2J'16 CID2 Group 4 :D: reflections on Chingay Parade

I feel that the chingay parade was spectacular and awesome. As i sat on the seats at the F1 Pit Building, i was left awestruck by the number of people performing for the parade and the amount of effort they put in even if its just a NE show. The Chingay parade was started on 4th February 1973 as Singapore banned firecrackers a year ago due to safety concerns.however, the ban was not well received by the public as they felt that this ban will dampen the festival mood for Chinese New Year celebrations. Thus, the People's Association and the Singapore National Pugilistic Association jointly organised a street parade from Jalan Besar to Outram Park featuring floats, acrobatic acts, lion and dragon dances, silt walkers to bring back some cheer to the public. Fast forward by 44 years, in Chingay 2016, the theme is " Lights of Legacy, Brighter Singapore". It is to celebrate the legacy and the wisdom of our founding father Lee Kuan Yew and other founding fathers based on the core values advocated to them, for example: resilience, racial harmony and social cohesion. We, as Singaporeans, should live by this values and move forward together towards a brighter and better Singapore.

During the first chingay, there were only Chinese performers as this performance was only meant for the Chinese to celebrate Chinese new year. During the Chingay parade in 1976, there were Indian and Malay performers also performing for the Chingay parade and from then then on, the Chingay parade has always been a multi-racial parade featuring performers from all races. In the 1987 Chingay parade, the first foreign group performed at the chingay parade. Since then, foreign groups has always been invited to perform at the Chingay parade

I think that the organisers of the chingay parade have fulfilled the purpose of Chingay parade as it is now a multi-racial parade with people from different countries all over the world and is celebrated by all different kinds of people of all different races. If Lee Kuan Yew was still alive when he sees this, he would feel very proud of Singaporeans.