Preserving the art of the 24 Festive Drums

 

The first Museum for the 24 Festive Drums was declared opened on 1 January 2020 at the Tan Hiok Nee Heritage Walk but this did not become a popular destination as the global pandemic and lockdown years just kept visitors away.

 

Loud drum roll for the soft opening of the
24 Festive Drums Experiential Museum

When it was safe for people to gather in public places, the economy gradually reopened. And in an effort to bring more life back into the city, dramatic drum shows dubbed, Drum Up JB! were presented at the Permaisuri Zarith Sofiah Opera House.

 

This was an initiative under the Downtown Johor Baru Grants Programme: Arts, Culture and Heritage, a collaboration between Iskandar Regional Development Authority and Think City Johor Bahru, supported by Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru, R&F Princess Cove and Malaysia Digital Districts.

 

Cardboard cutouts of the figures of
the two Tans, Tan Chai Puan [Left]
and the late Tan Hooi Song [Right]

Since January 2023, audiences at the Drum Up JB! shows have enjoyed an entertaining and exciting, family-friendly showcase by the talented artistes in JB Drums and Orang Orang Drum Theatre, created as a catalyst to reach out to unite the community through the language of drumming, percussion and music.

 

Drum Up JB! shows presented from 2023, through 2024 and up to 2025, have wowed audiences made up mainly of drumming enthusiasts, families and friends along with new drumming fans – both local and foreign – many who travelled to Johor Bahru specifically to experience the drum shows.

 

In the recent season of shows for, Drums: A New Beat Beckons, over the weekend of November 14, 15 and 16, it was timely to host the installation ceremony of the new Committee for the 24 Festive Drums Association of Malaysia as well as the soft opening of the first phase of the 24 Festive Drums Experiential Museum in the R&F Marina Place, located adjacent to the Permaisuri Zarith Sofiah Opera House.

 

The art of the 24 Festive Drums is documented
in My Johor Stories 3:
Proudly Johor, Then and Now

As the 24 Festive Drums aims to establish itself as a permanent cultural performing art at the Permaisuri Zarith Sofiah Opera House, it was good that the Museum of the 24 Festive Drum was relocated from Jalan Tan Hiok Nee to nearby premises within the R&F Marina Place.

 

Dubbed an Experiential Museum, this gallery of heritage information presented in visuals, videos and artefacts, aims to let visitors have an immersive experience in the art of the 24 Festive Drums.

 

This museum honors the legacy of the 24 Festive Drums that was founded in 1988 by the two Tans, the late Tan Hooi Song and Tan Chai Puan, right here in Johor Bahru.

 

Parents of the late Chong Hai Liang

This significant event was graced by Tan Chai Puan, co-founder of the art of the 24 Festive Drums, key personnel from the 24 Festive Drums Association of Malaysia, the R&F Group, professional drum troops like JB Drums and Orang Orang Drums Theatre, guests from Teochew City, China, and the parents of the late Chong Hai Liang.

 

Chong Hai Liang, whom we lost to the Covid-19 virus during the pandemic, was also honoured at this event for his deep commitment to the art of the 24 Festive Drums and his dream for preserving this performing art in a museum for generations to enjoy and appreciate.

 

Ben Loh, who calls himself, A Friend of the Festive Drums, was the drumming enthusiast who established a drum troop in Oklahoma in 2003 when he went to further his studies in the United States.

 

Ben Loh, Ng Teck Chuan and Lim Yi Kai
[Left to Right] Photo Credit: Ben Loh

While he only met with co-founder, Tan Chai Puan in 2008, and there were then no formal instructions to learn from, Loh said he picked up drumming skills out of sheer passion for the art of the 24 Festive Drums.

 

When he came back to Johor Bahru for the Second International Drum Festival, he got to know Hai Liang and his dream to preserve the art of the 24 Festive Drums in a Drum Museum.

 

He was delighted to be part of the project team as Interim Project Manager for the setting up of this Experiential Museum, which was turning Hai Liang’s dream into reality for new generations to appreciate this unique art of drumming.

 

Tan Chai Puan at the Drum Museum entrance
with Johor Bahru Tiong Hua Association
president [Left] and Mr Chong [Right]

Working closely with Site Manager, Ng Teck Chuan, they co-designed what will become the first and only Drum Museum that aims to welcome the world to learn more about its history and experience the rhythms in the adjacent Opera House.

 

When Tan presented his speech, he was standing next to the entrance to the Museum while its doors were shut. The four panels of the “swing doors” were each covered by posters with words in Chinese and English that read, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

 

His speech was a deeply emotional expression as his view from that vantage point, was the spacious promenade, the magnificent architecture of the Opera House and the causeway between Johor Bahru and the Republic of Singapore, set to the stunning backdrop of the Johor Straits, which Tan deemed was an ideal location for the museum and a home for the 24 Festive Drums.

 

The swing doors opened and the
Museum was declared open

He paid tribute to the late Hai Liang and acknowledged the presence of his parents at the event. While Tan expressed sympathy for the loss of their son, he encouraged them to consider all the drummers as their children.

 

Tan also acknowledged the support and partnership of the R&F Group in providing this space in the R&F Marina Place to turn Hai Liang’s vision of a museum in cultural hub into reality.

 

He was pleased that when the Rapid Transit System (RTS) starts its service, it will connect Johor Bahru with Singapore for visitors to come here more conveniently.

 

Tan was also confident that the art of the 24 Festive Drums will be preserved and practiced by new generations of drummers and drum enthusiasts under the leadership of young entrepreneurs and drumming practitioners.

 

He recalled that Johor Bahru once had an annual Johor Arts Festival and paid tribute to the founders of the Johor Society for the Performing Arts (JSPA), the late Yap Siong Cheng and his wife, Suzie, who brought exciting shows and performing arts to the local community.

 

Wall posters provided heritage information

Just as the JSPA arranged inclusive programmes that featured performances by artistes in our multi-cultural community, professional artistes as well as school groups, with opportunities for local talents to make their stage debuts, Tan hoped that this cultural hub in R&F Marina Place will become the home of what he dubbed, Version Two of the Johor Arts Festival.

 

Tan is familiar with organizing cultural events for the community as he was involved with organizing cultural events and street carnival activities at the Tan Hiok Nee Heritage Walk between 2009 and 2014.

 

After the official opening of the Johor Bahru Chinese Heritage Museum in 2009, the then Menteri Besar Johor declared Jalan Tan Hiok Nee as a Heritage Walk. Tan was part of the committee formed to organize a series of public cultural events at the Heritage Walk on Saturday nights when the road was closed to vehicular traffic.

 

[Tan helped me by providing relevant information about Chinese cultural events so that I could write about them in English. These Chinese culture-heritage stories published in English, go a long way to provide information to the Chinese who do not read Chinese language, and helped them learn more about their own culture.]

 

Group shot: Seeing double of Tan Chai Puan;
One is a cardboard cutout of him!

The soft opening of the 24 Festive Drums Experiential Museum was marked by loud drum rolls by a row of ‘drummers’ represented by Tan, president of the Johor Bahru Tiong Hua Association and Hai Liang’s father among other key people in the art of the 24 Festive Drums.

 

Before Tan pushed open the door to officially open the Museum, he shared a legend (which he earlier told me!) about the opening of the Johor Old Temple in the 1800s.

 

It happened that when Sultan Abu Bakar and Tan Hiok Nee were walking in front of the temple, they heard the sound of drums. Curious about what was going on behind the closed door, they paused and Tan Hiok Nee encouraged the Sultan to open the door to see for himself.

 

The Sultan responded by pushing open the front door, a legendary belief that by this action, it was the Johor Sultan who declared the Johor Old Temple open.

 

Tan then invited the Johor Bahru Tiong Hua Association president and Hai Liang’s father along with other key people to join him in pushing open the four swing door panels to step into the Museum.

 

A wall of drums at the Museum entrance

When the doors swung open, we were greeted by the sight of a wall of Chinese drums used for drumming in the art of the 24 Festive Drums.

 

While the 24 Solar Terms was adopted as the inspiration for the creation of the 24 Festive Drums in 1988, the two Tans did not know that the 24 Solar Terms would be recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and added to their world intangible cultural list in 2016.

 

Each of the 24 drums were painted with two bold Chinese characters that represented each of the 24 Solar Terms, while the music and choreography of the 24 Festive Drums were arranged to harmonise gracefully into a performing art that depicted the cycles of the 24 Solar Terms in music, calligraphy and the rhythm of life.

 

The soft opening of Phase One of this Drum Museum – which will be opened to the public next year – marks the significant start of more cultural attractions in the R&F Marina Place that will be developed over the next few months.