Chingay Presentation slides

http://www.haikudeck.com/p/4uH3mD3yPr

"Colours of Fabric, One people, 布海同心"

The word Chingay is equivalent to the Mandarin zhuang yi (妆艺), which means "the art of costume and masquerade" in the Hokkien dialect. It isa national event and the largest street performance and float parade in Asia. It shows Singapore's vibrant and multicultural society. 

Yijun: My favourite performance would be the Chinese culture, which includes the dragon dance. Dragon dance is a form of traditional dance and performance in Chinese culture. It is most often seen in festive celebrations. The dance is performed by a team of dancers who manipulate a long flexible figure of a dragon using poles positioned at regular intervals along the length of the dragon. The dance team mimics the supposed movements of a dragon swirling and twisting about.

The theme of this year's chingay parade would be “ Colours of fabric, One people ” the meaning behind the theme would be to bring the people of Singapore together regardless of where we come from or which race we are from. This is very important as if the different races in Singapore does not get along, there would be riots between each other and the people of Singapore would not be able to live in harmony and safety anymore. Therefore the theme holds a very important message. Also, what caught my eyes during the parade would be the little children who were performing the Spanish dance, they seem to be kindergarten kids but they are very brave to be performing in front of so many people. In addition, their dance is very good for their age, regardless they did their best and was very impressive. After the performance, the parade had left me with a great impression on the importance of racial harmony, it is when every race comes together as one. If is no harmony between races there would be riots and fights between them, the Singapore we see as today would also no longer be possible, the safety and harmony we are having with our neighbors and friend of different races will also be ruined. Therefore, harmony between the people of Singapore is of great significance.

Wee Hung: Even though the Chingay originated from china, today, Chingay performed in Singapore is not only performed by the Chinese but also by the Malays and Indians. I think that it is important to have different races in Singapore because we would be able to learn the different cultures and traditions. The multicultural society of Singapore makes us special and unique. Also, what made Singapore's chingay parades unique is the multiracial performance and the songs of different languages.

Sharlene: Upon hearing that our school's Year 2s get to have the opportunity to go to the Chingay performance, I was startled! It came as a surprise and I was looking forward to witness the whole performance from the F1 pit! This year's Chingay is "Colours of Fabric, One people, 布海同心." I feel that the theme really brings out the meaning of many different races coming together to put up a performance as part of the Lunar New Year celebrations as different cultures has different costumes of many colours thus "Colours of Fabric". Each and every performer have a similar goal of performing as one. I've learnt the importance of harmony as well as to keep each race's cultures known to the future generations like the Malay's Wayang Kulit and the Chinese's Getai performance. I like how they introduce different performance slowly for us as audience to take in the dances and message to put across to us. A few of my favourites are the Singapore Getai "新加坡歌台", mass children ballet display from the different communities and the Indian Bollywood-themed Performance! It was my first time seeing so many ballerinas performing so elegantly and they were dancing to the song "Swan Lake" but with a bit of remix. There were ballerinas of different ages, from little children to adults but they were all gracefully showing of their dance moves and standing on their toes. I felt really mesmerized as I do not know ballet but I heard my friends remarked that it takes a lot of practice before being able to stand on toes. All in all, all the performance were stunning and the amount of performers was uncountable, the effort they put in to hold such a parade was recognized and I really enjoyed myself thoroughly during this celebration. 

Shaun: The cultures I saw in this year's parade was the Malay and Indian cultures. Originating from china, it suggests that chingay should involve mostly Chinese, especially as it is held during the Chinese New Year season. However, Singapore's chingay parade includes the Malay and Indian cultures. Drawing to this year's theme,  colors of fabric, one people 布海同心, it is proof that people of all races can work together to make Singapore a better place. This year's chingay parade theme promotes racial harmony. I think this is a very important point especially in a multi-racial country like Singapore to prevent conflicts leading to riots so on and so forth. What caught my eye from the parade this year were the firecrackers. Although it is often seen during the Chinese New Year season, I felt it was really appropriate to display the tradition of scaring the 'nian' away using the firecrackers. This was definitely a highlight of the entire performance. In conclusion, this was a great first experience viewing the chingay parade. I have learnt the value of respect for this festive occasion and most importantly, racial harmony.

Esther: The culture that i would choose is the chinese as there are many dances for the chinese. On the chingay, they performed the local folk art of fujian, which has more than 1000 years of history. It is very fortunate for the culture to be preserved, as we can share it with the next generation and they could still enjoy it. The theme for chingay 2014 is 布海同心, colours of fabric, one people. There were many performers, ranging from chinese, to koreans and many more. The chingay parade had become an multicultural event and many children of different ages could also perform. This is important as it keeps the different people of different cultures to carry on, being aware of their traditions.

Fiona: The culture I like is Malay culture. Most Malays in Singapore are Sunni Muslims who follow Islam as their religion. They eat only halal food, pray five times a day, and fast during Ramadan. Singaporean Malays celebrate many different festivals, one of which is Hari Raya Puasa, which is celebrated at the end of the month of Ramadan. Most Malay dishes includes spices, herbs, and coconut milk. Examples of such dishes are Nasi Padang, Nasi Lemak and Satay.  This year's theme was 'Colours of Fabric, One People'.  At first, I was confused with the theme, as I have never heard of a theme like this before. However, after the parade, I realised what it's about. The audience of the Chingay parade caught my eye. Most of the members of the audience were very enthusiastic, unlike what i thought it would be like. I pictured everyone just emotionlessly watching the parade, and engaging in their own conversation. Instead, everyone was very enthusiastic about the performances and that really surprised me. From this chingay, I have learnt more about our multiracial community in Singapore, and how we should cherish this.

The ending of the parade with fireworks and the showcase of the colours of fabric!