Development of Psychodrama in Malaysia
Swek Huey Tan MA, CP
When Molly Mo TEP invited me to write an article about the development of psychodrama in Malaysia, I agreed without hesitation. This article was written based on my personal experience and effort that I contributed to the growth of psychodrama in the four cities in Malaysia i.e., Malacca, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, and Johor Bahru. There might be other people who have contributed to the development of psychodrama in Malaysia that I am not aware of. Any missing information will be presented whenever there is a future opportunity.
I attended Dr. Gong Shu TEP’s psychodrama class in January 2014. That was the final psychodrama class of Dr. Gong in Malaysia. I was very keen to learn psychodrama in a systematic
approach at that time and did not take the money and time factors needed into consideration. I think if I were a little more rational and thoughtful in planning ahead, I would have given
up at that time.
Today, seven years later, I became a certified psychodramatist! I feel honored for this achievement. ‘Seven years’ was equivalent to the time spent to obtain a bachelor and master degree. However, I know deeply that it was worthwhile to go through this learning process. I thought of Irvin D. Yalom’s words: “Knowledge is relinquished when desire opposes it.” This statement impacted me deeply. Nobody can stop the power of desire! I guess it was my inner desire to have a better
life, which made me fly to Suzhou in March 2014 and re-enter Dr. Gong Shu’s classroom. Of course, there were many other important reasons for me to do so, including that psychodrama allows me to continuously expand my role repertoire. This was very attractive to me.
In 1998, Dr. Gong Shu was invited by Madam Ng Lui Feng to Malaysia for the first time. After more than ten years of teaching psychodrama in Malaysia, she decided to discontinue the classes there. Therefore, in July 2014, I invited Mr. Erdong Wang, TEP, to come to Malaysia to conduct his first psychodrama class in Malaysia. In the beginning, the recruitment of participants to join his class was tough. The main reason was that Mr. Erdong Wang was not known among Malaysians. As a result, the enrolment number for his first class was low. Nevertheless, his reputation built up via word of mouth after his first class.
In July 2015, I arranged for Mr. Erdong Wang to introduce psychodrama in three cities in Malaysia: a lecture at Southern University of Johor Bahru; a one-day workshop in Penang; and a five-day workshop in Malacca. This time, I launched a long-term psychodrama training course officially. In 2016, Mr. Erdong Wang continued to conduct a series of lectures, a one-day experiential workshop and a five-day long-term training in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, and Malacca successively. Although there were some obstacles in the process, the long-term learning group was eventually set up. We had the first batch of team members who were inspired to become certified psychodramatists, though the number is small.
Dr. Gong Shu taught psychodrama in Malaysia from 1998 to 2014. This could be considered the pioneer stage of psychodrama in Malaysia. From 2014 to 2019, Mr. Erdong Wang and I went to various cities in Malaysia to introduce psychodrama. I feel that we were spreading the seeds of psychodrama and this could be considered the sowing stage. Unfortunately, in 2020, we had to move supervision class online due to the Pandemic.
This year, there are Malaysians who have successfully become certified psychodramatists. I personally think that Dr. Gong Shu and Mr. Erdong Wang contributed the most to this achievement. In the development process of psychodrama in Malaysia, there are people who reclaimed and sowed. Today there are seedlings growing.
Erdong Wang TEP group photo of a 5-day Psychodrama workshop in 2016.
Erdong Wang: 2nd row, the 6th person (with glasses) from the left. The person in blue jacket besides him is the author, Swek Huey Tan MA, CP.
I am deeply touched by Mr. Erdong Wang for his dedication in introducing psychodrama to Malaysians. He was willing to work with me to conduct the systematic long-term training course without calculating on the remuneration. Although his schedule was always very tight, he worked hard to recruit more
students during his limited time in Malaysia.
This is how I helped to introduce psychodrama in Malaysia.I believe that in the future, more Malaysians will join this big family of psychodrama. I am looking forward to witness more seedlings coming out from the soil.
I truly appreciate and offer my utmost gratitude to Dr. Gong Shu, TEP, and Mr. Erdong Wang, TEP, for their dedication.
