Chingay Reflection

Before going for Chingay on the 21th of January, I had little idea of what Chingay was about and had never watched one live before. Thus, i was really excited for the learning journey. I did research on the background history of Chingay and found out that it was originally held at Orchard Road shopping belt. This made me wonder why there was a need for the change in venue. This aroused my curiosity and through my thorough research, it was to celebrate the millennium in 2000 and so the procession took a new route,still used until today, beginning at City Hall and ending at the Suntec City Fountain of Wealth.

On that very day, what welcomed me was a sky filled with ominous clouds and my class and I dressed in transparent raincoats at the F1 Pit. It was drizzling but what touched me even before the event had started were the volunteers who stood in the rain with their raincoats on ushering the audience, which in this case were the students from various primary and secondary schools. They braved the rain and encouraged us to move faster to make sure that we would be able to get to our seats faster and cause lesser jams along the way.                             

Since my class was the last to leave the school, upon reaching my seat, the show had already begun. The rain still poured down

The breathtaking view despite the drizzle!

 and some of us took out their umbrellas to block the raindrops from touching them. However, this posed as a problem and annoyance to those siting behind them because the raindrops that flowed down the surface of the umbrella dripped at the tip, making a puddle of water in the curved hole on the raincoat, near the lap. Nonetheless, i still got to see the breathtaking scenery of the Singapore Flyer from the top of the seats and the waterway that was going to be used the different event segments.

The two emcees, one speaking English and one translating it to Chinese, of the show talked more about Chingay and how it has become over the years of planning of the programmes. They introduced the theme of this year's Chingay, Soundwaves Chingay, WeCare Singapore and listed some of the event highlights. I think that since Singapore is multiracial and multicultural country, there was a need for another emcee to help those that could only understand Chinese but it made me wonder what about the other races. 

The grand opening!

As the sky slowly turned dark, the grand opening finally began. From my seat, i could see performers from different races coming together to perform, united as one. There were 600 performers from all races, ages and background. As they pulled the crescent moon and the five stars on our national flag, it exemplifies and uplifts the five core values--democracy, justice, peace, progress and prosperity. There was the showcase of 1,500 organisations of different backgrounds using specially designed "WeCare Sinagpore" banners. The performance was lively and mesmerising. What accompanied it was the perfectly-timed lighting and the slow rhythm of a song which made the segment even more perfect. I was really amazed me and felt fresh.


Somewhere along the show, the rain took to a halt and something that i will never forget is the incorporation of xinyao songs or Singapore songs into some of the segments. I sang along to the melancholy tune and reminisce the good old days where i heard or watched the music videos of those songs that really shape the Singapore of today. It made me realise how much Singapore has grown and induced me to feel proud for being a Singaporean, a part of Singapore. Some songs were familiar to my ears while i racked my brain to figure out songs that seemed rather hard for me to remember their names. Nevertheless, i had a fun time jamming along to the songs and even getting to know more about my friends who are into it as well! Different ethnic groups also performed with the xinyao songs and i am really proud that despite the difference in languages, races or even religions, we still work together, understand and appreciate every ethnicity.  

The firework display!

The finale was the showcase of the stunning water, fire, snow and lightning effects and made many in awe and amazement, especially me. It summarised this year's theme and displayed the youth's energy and confidence in overcoming the challenged ahead. What's a good show without fireworks? The fireworks used burst into different shapes and colours, giving off an high-spirited aura. However, the fireworks burst out behind me so i had to keep turning around in order to capture the fireworks that made me dumbfounded tons and tons of time. It made me wonder why and i was frustrated by the unfair of treatment but i soon broadened my point  of view and noticed that there were primary school students sitting opposite me. I immediately understood the treatment and the sacrifice that i had to make, just to make the experience for them a good and memorable one.  

Through the one hour plus show, it has really benefited me in many different kinds of way and i really appreciate and is grateful for this learning journey organised by the school. It has also answered my question that i had in mind throughout the whole show which is "So, what is Chingay?" To me, Chingay is  the time to showcase the variety of arts and masquerade by different races and countries.During the show, I noticed that the many of the show segments and performers were of different races and culture and this made me wonder why there was a need to do so. It soon dawned on me that Chingay is also a unique national festival celebrated by different races, religions, ages and creed with no barriers to separate Singaporeans and in turn allow us to celebrate together as one. Therefore, i deeply feel that Chingay has indeed fulfilled its purpose from my very own experience. It was neither a Malay festival nor a Indian festival but our own Singaporean festival. It was also neither mainly a Japanese show nor a mainly Singapore show but a mixture of different countries' cultures that makes Chingay special. I hope that Singapore's multiple interrelationships can  last long and make the future Chingay performances even more enriching and more exciting.  

The grand finale! 

This is really innovative!