上世紀60年代，新、馬地區因新興娛樂的崛起，促使華語戲曲內臺商業演出急遽沒落。1980年代，馬來西亞經濟快速成長，社會轉型，許多劇種相繼消失，只有歌仔戲因為採取「幕表戲」制，擁有較大的運作彈性，它以廟會演劇為溫床，仍能保有不少在地職業戲班。在嚴峻的環境中，少數劇團以獨到的經營策略，異軍突起，打開華人廟會演劇市場，交出漂亮的戲路業績。「筱麒麟」閩劇團是值得注意的鮮明例子，它由著名編導劉虎臣和名小生演員筱金枝主持，前身是1960年代中期自新加坡大型遊藝場「世界」出走馬來西亞的「新麒麟」閩劇團。「新麒麟」鼎盛時期的劇藝內涵、經營手法和品牌格局，是它在馬來西亞代表性廟會劇場開拓戲路，創造特有表演風貌的重要底蘊。1980年代末，「新麒麟」改團名為「筱麒麟」，並於1991年重回新加坡登記，成為雙牌照的跨國劇團。劉虎臣夫婦在劇目創新和表演方面表現出色。他們成功的關鍵在於能因應時勢，以「三個據點，三套戲籠」的營運方式，化本身的「不足」為「優勢」。上世紀末「筱麒麟」在馬來西亞的巡演足跡，勾勒了最具代表性的華人文化地圖。而在端出吸引觀眾的戲碼，經營策略奏效的同時，也為歌仔戲這個具備高度「包容性」和「隨機性」的劇種，注入了新的表演內涵，塑造了新風貌，並內化為馬來西亞歌仔戲藝術的重要成分。

In the 1960s, due to the rise of new entertainments in Singapore and Malaysia, commercial performances of Chinese opera suffered a rapid decline. In the 1980s, with strong economic growth and social transformation in Malaysia, many genres of theater disappeared one after another. Only gezaixi opera managed to pull through. With its highly flexible “scenario drama” mechanism and the hotbed of temple fair performances, a number of local professional troupes persevered. A few troupes employed unique management strategies under stringent circumstances and succeeded in opening up new venues of Chinese temple fair theater. Sió Kî-lîn is one of the notable exemples. It has been administered by the famous playwright/director Liu Huchen and his wife, the famous leading male role Xiao Jinzhi. Its predecessor is the Xin Kî-lîn Fujian theater troupe of Singapore, which migrated to Malaysia in the mid–1960s. The gist of Xin Kî-lîn’s theatrical art, its business practices and corporation layout in its prime laid a solid foundation for its expansion in Malaysia and its distinctive performing style. In the late 1980s, Xin Kî-lîn changed its name to Sió Kî-lîn. Subsequently it returned to Singapore in 1991 and became a theatrical troupe with licenses registered in both countries. Liu Huchen and his wife excelled in repertoire innovation and performance. The key to their success lies in their adaptability to changing times and their “three bases, three theater trunks” operation mode that turns their weakness into strength. Sió Kî-lîn’s tour itinerary of the late last century outlined a most representative Chinese cultural map. While they launch appealing plays with successfully management strategy, they also imbue new significance into this highly “inclusive” and “incidental” theater genre of gezaixi. The new style they fashioned has been internalized to become important elements of Malaysian gezaixi arts.