'Facechanging' story of a Malaysian

KUALA LUMPUR - Festive seasons have always been a little busier for Suresh Subramaniam, though not for his daytime job as a salesman. The 28-year-old Malaysian will put on his costumes and makeup to perform at the festive celebrations and gatherings.

What he performs is called Sichuan Opera face-changing, a traditional Chinese art. "I work as a salesman, but I have another job which is more funny and interesting," he said.

Sichuan Opera originates from Southwest China's Sichuan province. The face-changing technique is one of the most famous parts of Sichuan Opera, whereby actors rapidly alter their face makeup in stunning and dramatic effect.

The audiences of Suresh's performance were always surprised to learn that their performer is not an artist from China. "I enjoy the smiles on their faces," said Suresh, who has performed for seven years.

Suresh's father is an Indian Malaysian, while his mother is a Chinese Malaysian. Being brought up mostly by his mother, he could speak Mandarin and Cantonese, and often refers himself with his Chinese name "Su Rui", which is homophonic to Suresh.

His story with face-changing started when he was introduced to a face-changing performer from China. As a long-time fan of magic, Suresh was instantly fascinated by the Chinese art.

However, learning it was a difficult path. At first, he could not understand the terms and slangs despite he could speak Chinese. "I couldn't understand what the master told me," he said.

At one point, he was totally bewildered when his master asked him to walk in figure eights. "I thought it meant the shape of the Chinese character, until my master demonstrated himself."

Suresh's short apprenticeship ended after a month when the artist returned to China. He started to perform, but always bears in mind that he still has much to learn.

"I watch closely how others are performing in order to improve my skills," he said. "I watch online videos, I watch others play in shopping malls, and try to figure out how I could do it in a different way."

Slowly, Suresh developed his own style. "The performance usually starts from the stage and ends on the stage," he said. "But I would start offstage to interact with the audience, and this becomes my style."

Suresh also mixes hip-hop and Malaysian style music into the Chinese one to accompany his performance. "I want to infuse elements of different cultures in my play."

Learning and performing face-changing also changed his life, Suresh said. "No matter what you do, you must not give up and always believe that you could do better."

With his improving skills and creative styles, Suresh now has more opportunities to perform. He hopes to play in China someday and have another opportunity to learn from Chinese artists.

"I am truly honored that I could learn face-changing," he said. "As a Malaysian, I really want to promote this art so that more people could know what is face-changing."