The lion dance drum beats a rhythm that Ms Lynn Wong (Arts & Social Sciences ’11) knows by heart. After all, she is a local fifth-generation disciple of Wong Fei Hung, a legendary martial arts and lion dance master whose lineage has been preserved in Singapore through Kong Chow Wui Koon, one of the oldest Chinese clan associations in Singapore.
Today, Singapore’s lion dance tradition has evolved into a vibrant multicultural art form, with troupes comprising members of different ethnicities practicing and performing together.
DEBUTING “SILVER PRIDE”, SINGAPORE’S FIRST GROUP OF LION-DANCING SENIORSÂ
While the vigorous movements and acrobatic choreography of traditional lion dance often beget the impression that it is an art form exclusively for the young and able-bodied, the opposite proved true with the debut of the Silver Pride Lion Troupe in January 2024, Singapore’s first group of lion-dancing seniors.
With members ranging from 63 to 99 years old, the Silver Pride Lion Troupe is one of Singapore’s most inclusive performing groups. Ms Wong specifically developed choreography ensuring wheelchair users could participate as front dancers while ambulant seniors perform the footwork and manoeuvre the wheelchairs—creating roles for everyone regardless of mobility.
"I wanted to find a way to keep our seniors active and engaged in the community while keeping Singapore's lion dance heritage alive. As a team activity that requires people to come together, this would help reduce isolation and mobility decline in the long run too."
Since piloting in 2023, the Silver Pride Lion Troupe has won the President’s Design Award this year—Singapore’s highest design honour—and received the Singapore Good Design Award 2024, and Design for Asia Award 2024 Grand Award.
LAUNCHING SILVER BEATS, THE WORLD’S FIRST GAMIFIED LION DANCE TRAINING PLATFORMÂ
Today, as founder of Inheritage, a social enterprise providing active ageing programmes based on heritage and cultural arts, Ms Wong isn’t resting on her laurels. She wants to make lion dance accessible to all ages—and ensure everyone has fun too.
With the support of the TS2 Accelerator Programme by NUS Enterprise and raiSE SG, Ms Wong launched Silver Beats, the world’s first gamified lion dance training platform specifically designed for individuals to learn lion dance beats and drumming. Developed with a focus on self-paced learning, the web platform comes complete with progression levels, learning pathways, and on-demand coaching.
“Our mentor challenged us beyond our comfort zone, fast-tracking our timeline; and encouraged us to roll out our MVP to continuously build on the Silver Beats module while working with and taking in the feedback of pilot partners.”
Silver Beats’ minimalist interface simplifies lion dance rhythms and drumbeats into three colour-coded rows on screen, with colour prompts appearing in sync with music. Users simply hit the corresponding drum beats on a connected drum set, cymbal, and gong according to the onscreen prompts to complete each gaming level.
Three NTUC Health Active Ageing Centres (AACs)—Lengkok Bahru, Jurong Central Plaza, and Boon Lay—have already signed on to use Silver Beats in their activity sessions with seniors, Ms Wong shares.
“With Silver Beats, AACs have a ‘Shifu (Master) on demand’, giving them flexibility in organising group sessions at their own availability while allowing for self-paced learning and repetition when needed. Seniors can also get hands-on practice sessions with the lion head, guided in-person by a practitioner. Outstanding learners can also go on to join our Silver Pride Lion Troupe and participate in live performances.”
The tech setup for Silver Beats is deliberately straightforward. It runs on what every AAC in Singapore already has—a Wi-Fi network, projector, and screen. Through a monthly subscription model that includes equipment rental, Inheritage keeps the service accessible for centres while maintaining business sustainability.
“During the initial weeks, our trainers will work with each AAC to ensure smooth implementation and facilitate onsite sessions where needed. Ultimately, we want seniors to enjoy the social, emotional, and physical benefits these gamified lion dance sessions offer,” Ms Wong explains.
Milestones | Pre-Seed
- 2025: Joined the TS2 accelerator programme and received funding to prototype gamified cymbal and gong modules, enabling multi-player troupe training; developed prototype for Silver Beats gamified lion dance drumming with NHB’s Organisation Transformation grant; Silver Pride Lion Troupe wins President’s Design Award, Singapore’s highest design accolade.
- 2024: Public debut of Silver Pride Lion Troupe at Holland Close CNY celebration, with Minister Chan Chun Sing eye-dotting the lion.
- 2023: Commissioned by Lien Foundation to reimagine lion dance for seniors; prototyped modified lion dance equipment with 30+ seniors and ran training sessions at Fei Yue AAC located at Holland Close.
SO, WHAT IS SINGAPORE’S ANSWER TO ACTIVE AGEING?
Having received numerous enquiries from interested parties since the debut of Silver Beats, Ms Wong is setting her sights on new horizons. With positive feedback on Inheritage’s inclusive business model from Hong Kong lion dance practitioners after performing at the Design for Asia Awards, she’s determined to establish a Singapore brand for active ageing activities.
"I noticed that in Singapore, many of our active aging activities are adopted from senior care programmes and methodologies already in place in other countries such as Japan... So, I asked myself: What is the Singapore way? Let's create it, starting with the lion dance."
Ms Wong is exploring how this business model can be applied to other forms of intangible cultural heritage and is in talks with other practitioners.
Her immediate priority is scaling Silver Beats to at least ten AACs or Social Service Agencies (SSAs) by October 2026, in time for the inaugural Silver Beats E-sports Tournament to be organised by Inheritage, coinciding with World Mental Health Day and International Day for Older Persons.
With the Lunar New Year celebratory period ongoing, Lynn has seen the order book for the Silver Pride Lion Troupe fill up nicely. “It’s a happy problem to have, and it motivates the team to train hard. We want to prove that age does not limit what you can achieve,” Ms Wong says.
Through this scalable business model that combines heritage preservation with cutting-edge technology, Ms Wong is proving that Singapore can lead the world in reimagining active ageing—one drumbeat at a time.
This article was first published by NUS Enterprise in Enterprise Sparks. It has been republished with minor edits in accordance with The AlumNUS’ house style.
