chingay parade has totally lost it... for me. and i do believe many many spectators think so too! and i am saying so as i looked at the many spectators that were looking with their mouth wide open... and their face like as though they had just seen a dead person walk or a space ship landing in the middle of no where! i simply miss the simple good old days where things are not so plasticky and not so touristy.
first, it lost it's chineseness. there was hardly any chinese feel. well, true, there was some performance about yellow river and so on, but there was no dragon dance, no lion dance, no flower baskets, no giant flags... and so, if chingay is about celebrating chinese new year in lieu of the ban on firecrackers, they have lost it. the organisers wanted to brand it as asian's best and grandest parade. but looking at the parade, i thought there was the total mismatch of items! there were too few asian groups and worst of all, they even had a group from brazil (and it's not even a part of asia!) and looking at it, the parade came across as an event where there were a lot of glitz but without a clear focus. certain parts felt more like a mini-national day parade without the national anthem and the military contingents. and certain parts felt like a birthday celebration for people's association, complete with birthday song! wtf! and oh, did i mention there was also a float put up by one of the grc with our minister waving on it. against the backdrop of the current debate on public housing policies and hdb flat prices, this float felt like an election drive about for the minister!
if u really want to continue to brand it as asia's grandest parade and stage it as a chinese new year thingee, future parades organisers should consider having a parade structure where there are different segments, eg, a chinese segment to celebrate chinese new year the way singaporean can recognise (keeping to its original purpose), and an asian segment to celebrate asian culture (including cultural items from china, chinese minority tribes, japan, india, korea, thailand, malaysia, malaysian ethnic groups, etc). also, the event should just focus on themes such as the arrival of spring and showcase how asians celebrate spring's arrival. and in line with such intent, keep all themes related to singapore racial harmony, community, charity, la la la to national day. i think we have got enough (in fact, too much) dose of the patriotic, nationalistic, community-related messages and events. i am not saying it is not important, but i think there are the right time to do the right thing. and i really think such themes are not very appropriate for asia's grandest parade. why not consider a national day parade where there is a parade (just like the one we are all so familiar) and a second part comprising floats and performances?
ps: i am sure pa will say something like, being pa, there is a need to promote community bonding la la la... to me all these are political crap. if that is the case, then don't even try to brand it as asia's grandest parade.
first, it lost it's chineseness. there was hardly any chinese feel. well, true, there was some performance about yellow river and so on, but there was no dragon dance, no lion dance, no flower baskets, no giant flags... and so, if chingay is about celebrating chinese new year in lieu of the ban on firecrackers, they have lost it. the organisers wanted to brand it as asian's best and grandest parade. but looking at the parade, i thought there was the total mismatch of items! there were too few asian groups and worst of all, they even had a group from brazil (and it's not even a part of asia!) and looking at it, the parade came across as an event where there were a lot of glitz but without a clear focus. certain parts felt more like a mini-national day parade without the national anthem and the military contingents. and certain parts felt like a birthday celebration for people's association, complete with birthday song! wtf! and oh, did i mention there was also a float put up by one of the grc with our minister waving on it. against the backdrop of the current debate on public housing policies and hdb flat prices, this float felt like an election drive about for the minister!
if u really want to continue to brand it as asia's grandest parade and stage it as a chinese new year thingee, future parades organisers should consider having a parade structure where there are different segments, eg, a chinese segment to celebrate chinese new year the way singaporean can recognise (keeping to its original purpose), and an asian segment to celebrate asian culture (including cultural items from china, chinese minority tribes, japan, india, korea, thailand, malaysia, malaysian ethnic groups, etc). also, the event should just focus on themes such as the arrival of spring and showcase how asians celebrate spring's arrival. and in line with such intent, keep all themes related to singapore racial harmony, community, charity, la la la to national day. i think we have got enough (in fact, too much) dose of the patriotic, nationalistic, community-related messages and events. i am not saying it is not important, but i think there are the right time to do the right thing. and i really think such themes are not very appropriate for asia's grandest parade. why not consider a national day parade where there is a parade (just like the one we are all so familiar) and a second part comprising floats and performances?
ps: i am sure pa will say something like, being pa, there is a need to promote community bonding la la la... to me all these are political crap. if that is the case, then don't even try to brand it as asia's grandest parade.
1 comment:
I stop watching Chingay some years back for the same reason. Totally nothing related to CNY.
More like a tourist event and an opportunity to sell tickets. Got 2 free tickets for this year but didn't take it. Didn't even realise it's over. lol
Sam
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