Noah and Daniel with the parade cheering paraphernalia
Wikipedia explains that: "The Chingay Parade is an annual street parade held in Malaysia and Singapore in celebration with [sic] the birthdays of the Chinese deities or the procession of the Goddess of Mercy (Guanyin) as part of the Chinese New Year festivities. The term Chingay itself originated from the Chinese communities of Southeast Asia, which is a phonetic equivalent of both the Chinese words "真艺" which means "true art" in the Penang version, and "妆艺", which means "a decorated miniature stage" or float in the Singapore version." It was indeed a procession of floats...
The good luck float I think
From the side
The Sentosa float...
Lion dances...
LED kites
Acrobats...
This was Noah's favorite part - people on stilts with fireworks coming out of wheels on their backs
The theme for this year was "Colors of Fabric - one people". The actual website for the event states that "From the main parade site to the heartlands, this street extravaganza epitomises the dynamism of Singapore's vibrant and multicultural society."
The "One people" float
The parade was a strange (and fun) mix of new year festivities, rara Singapore, and propaganda. The event was televised and they had us rehearse cheers (with pompoms and all as you saw above). Our Singaporean egos were boosted as we were told that "we are one people", Singapore likes families and takes care of its neighborhoods" (there were all kinds of very local dance schools and music schools marching in the parade - it had a "by the people for the people "feel to it). We were also told not too subtly to have more children and to garden (the Singapore home garden floats were massive and many - part of Singapore's initiatives to keep pollution down).
Processions of colorful fabrics
With the flyer in the background
A long multicolored tapestry like fabric
Horse people
Happy year of the horse! Don't forget to have children and to garden!
This looks fantastic... What an exciting place to grow up in !!!!
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