Chingay Parade

The highlight of our week was attending the annual Chingay Parade on Saturday night at the F1 Pit Building. Despite its name, it is not a Gay Mardi Gras but a 'Parade of Dreams'. Apparently the word “Chingay” has its roots in a Hokkien dialect referring to the Chinese art of face painting, costume and masquerade. This parade has evolved from being associated with the Lunar New Year and an all-Chinese affair in 1973, to a cosmopolitan event where a total of 11,000 multicultural participants from primary school students through to the local pioneers and our own lion dancers (of course) were joined by international acts from as far away as Russia, Turkey and Rwanda. Themed “We Love SG”, the parade celebrated Singapore’s 50th year of independence and has been branded the grandest in Chingay history.

 Arrival was very orderly thanks to the volunteers

 A countless number of women dressed in recycled plastic bag flowers were assembling for the opening segment with the Marina Bay Sands silhouette in the background as we arrived. 

The crowd were given instructions to shake their pompoms or sparkle balls on command. Each person was given a showbag with these essentials including a water bottle and poncho. 

It was loud, colourful and entertaining. A sea of We Love SG Flowers, handmade with recycled plastic bags by Singaporeans over the last nine months, as well as a gigantic birthday cake-shaped float, kicked off the extravaganza.

The only detraction for us was the announcer continually ordering us to clap, cheer or sing. I was happy to do it all voluntarily and didn't need the constant 'motivation'.  That's very typical of Asian culture though I think. 

Pioneers on bikes are a crowd favourite for us, we often see them around Clarke Quay.

Eric got a great snap of a drone which flew overhead photographing the whole procession.

After the Opening Segment the procession highlighted memories of Sg from the Malay Kampong in Early 60s.

One thing I do think is very commendable about the event is that segments of the procession floats and performances will be taken out into the heartlands throughout March so that many more people get to enjoy it.

Now hows that for costuming?

The next segments were presented by schools, businesses and community groups wishing Singapore well in the future. Some of the outfits were still pretty bizarre but the elaborately decorated floats were very impressive. 

This was followed by the international entries. The Russians performed an extraordinary display of dance and athleticism and the Indonesians really impressed with their costuming. The fire dancing and Rwandan witchdoctors were amazing.

The noise escalated as the stilt walkers set off crackers, the drummers associated with the lion dancers scared away the dragons and then the firework exploded. 

The parade closed with a segment entitled “Trees of Hope, Singapore Dreams” which saw hundreds of tree structures made from recycled bottles and designed to look like an enchanted forest move along the road accompanied by a song specially written for the occasion. I find it ironic that they associate trees with hope and future dreams but at the same time they are cutting down the trees in our local area to make way for dream condos and shopping plazas. 

It was a long day at work on Sunday.