Arts, Culture and Heritage in Singapore: Annual Chingay Parade

Hi everyone, we are a group of polytechnic students on a mission to promote the various arts, cultures and heritages in Singapore. We will be visiting places in Singapore, give descriptions on various events and provide clinical insight on the heritage of Singapore. We hope to as informational as possible yet provide fun and interesting facts in our upcoming posts.

Feel free to comment on our posts on the tagboard if you have any suggestions or ideas to improve our blog.

We will start off by providing information about the annual Singapore Chingay Parade.

Chungqing Tong Liang Dragon Culture Development, China performing the Tong Liang Fire Dragon dance beneath a fiery showers of sparks at the Chingay Parade 2009.

One of the cultures of Singapore is to celebrate the Chingay Parade during the Chinese New Year period. So therefore, this week, we are going to introduce the Chingay Parade to everyone. It has originated from our heritage and the elaborate make up done on the performers showcases Singapore's art.

About The Chingay Parade

Every year, Singaporeans from all walks of life would come together to celebrate an event called The Chingay Parade. The Chingay Parade showcases the great diversity of the cultures found in Singapore. Floats parade along the streets are full of colourful ensembles, showing the essence of their own traditional arts and flavours of their culture. The expression of arts and culture could be evidently seen during the parade.

The Chingay Parade also welcomes the participation of other countries which are eager to showcase their country’s culture and beauty. This further enhances Singapore’s image as a cosmopolitan country. People from anywhere and everywhere are welcomed to be part of the Chingay parade.

The parade is a major form of celebration of the Chinese New Year in Singapore, and it shall continue to be for a long time. The parade captures the essence of Singapore: our unique multi-racial and multi-cultural society.

The History of Chingay Parade

The idea of the Chingay Parade originated from Penang, Malaysia. A huge parade was organized to welcome the season of spring in February. Chingay, a hokkien phrase, literally means “to paint faces and wear elaborate costumes”. The parade in Malaysia caught the eyes of many in Singapore and they wondered if it was possible to have a similar parade here on our tiny island.
Then in 1972, firecrackers were banned by the government as they were causing many serious injuries to people during Chinese New Year. To keep up the lively spirit of Chinese New Year, Chingay Singapore was born! In replacement of firecrackers was the Chingay Parade which was a huge success when it was first organized in 1973. Back then, performers were all Chinese as they performed many cultural activities related to Chinese New Year. Some of these performances included the traditional lion dance and big-headed dolls.

As years passed by, the decorations for each performance group grew more elaborate as these groups were competing every year for the best performance. Floats became motorized and extravagantly decorated with brightly coloured lights that caught lots of attention. Costumes got more and more creative every year and so did each parade. More importantly, the unique cultural diversity found in Singapore was incorporated into the parade. The different ethnic groups participated in the parade, performing acts that were unique to their culture and ethnic groups.

With such a diverse mix of cultural performances in the parade, there was a need to have the parade at a location where all in Singapore could witness such an event. Hence, the parade moved from the heartlands to Orchard Road in 1985 and has been held there till 2007. Since 2008, the parade has been held at City Hall-Marina Bay area as organizers felt the location allowed more people to witness the parade at a much better view. From then on, the Chingay Parade has become so prominent every year in Singapore that thousands of Singaporeans and tourist all around the world flock down to City Hall to catch the parade ‘live’.

Such an event is one not to be missed, especially if you are looking to experience the true Singapore spirit of racial harmony where no one is left out of our Singapore family. The Chingay Parade truly is Uniquely Singapore.

Highlights of Chingay Parade 2009

This year’s Chingay Parade, themed “Wonderland”, showcased a wide variety of Art. These included floats representing 13 groups and organizations, lots of song and dance, as well as a unique magic and illusion performance as a grand finale.

Chingay Parade 2009 was opened by the highly acclaimed No 1 China Dragon, Tong Liang Fire Dragon (Chong-qing, China). The performance captivates the audience's attention with its creative use of sparks and the skills required in handling the paper dragon. "The trio of Dragon Float", one of the tallest and mechanical wonder created by Professors and Assoc. Professors in NTU, wowed audiences with its uniqueness and remarkable blend of art and science.

A sensational singing piece entitled 'Banquet' written by Iskanda Ismail, inspired by a poem written by renowned Poet Prof. Edwin Thumboo, started off the spectacular Chingay finale. George Chan (famous theatre artiste) and Nancy Yuen (well-known Soprano) portrayed the image of a King and Queen while singing the 'Banquet'. The Children's choir from the Singapore Lyric Opera supported them throughout the piece.

There was also an astounding number of 4000 performers from 40 organizations across the country. This vibrant parade also brought together cultural groups from 8 different countries. Local international communities were not forgotten and all these organizations had a role in this spectacular parade. This best displays the wide cultural diversity Singapore is blessed with and it certainly shows our creativity in the arts.

One of our members, Dominic, had an opportunity to help out in the Chingay Parade 2009. He describes it as a 'must see' event of the year! This event captures all three categories of our blog, which are cultures, arts and heritages. The different cultures that the event showcases really shows the best of the racial diversity in Singapore. Also, the performances that were displayed were mesmerizing and will certainly take your breath away. There will also be tons of photo taking opportunities so don't forget to bring along your cameras! You would definitely want to capture that "Kodak" moment among the vibrant and upbeat performances by the many participants. Dominic recommends that everyone should experience the Chingay Parade at least once in their life!

Highlights of upcoming Chingay 2010

The Chingay 2010 Grand Opening, “The Soaring City!” will feature majestic flying horses and fantasy characters. There will also be traditional dragon and lion dancers that would seize the parade grounds by storm! Also be prepared for the first ever Chingay’s crackling fire-cracker dragons!

Performances would also include legendary well-loved tales like the Butterfly Lovers, Puteri Gunung Ledang and Indralogam. If you noticed, there is an element of racial harmony in the performances as it features Singapore’s rich multi-ethnicity.

For the first time in the history of Chingay, the story of Yellow River黄河 and the Ganges River恒河would take the centre stage. Also, the grandest finale of Chingay history would debut in Chingay 2010 themed “Colours of the Lion City and Celebrations”, which is a collaboration between the People’s Association Youth Movement, Resorts World at Sentosa, Singapore Soka Association and many other multi-cultural partners.

The Chingay 2010 will be held on Friday, 19 February and Saturday, 20 February from City Hall to Raffles Avenue.

Pictures of The Chingay Parade 2009