Chingay for all amid sea of lights and colours
By Samantha Boh, The Straits Times, 27 Feb 2015
Nine hundred dancers showed off skirts made of plastic "We Love SG" flowers at the opening of this year's Chingay on Friday night, transforming Marina Bay into a sea of lights and colours.
The 800,000 flowers were made by 500,000 residents and households using recycled plastic bags, an effort started nearly a year ago by Chingay's main organiser, the People's Association.
Dating back to 1973, the year's street parade featured participants from various ethnic backgrounds and went from the F1 pit building to the Singapore Flyer.
Spectators were wowed by the performances of some 11,000 people, the largest contingent yet.
It was a Chingay for everyone, with the youngest performers just five and the oldest an 84-year-old man, who was part of a community choir which sang Singapore Town. Performers from nearly 230 local organisations strutted down the road in intricate costumes: Some dressed as Singapore's national flower, the Vanda Miss Joaquim Orchid; others in transparent plastic balls.
It was a Chingay for everyone, with the youngest performers just five and the oldest an 84-year-old man, who was part of a community choir which sang Singapore Town. Performers from nearly 230 local organisations strutted down the road in intricate costumes: Some dressed as Singapore's national flower, the Vanda Miss Joaquim Orchid; others in transparent plastic balls.
Icons such as the Singa Lion and the Dragon Playground also made an appearance in the form of giant helium balloons.
The annual street parade also featured foreign performers from 14 countries, including those from Rwanda who did the traditional Intore dance - a dance of victory.
The guest of honour, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, kicked off the grand finale, which saw Temasek Primary School pupil Aeron Young scaling a 50m tower called the Chingay Sky Ladder of Dreams and singer-songwriter JJ Lin belting out the theme song Dreams.
Mr Teo encouraged Singaporeans to work hand in hand to realise a shared future.
Teacher Teo Xuan Xuan, 24, who was one of about 25,000 people in the spectator stands, said: "It was really amazing to see all the acts, both local and foreign, coming together."
Chingay returns to Orchard Road for first time since 2007
By Monica Kotwani, Channel NewsAsia, 1 Mar 2015
This year's Chingay festivities culminated in a mega street party along Orchard Road on Sunday (Mar 1), after the main parade at the F1 Pit Building on Friday and Saturday night.
By Monica Kotwani, Channel NewsAsia, 1 Mar 2015
This year's Chingay festivities culminated in a mega street party along Orchard Road on Sunday (Mar 1), after the main parade at the F1 Pit Building on Friday and Saturday night.
Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam officiated the fiesta - the first Chingay event held at Orchard since 2007.
The heart of Orchard Road was closed to traffic as 13 of the 20 Chingay floats were paraded in front of an estimated 100,000 people. These included the floats by the Tianjin Eco-City in China as well as those by the People's Association.
The crowd got up-close with the floats and mingled with some of the 2,000 performers. There were also performances by local and international acts as well as a 30-metre by 15-metre mosaic, which was formed using about 100,000 flowers made from recycled plastic bags.
The Chingay celebrations were an Orchard Road highlight for 22 years until 2007.
The crowd got up-close with the floats and mingled with some of the 2,000 performers. There were also performances by local and international acts as well as a 30-metre by 15-metre mosaic, which was formed using about 100,000 flowers made from recycled plastic bags.
The Chingay celebrations were an Orchard Road highlight for 22 years until 2007.
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