about the man so I featured him as an exclusive story under
Portraits, in My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage.
Incidentally,
in its first week after my book was launched on 15 July 2017, this title went
to the Number One spot in the MPH Non-Fiction Bestsellers’ List. This book
stayed on the Bestsellers’ List for consecutive weeks and months, and at
year-end, it was counted among the Best of MPH in 2017.
Also
in 2017, when these two drum troops, Orang Orang Drum Theatre and JB Drums, toured
across eight folk festivals in France, they successfully performed
collaborative pieces. This performing experience inspired them to continue
their collaboration as Drum Up JB.
Among
the classic pieces they showcased in France was one dubbed, Memories, a
story of ancestral migration and cultural identity that will also be featured
in the show, Drums: A New Beat Beckons.
Tan Chai Puan [Left] continues to inspire and
encourage new generations of drummers
Directed
by Yeo Lyle, Drums: A New Beat Beckons premiered in October 2024 and
went on to earn the Traveller’s Choice Award 2024. This was because drum
enthusiasts throughout Johor, the Klang Valley, East Malaysia and beyond, have
travelled to Johor Bahru just for this drum show experience.
I
had the pleasure to meet with a wide variety of people in the audience for the
drum shows while they were in the theatre lobby. They paused to look at My
Johor Stories books in my pop-up store where my story on the 24 Festive
Drums is documented in, My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now,
among the brands that were proudly established in Johor, then exported
nationwide and even abroad.
Book Three of My Johor Stories
was presented to Mrs Tan Hooi Song
and daughter, Tan Guang Mei;
December 2022
With
the Malaysian government’s bid to have the 24 Festive Drums nominated to the
2026 UNESCO Intangible Heritage List, my story on this proudly Johor
performing art – published in English language – provides essential information
for drumming fans as well as visitors to Johor, to learn more about the origins
of this artform.
Audiences
at this all-new drum show in November can look forward to witness how the artistes
deconstruct and recombine landmark 24 Festive Drums performance pieces from
past decades to see how this artform had progressed.
The
performance draws attention to the immediate surroundings, the realities of
living in a multi-cultural community, to explore what a “new” beat would sound
like.
Be a part of the exciting shows
this November 2025
This
new generation of drummers are living heritage drumming practitioners who aim
to preserve and promote this dramatic art of drumming. Drums: A New Beat
Beckons not only represent a record of how drums and the drummers’
identities are interwoven, but is also an extrapolation of the unwritten
future.
Director
Yeo Lyle continues to lead and inspire drummers in harnessing rich traditions,
movements and sounds to showcase the evolution of the 24 Festive Drums,
challenge boundaries, create new bold narratives and showcase fresh
interpretations of this traditional artform.
“We hope this year’s performances
will help us raise enough funds so we can become a permanent fixture at the
Opera House. So just like watching ‘The Lion King’ in Broadway, or ‘Les
Misérables’ in West End, when you visit Johor in 2026, you have to come watch
Drum Up JB, and all Johoreans and all Malaysians will be proud to call this
their own,” said Liang.
Get your tickets now for the drum shows in November 2025 presented at the
Permaisuri Zarith Sofiah Opera House, as this will contribute to establishing Drum
Up JB as a permanent cultural attraction for the 2026 season. 
A dramatic scene from
Drums: A New Beat Beckons
Tickets
are available online from CloudJoi: http://cloudjoi.com/shows/3912
The
70-minute non-stop shows without intermission for, Drums: A New Beat Beckons,
are scheduled on Friday, Nov 14, 8pm; Saturday, Nov 15, 3pm and
8pm; and Sunday, Nov 16, 3pm and 8pm.
For a comfortable theatre experience, ticket-holders are advised to arrive 15 minutes before showtime to be ushered to numbered seats. The air-conditioning inside the theatre may be cool so come dressed smart, casual and warmly. Enjoy the shows!
Note: Photography and videography inside the theatre is Strictly Prohibited.
Photos inside the theatre featured here are courtesy of Drum Up JB.
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