Chingay Parade 2014

Started in 1973, the festival began as a neighborhood parade with only Chinese cultural elements. Today, the Chingay Parade has evolved to be one of Asia's grandest streets and floats parades, showcasing the rich, vibrant multi-culturalism of Singapore and exciting global cultures. A dazzling extravaganza of colors and cultural diversity, this signature and iconic event created by the Singaporean people, gives them much to be proud of. With the involvement of many organizations and communities, it highlights the rich multi-ethnic and cosmopolitan cultures in a way that is uniquely Singaporean. 

Chingay 2014 celebrates the "We Are One" Singapore spirit. The parade's theme "Colours of Fabric, One People" is reflected in the fabric art of batik painting and tapestries knitting created by tens of thousands of people from different races, ages, estates, and backgrounds.

Growing up in Cebu where I get to experience the Sinulog festival annually and having resided in Southern California for several years and witnessed the Rose Parade, I  had high expectations of Chingay. This year, we had the opportunity to witness the Chingay Parade Singapore, live! The word Chingay translates from Mandarin zhuang yi, which means ‘the art of costume and masquerade’ in the Hokkien dialect. A total of 500 performers from six countries took part in this years' parade.  

Few days ago, we got to visit the River Hongbao so we were kind of anticipating and had our minds set that the grand stand in that area be the venue of Chingay. Turned out we got it wrong. We got off City Hall train station around 6:45 pm and our tickets say we needed to be seated at around 7:00 pm. So we barely had 15 minutes to rush to our designated seats. Considering the magnitude of the crowd, the efficiency and systematic flow of traffic got us there on right on time. It happened last Fri 7 - Sat 8 Feb 2014 at F1 Pit Building. 

Goddess of Fortune giving out red packets to the crowd

Several teen volunteers lined up the passageway, greeted us with smiles, ushered us to our seats and stowed the stroller for us. They handed us a goodie bag stuffed with candies, leaflets, pom-poms, poncho (in case it drizzles), scarf, and water. We settled just one row below the topmost spot in the bleachers. Behind us was a lovely Singaporean couple, the husband was clearly a photography enthusiast while the wife was capturing the event on her video cam. I asked if he can take our family photo and he willingly did. While many were still making their way to their seats, the grand stand announcer was hyping up the crowd by having us practice some cheers and do some wave-- the atmosphere was electrifying! A goddess of fortune carrying a basketful of ang pao was handing them out and Nina was able to receive one. While waiting for the parade to begin, I got out of my seat to get a better, unobstructed view of the surrounding. Meanwhile, the two were goofing around taking two-fies of themselves in their seat.  

These three adorable kids caught my attention as they gleefully and playfully waved at the crowd at the start of the parade

The largest and longest batik painting ever created in Singapore crawls slowly and fills the entire street of the F1 pit area 

It has taken six months and 1,300 litres of batik dye to complete what has been dubbed the longest and largest artpiece ever created in Singapore. 

The finishing touches were added on Wednesday to the batik painting, measuring 360m in length and 10m in width, by about 100 pupils from Meridian Primary School.
The cloth painting will deck the route at next year's Chingay Parade, set to take place on Feb 7 and 8 at the F1 Pit Building. 

It was completed during a Chingay media conference held at the school in Pasir Ris.
Made of 260 cloth panels sewn together, the artwork features different flower motifs, including the national flower Vanda Miss Joaquim. Entitled "Paint with One Heart", the project began in May and is the combined work of some 40,000 participants comprising Singaporeans and immigrants. 

Local batik art trainer Ika Sarkasi, 46, said he and his wife outlined the floral motifs for the artwork while the actual painting was done by the participants.
He said: "It was a challenge for me as a facilitator but what mattered was that everyone had fun." 

Mr Ang Hak Seng, chief executive director of the People's Association, which has organised the parade since its inception, said 20 per cent of the artwork's participants were new immigrants. He told reporters: "Through the co-creation of fabric arts such as batik painting, we hope to bring together people of diverse backgrounds across Singapore - people from all generations, races, religions and estates."
Some 70,000 people are expected to take part in next year's parade, which is themed "Colours of Fabric, One People." 

Local talents who will be involved in the parade include music director Goh Kheng Long, 46, who has worked with Taiwanese singer-actor Wang Lee Hom. Mr Goh composed and arranged the parade's opening song - "Paint With One Heart". (written by Carolyn Chew for The Straits Times dated 16 Nov 2013)

We were impressed by this massive artistic tapestry! It was like a stream of water flowing towards us. A combination of smoke, light display, and fireworks also kicked off the night's festivities. Too bad our little one couldn't hold his eyelids up anymore.    

The grandstand was classified into sectors. As the float contingents were passing through, being on the start of the B sector and the end of sector A which were close next to each other, we got confused on where to direct our attention as the music and the announcer's voices were overlapping. We figured out that when they arrive at a certain sector, they wait for their music to begin playing then they perform. This is just one of the few minor concern. Well, who knows? If we were seated at the middle of a sector, maybe the experience might have been different. Anyways, may it serve as an advice if you wish to participate in one next year. Reserve a seat at the middle of a sector.

Balancing a 60-ft bamboo pole is the centerpiece in Pole Act Confucianism

This was one of my favorite highlight of the night. These towering flag poles with painting and calligraphy were neatly made. As it is lifted and straightened up, several persons are involved. But as soon as it is pointed upwards, only one person is left carrying this sizable thing. He tries to quickly move his feet around maintaining his and the pole's balance as the rest watch over. From a far, it looked to me each one tries to hold it up for as long as he can then switch turns so they could last the entire stretch. This is called the Pole Acts - Confucianism. Act 3: Happy Lunar New Year actually was where most of my favorites came from. In it were the Stilt Walkers (with firecrackers in them), Lion Dance, Fujian Huotong String Lions Dance, and Traditional Hock Chew Lantern Dragon Dance. It wasn't until the pole act that the air started to clear of the smoke. Both from the many smoke machines alongside the parade route and firecrackers from the performers. The dynamic lighting and visibility was a challenge in taking photos but I managed to snap some good ones.

Bollywood-style dance, Varnajalam - Joy of Colors by the Indian community here in Singapore

Embracing Tomorrow with Grace performed by combined community center ballet contingents

Confetti blasts through the air as Broadway Youngstarz by People's Association Youth Movement culminates their presentation

The weave-cloth themed dance is by the Koronadal Hinugyaw Cultural Dance Troupe  - Philippines

Being too close to the action for almost the entire duration of the parade, squatting in the steps so as not to obstruct the view behind, and having a lot of smoke in your face was just too much. I decided to ascend the bleachers and back into my seat. As I was biting on my kebab which we hurriedly grabbed by the River Hongbao area, Nina bugged me to snap the International Medley Item which include the Italy, Korea, and the Philippines. Though each delegate had only few performers, it was still visually pleasing. Overall, it was a fresh outlook and peek into the diversified culture of Asia. The grand finale (see video below) was another highlight of our night.

Incredible event.