Chingay 2017 Reflection

    On the 21st of January, we went as a whole cohort to watch the Chingay Parade rehearsal at the F1 Pit. The theme of Chingay this year was 'Soundwaves Chingay, WeCare Singapore", and was the 45th Chingay Parade. It was my first time watching Chingay, so I was very excited, as my friends who have performed in this parade previously told me that it was really enjoyable and fun. I did not know the purpose of Chingay at first, thinking it was just a multicultural festival and having little idea of what it was all about. Unfortunately, there was a downpour from the late afternoon till halfway through the show, which dampened our spirits. Being a rain-or-shine event, the show had to go on.

    While getting off the bus, we had to put on ponchos and hurry through the rain, to be greeted with dripping wet seats. At the start of the show, we were taught the Chingay cheer and it was quite a unique experience to be able to cheer with everyone else, with people from other schools whom I had never known. As the rain subsided, everyone gradually grew more enthusiastic and showed our support for the performers by cheering waving our pompoms and light sticks in the air. 

    The emcees tried to lighten the mood by cracking jokes and trying to hype up the audience. The parade was kickstarted with the Crescent and Stars dance, which consisted of 600 members of different races and ages coming together and putting on a dance. What left a deep impression on me is the iconic tiger float, which was used back in 1974 as the first Chingay float. I learnt that this was to show the younger generation of Singaporeans Chingay of the past, as part of commemorating Chingay's 45th anniversary. The performances also had a dragon dance, which is usually seen during Chinese New Year celebrations. There were also performances put up by the Malay and Indian communities, and a float of an Indian woman posing with a hand gesture commonly used in Indian dances. Seeing people of the different races and cultures of Singapore's heritage coming together to put on a performance was heartwarming as it showed the racial and religious harmony of Singapore.

    Afterwards, there was a performance put on by the Japanese Association. It showcased members waving flags in tune to the Japanese music, dancers pretending they were catching fish with nets in the waterways and a float with a huge drum on it and people drumming on it. There were also dancers representing countries like Korea and Indonesia performing. I think this showed a lot about Singapore's relations with other countries and how Singapore is a cosmopolitan city with people from different walks of life and ethnicities coming together as one. Then, there was a performance by the NS50, which made use of a special routine which demonstrated the discipline of National Service. Seeing the Land, Sea and Air of the Army, I realised how fortunate we are to have the Army to protect our country.

    Then, xinyao, Singapore songs, were played. Having known these songs since young, I had fun singing and dancing along to it and it felt nostalgic hearing them again after not listening to this type of music for a long time. At the grand finale, many pop and modern songs were played, to which my friends and I sang along to enthusiastically.

    The purpose of Chingay is to epitomise the dynamism of Singapore's vibrant and multicultural society. Chingay is zhuang yi (妆艺) in Mandarin, which means "the art of costume and masquerade" in the Hokkien dialect. Chingay is when people of different races, organisations and countries come together to perform.

    I think that Chingay fulfilled its purpose. When Chingay first began, it was to compensate for the ban on firecrackers. Now, Chingay serves a whole other, more meaningful purpose to it. The parade showcased the different cultures and races coming together to put on a awe-inspiring performance, made up of dancers and members of different organisations, of varying ages and backgrounds. Indeed, there were many costumes and it was quite a masquerade. I think it embodies Singapore's vibrant multiracial society and helps me to understand Singapore's culture better.

           Overall, it was an enriching experience, as I got to bond with my batch mates and gained a deeper understanding and appreciation of the purpose of Chingay and the different cultures in Singapore.

Japanese Float

Japanese dancers pretending to fish

Japanese Float

NS50 Float

Iconic Tiger Float

Dragon Dance

Indian Float

'Welcome to Beijing' video

In this video, I think they want to show the world Beijing's food, festivals and fashion.

For food, there were shots of a man preparing handmade noodles, a man pouring Chinese tea, and a closeup of a roasted duck.

For festivals, the celebration of Chinese New Year was shown and it depicted a family having a reunion dinner over a steamboat. Also, there were Chinese New Year decorations hung.

For fashion, the video showed several people in the Cheongsam and traditional Chinese clothes.

Photo that I chose to represent Singapore's culture

I chose this picture to represent Singapore's culture, as I mainly associate Singapore with its variety of food from different cultures. I think this shows a lot about how Singapore is a cosmopolitan city with religious harmony and peace, since many different types of food can be found in the same place.

The "C" Word

Firstly, we learnt about the 4 Fs which describes culture, namely Food, Festivals, Fashion and Folks.

For food, Singapore offers a wide variety of foods, from different races and cultures. For example, you can find all sorts of food at a hawker centre, ranging from Chinese to Western food. This includes Malay, Indian, Peranakan, Vietnamese, Hainanese and Thai food!

As for festivals, Singapore hosts many religious festivals such as the Chingay Parade, Deepavali, Hari Raya, Chinese New Year and Racial Harmony Day. Festivals such as Chingay and Racial Harmony Day especially help to maintain religious harmony among the different races as Singapore is multiracial. Racial Harmony Day is largely promoted in primary schools, so as to enforce the importance of interracial harmony at a young age. In primary school, my school strongly encouraged us to wear traditional costumes of other races and learn about the cultures and traditions of our own and others' races and religions.

For fashion, since Singapore is so multiracial, on different festivals and occasions, the different races put on their respective traditional costumes, such as how on Chinese New Year, we put on traditional clothes, like the Qipao, and wear red clothing to represent prosperity.

For folks, Singapore is a cosmopolitan country, whereby there are many people of different races and religions. Mostly, everyone has good relationships with one another and live harmoniously together as one nation.

Singaporean vs PRC Chinese

self introduction

Hello i am Yuu Wei from 2F!! My CCA is infocomm and i love it because I have the chance to film school events and interact with seniors and batch mates through competitions! What i enjoy doing most is studying with my friends, like during the december holidays last year. I also enjoy chain dabbing with friends in class as it can make even boring lessons fun!! Another hobby of mine is looking at memes with Zihui and appreciating my favourite show Lazy Town together! My new year's resolutions are to pay more attention in class and do my schoolwork more enthusiastically. I like listening to Rui Kyi ranting about her life on the way home from school, such as telling me to Reflect, Appreciate and Ponder, also known as RAP. Tay Teng Gialina rasa pelangi dan pena Hijau kegemaran saya! I enjoy school life a lot !!