“This is it, this is Chingay!” I thought to myself as I stood there, mere metres away a young Primary School girl, in her flamboyant costume dancing to Latin music, cheers, loud narrations and fire cracker sounds. Normally, I would have just cupped my ears and walked away from the cacophony but no, tonight it’s different.
To me, Chingay 2015 , SG50 Edition encapsulates the 5 Shared National Values* that knit the very fabric of our tiny, multiracial society together for the past 50 years. Seeing the performers dance and move as if the stage was theirs and theirs alone moved me…especially when I think of the countless hours and precious weekends they have put into rehearsals…As I look around, masses of performers young and old, from all races, all walks of life, all age groups, jiving, rocking and celebrating our country, touched me to the core.
Chingay, an event where huge masts of flags were balanced on the heads, chins or backs of performers accompanied by large floats and skillful acrobats, first originated in South-East Asia in my very hometown of Penang about 100 years ago. It has been making its annual appearance in Singapore since 1973, first at Orchard, then City Hall and now Marina Bay. Here in secular Singapore, its original procession in celebration of the Lunar New Year has morphed into a national carnival-like, a mardi gras of sorts where communities come together to celebrate the cultural diversity that has made us so uniquely Singapore.
The Chingay 2015, SG50 Edition showcases an impressive turnout of 11,000 volunteer performers – from as young as 5 to 84 years old (the oldest ever in the parade’s history). Added to that are 17 international groups comprising of our ASEAN neighbours and even friends from far flung countries like Rwanda, Russia and the USA – a small testament of Singapore’s successful foreign affair policies. Also present were 3,000 parade volunteers and motivators to ‘ra-ra’ the 600,000 live audiences from across the 2 nights at the F1 pit building and a street night fiesta at Orchard Road. Prior to the Parade, 500,000 members of the public from all across island were roped in to create the Singapore Trees of Hope and the 800,000 ‘We Love SG’ Flowers attached to the performers’ can-can costumes. It’s remarkable that they were all hand made using recyclable materials such as our common supermarket plastic bags. Even more staggering is the fact that behind every participant are scores of friends and family members cheering them on as they give of their time, effort, toil and sweat to make Chingay 2015 a success.
Whatever the numbers, when the floats and performances made their appearances one-by-one, it was evident that everyone did it single-mindedly – to come together and celebrate Singapore’s 50th Birthday; to come together and reaffirm the vision that together, we can make our good home, a better home. Nothing could have said it better than through the smiles, the energy and the exuberance of each performer, usher, marshal, backstage crew etc…Everyone coming together to make Chingay 2015 a spectacular and infectious parade like no other.
As the night capped with an awesome display of fireworks, poms poms and cheers, a voice-over was played – the distinctly familiar (recorded) voice of our first Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, saying, “This is not a Chinese country…Singapore is not a Chinese country nor a Malay country nor an Indian country…” He was right, this is every Singaporean’s country, regardless of race, language or religion. So as we celebrate, we celebrate the meritocracy and the diversity that unite us as Singaporeans, 50 years and beyond. So, let the party live on!
*Singapore’s 5 Shared National Values are: Nation before Society and Society above self, Family as the basic unit of society, Community Support and Respect for the Individual, Consensus, not conflict, Racial and Religious Harmony.
Photo Highlights from Chingay 2015: SG50 Edition
Pre-parade segment: learning drumming from a Rwanda member…
Only at Chingay: performers who were out of this world…
‘Thank you for saving the earth!’ Jumping for joy in front of the recycled ‘Trees of Hopes’…
One of our famous exports – JJ Lin, lights up the evening with a finale song, ‘Dreams’…
This float…takes the cake…
This little girl danced as if the whole stage was hers. That’s the spirit!
Veteran Malay singer, Rahimah Rahim led the Malay Kampung contingent…
Thai performers added colour and grace…
The Russians gave a spectacular ethnic dance…
Part of the cheerleading contingent from Stamford American School…
Dazzling floats…
Chinese and Japanese performers…
Seen at Chingay 2015 – Many colourful headgears…
…and elaborate, outlandish costumes…
The South Koreans did a unique head-spinning dance…
No party is complete without Banghra dance…
The Grandest Parade for Singapore’s 50th!
This is afterall still CNY period…so this fella shows up and was chased around…
A pleasant surprise: fireworks lighting up the sky!
Chingay 2015, SG50 Edition – nothing short of spectacular!
My favourite shot, my last shot in fact as I was preparing to keep my camera but this caught my eye – a performer taking a pause to soak in the revelry at Chingay…
Here’s your chance to catch a glimpse of Chingay 2015 Parade at the following heartland venues:
Ang Mo Kio GRC & Sengkang West
Start Point: 70 Sengkang West Avenue, S(797651) End Point: Blk 409, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, S(560409)
Saturday, 7 March 2015
7.00pm-9.30pm Start Point: Serangoon Avenue 3 (right in front of Braddell Heights CC) End Point: Bedok North Ave 1, S(461035) Saturday, 14 March 2015 6.30pm-10.00pm Start Point: Blk 140 – 141 Petir Road S670141 End Point: Blk 140 – 141 Petir Road S670141 (return to starting point) Sunday, 15 March 2015 7.00pm-10.30pm Start Point: Blk 664C Jurong West Street 64, S(643664) End Point: Blk 78B, Telok Blangah Drive, S(100078) Saturday, 21 March 2015 6.00pm-10.30pm Start Point: Hard court outside Blk 320 Sembawang Drive End Point: Multi-purpose court in front of Block 838, Yishun Street 81 Saturday, 28 March 2015 6.30pm-10.00pm
What’s really amazing is also how this has become so international. What a feast for the eyes, and thank you for sharing it here with us!
Thank you so much for taking the photo of my little girl and sharing of all the lovely photos…