Chingay Parade 2016 - Lights of Legacy, Brighter Singapore

At first, before I watched Chingay for the first time, I had originally thought that Chingay was merely an entertainment show for the crowds and didn't think much about the meaning behind Chingay. However, after attending this year's Chingay, I understood the meaning behind Chingay and learnt to appreciate it. After some research, I found out Chingay was originally mooted by the then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew who was also the chairman of the People's Association. Chingay, with all its noise and gaiety, would compensate for the ban on firecrackers, a customary New Year practice to drive away evil spirits. It was a way of respecting the Chinese's beliefs instead of straight out banning firecrackers and ignoring how the people felt about the ban.

This year's Chingay, themed "Lights of Legacy, Brighter Singapore", is to celebrate Singapore's first year on the journey to 100 years of Singapore's independence. The phrase "Lights of Legacy" is to honour our founding fathers and uphold moral values that they believe in, and to encourage citizens to look forward to a better and brighter Singapore.

Chingay now has changed much from the first Chingay. The first Chingay, held in 1973, mostly featured Chinese acts such as lion and dragon dances and stilt walkers. However, from 1977 onwards, Malay and Indian acts joined in the parade, making the largely Chinese parade a multi-cultural one. Chingay now even features international acts, and is now one of the largest street performance and float parade in Asia. I think that this change happened to further show Singapore's multi-heritage and multi-religion community, and to further bond Singaporeans together by giving them a sense of belonging as well as a better understanding of other cultures through performances. 

I feel that the organisers have successfully fulfilled this purpose through eye-catching colourful costumes and floats, as well as the great songs about Singapore's racial harmony and its many different cultures.

Does being rich mean one is happy?

In my opinion, being rich does not necessarily mean one is happy.

For example, according to the Human Development Reports from the United Nations 

Development Programme, Singapore is ranked 11th on the Human Development Index, while China is ranked 90th. However, according to the Happy Planet Index, which measures and compares each country's happiness, China has a Happy Planet Index (HPI) of 44.7 while Singapore has a lower HPI of 39.8. This shows that even though one may be richer, it does not always make them happier than those who are less rich. The Human Development Index also indicates that Singapore has a GDP of 358 while China only has a GDP of 50.3.

The Extraordinary in the Ordinary

This photo was taken at the Chinese calligraphy competition that was held recently.

With Chinese New Year coming up, the whole year two cohort was told to head to the canteen to do some calligraphy. It may seem like an ordinary festive activity, but, in a way, it is extraordinary. 

What makes it extraordinary to me is how this activity bonded me more with my friends. Even though it is a competition, we were enjoying ourselves by complementing each other's calligraphy skills (and, in the process, insulting our own) and chatting about which words to write. Overall, it was a fun activity and allowed us to bond together a bit more.