When Chingay first started in Singapore, it was held as a result of the ban on firecrackers due to fire hazards in 1972. Some people felt that the ban would dampened the festival mood for the Chinese New Year period. To address this issue, the People's association and the Singapore National Pugilistic Association organised a street parade, featuring the signature floats, acrobatic acts, lion and dragon dances, stilt walkers, which are mostly Chinese cultural performances to bring back some cheer to the public to celebrate Chinese New Year. When time passes by, the organizer make changes such that there are not only Chinese cultural performances, other cultural performances such as Malay dance and Indian dance are also included. With that, I believed that the change was made so that to bring people from all races and ethnic groups together to celebrate new year together as one Singapore.
Chingay 2016 includes unique multicultural performances of all over the world which capture the essence of the Singapore's unique cultural diversity. Not only that, for the opening performance, the people wore costumes and props with LED lights. The light effect of the costumes and props symbolizes the theme "Lights of legacy, Brighter Singapore" which also brings out the purpose of Chingay 2016. Hence, with these, I feel that the organizer have successfully fulfilled its purpose.
-Adeline
