Keagan (^_^)/

Chingay started out as an event to compensate the ban of firecrackers in Singapore, which was a practice to drive away evil spirits. Chingay started in 1973, the year of the ox, and depicted many aspects of the Chinese culture, such as the lion dance, dragon dance, martial arts and street opera. However, since the first Chingay, there have been many vast changes to the Chingay event. One such example is in 1976, where they started adding the multicultural flavour, making the event a celebration for not just the Chinese but also for the Malays, Indians and Eurasians. Another such example is in 1987, when The Straits Times sponsored 4 pop singers from Japan. This year, I managed to watch the event up close. Our school had sent all of the year 2s to watch a full dress rehearsal of the event on 31st January. At the event, I managed to watch the event and saw that this year's Chingay performance had a few main segments. The first segment, which involved the People's Association Youth Movement had many youths dressed in illuminated costumes, waving flags and dancing. Next, there were Chinese, Indian and Malay cultural performances, which displayed many of Singapore's local culture and heritage. Next, there were performances by what looked like many other countries' talents, signifying how far Singapore has come and the number of international allies we have. Last but most definitely not the least, we had the grand finale, where all of the carriages from the past performances were brought out. They looked majestic together as they travelled from one end of the F1 Pit Building to the other. This segment lived up to its name, ending Chingay 2016 off with plenty of fireworks and the sky lanterns that were decorated by the citizens. Overall, I felt like I enjoyed this whole event and I am grateful towards the school for allowing us to experience this wonderful performance and giving us a chance to attend the rehearsal for Chingay 2016!