Chingay reflections :D

Yuling~

This was my second time going to Chingay, and I was again amazed by the sheer scale and beauty of the parade. The performers were people from all races, performing together on floats with perfect unity. There were people of all ages, with even toddlers participating in the performance. It reflected Singapore's community where age, race, language and creed are no barriers and we celebrate together as one. Each float represented how Singapore was a multi-racial society with a mixture of races in both performers and the design of the floats.

And there were horses...!! Real, live horses!!!<3<3<3 That was what got me excited the most as there simply aren't many chances to see horses in Singapore. And i love them ^^ Following that, it was time for straw horses to make their appearance. Big, straw horses with a 财神爷 on top. Nice, but funny.

Another segment I found interesting was when people walked in on stilts with sparklers on their backs. It was so cool *\(^o^)/* but OMG what if they fell?? ><>< okay...don't wanna think about that. A lot of effort has been put in to make the grand floats and beautiful costumes. But that makes me think of how costly the whole thing is. I was only there for the full-dress rehearsal, not the real performance, and many students from many different schools were also there, each person receiving a goodie bag. That would not have been the only rehearsal, and thinking of cost of all the goodie bags plus the confetti, fireworks and all during the performance everytime... it must have been quite a sum.

Another plus was the fact that I could get high with my friends for a few hours, shouting and cheering. (LOL, RV was the lone hyper school. XD) And yay to pom-poms. I can never get enough of them. Overall, it was an educational but nonetheless fun experience and I was happy that I could share it with my friends.

Constance~

It was my first time going to the chingay parade and I think that it was really an enriching and fun experience. That day, I could feel the unity among the different races as I saw the diverse ethnicities and nationalities coming together as one to perform in this Chingay parade. On some of the floats, performers of different races were standing together on it, showing the unity among races as they were not separated by race or any other factors.

One thing that i really enjoyed was the mass children ballet display as I think that they really performed very well at such a young age! I was also really fascinated by the animated and interactive Giant Puppet Contingent which was up to 4metres tall as I could not understand how they could actually control such a big giant puppet so well. Also, there were real horses which were a first for me as I have never seen any real horses before. It is definitely a rare opportunity to see them. I think that the performers and the many others who had helped had also put in a lot of effort for the Chingay parade, and I really appreciate it as they definitely would have to work very hard to show everyone the wonderful and well-coordinated performance which only lasted a few hours.

Overall, I think that I had learnt much from this multi-cultural Chingay parade and really enjoyed it, and I would wish to go again if I had a chance.

Shin Ru~

       Witnessing the annual Chingay parade made me realize how much hard work was put into the parade, even the rehearsals were so intricate and well planned. The theme is also changed annually and the floats and performers are changed respectively, thus, this shows the importance of this event. The floats and performers did not fail to meet and definitely exceeded my expectations of a parade. The dresses were detailed and fit perfectly to the parade theme,"Colours of fabric, One People". 

   The Chingay parade was the first parade I have ever attended and it definitely amazed me to the point of wanting to experience it again. The themes also meant a lot and served to emphasize the importance of racial harmony and how it has maintained the peace in Singapore since the beginning. The floats were also decorated lavishly with "people" of different races and large scales decorations. They were one of the main mood makers of the parade, garnering many "oohs" and "ahhs" from the audience.

     The performers also shocked the audience with the bright Colours on their dresses, and their dances. Their hard work was evident in the confidence they exuded and their dances. Performers of all age and races gathered together to bring us this wonderful performance. The songs and dances brought up the atmosphere and made us sway along with them.
     Through the Chingay parade, I learnt many valuable lessons, in the midst of enjoying myself such as determination and the importance of racial harmony in a small country like Singapore, which is unable to afford any social differences as they would drastically impact its economy and overall welfare.  

      The parade, as a whole, was very enjoyable and made me look forward to another chance to go, and honestly, I would definitely not mind taking part in it~.

Cherlyn~

This year's Chingay was my first ever Chingay I have went to and I was really excited to go. When we reached the venue, the place was decorated really nicely there and as I walked to my seat, there were many performers all dressed nicely for the performance and seeing that, it got me really excited and curious on what the performances will be like.

Throughout all the performances that was performed during the event, one of the performance that caught my attraction the most was the mass children ballet. During he performance, there were many performers there performing and despite that, everybody was very coordinated and even those little kids were performing gracefully and in coordination to all the other performers. Not only that, I was really impressed by the little kids to be able to dance so nicely and they all looked really cute during the whole performance. Therefore, it left a huge impression on me.

Everyone's spirt was still high at the end of the event and our whole level started to do cheers and this really made me feel very warm and the action was really heartfelt. At first, I thought that everyone would just ignore the cheer and not tag along cheering, making the cheer sound awkward however I was proved wrong, everyone cheered on along, showing the school spirit. The school spirit is really something that makes me feel warm and somehow encourage me to have more courage to do things I wouldn't do in the past such as cheering together with my friends, being able to speak loudly infront of others and not being the shy timid person that will get bullied easily. Therefore I really like the schools spirit and I felt very warm especially during this event.

However, despite everyone being all high and enjoying themselves, I think that they should perhaps spare a little thought about the people clearing up the mess of the place and not just leave their rubbish such as plastic wrappers, unwanted pom-poms and tissue paper all scattered and thrown I the floor. The floor is not a rubbish bin for everyone to dump their rubbish. Should everyone do so, the place turn out to be an unsightly stinky rubbish dump and wouldn't this affect your mood? Not only that, if everyone did their own little part by throwing the waste at where they should, there would be lesser rubbish not he floor and this would also lessen down the work load of others who had to clean up the mess. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the whole performance andthr I really hope to get to go another time again as it was really fun and the performances were all very nice performed out. Not forgetting, I also appreciate the school for letting our whole cohort go together to the Chingay.

Sean~

           This year was the first time that I ever been to chingay and it was a surprise for me . Before going up the bus,  I was actually quite reluctant to go for the chingay parade as I always thought that it was boring and a waste of time . However , when I reached the venue, my impression changed completely. The place was decorated beautifully and the dancers too were in beautiful clothes showing how much effort was put in for the performance . Since then on, I started to like the parade even more and was curious to find out what would come out during the performance . 

             Since the performance started , I was completely taken aback . The performances were very well planed and the performers seemed like they knew the moves at the back of their hands . Furthermore , the performances was very eye catching and interesting . There were people of all races and ages performing during the parade and everything went well.

              After the parade, most of the year 2's from River Valley High started cheering and I felt that we were all united , everyone of us.In conclusion, I really enjoyed the performance and hope to go for the parade again.

🎉CHINESE NEW YEAR🎉

Yuling
Colour: Yellow
Instead of red, the customary colour that everyone automatically relates to when thinking of Chinese New Year, I chose yellow. Why, you ask? Yellow is a bright and cheerful colour, depicting the feelings of people during the New Year period. It is a festive colour, while it is also the colour of new ideas. It symbolizes a different way of starting the new year.

Picture:

New Year is a time for fun and festivity. What else can be more fun and festive than firecrackers? Let's say goodbye to 2013 and hello to 2014 with a bang~!

Symbol: $.$

What is one of the main highlights of CNY for us teens? Receiving red packets, of course! Whenever Chinese New Year is nearing, the thoughts in our head would most certainly be revolving around our soon-to-be richness. Yes, let's hope that we can visit more people and receive more red packets hehe. Time to get rich~! $.$

Constance
Colour : Red
The first colour that comes to my mind is definitely red. During Chinese new year, the colour red is seen and found everywhere. There are red firecrackers, red coloured decorations, and we get many red envelopes, which are also known as ang paos too! Red can symbolise good fortune, good luck and happiness. Thus, I chose the colour red as I believe that Chinese New year is a happy day where we are wished good fortune and luck by our relatives or parents.

Image :

One thing that cannot be missing during Chinese New year is the mouth watering Chinese new year goodies. Chinese New year goodies are really tasty, making us want more and more of them, but they are also very fattening ): . Thus, we would have to take note of the amount we eat and not eat too much or we will definitely gain a huge amount of weight after Chinese New year!

Symbol : $$$
MONEY ~
When we visit our relatives house to pay a New Year call, we would get red envelopes containing money inside. Thus, I used the dollar symbol to represent money and I look forward to getting many
red envelopes during Chinese New Year ! :D

Shin Ru
Colour : Orange

Normally, when people think of Chinese New Year, red is definitely their first choice. However, after some thought, I personally feel that orange is a more suitable colour :). Why, you ask? That is because orange, as we all know, is a mixture of red and yellow, both common colours associated with festive seasons like Chinese New Year. Other than that, orange also stands for good health, joy and also hyper-ness. Orange is also the colour of oranges(wut), which is the first thing we offer our relatives when visiting. Well, another reason is that I LOVE ORANGES(omnomnom) and its not that common a colour :3.

Image :

This picture depicts a smiley(i guess) with an excited and eagerly anticipating expression. I chose this picture as it is exactly how I feel during the Chinese New Year season. My excitement is mainly from the ang paos($$), meeting up with my relatives(like finally._.), getting to eat good food(omnomnom) and not having that much homework to do(UGH YES!). I anticipate the arrival of Chinese New Year as it is the time to enjoy myself without having to worry about school, gaining weight and many other problems which leaves me in constant paranoia. Thus, I chose this picture to depict my feelings towards Chinese New Year~<3.

Symbol : +

When you see the "+" sign, what comes to mind? For me, I think of addition and positivity.

During the New Year period, much good comes our way: prosperity, happiness, strengthened bonds and of course, MONEY ($.$) However, there are disadvantages too, like...fats. DX The many delicacies we consume without any restraints, unfortunately, only add on to our increasing body weight. (Did you know, the calories in a slice of bak kwa is about that of a bow of rice?? >.<) Imagine, all the extra laps we have to run during P.E.~ But... fear not. Let us be consoled by the fact that positive things outweigh the bad ones ^^ Like, how we get richer every time Chinese New Year rolls around :D

Cherlyn
Colour : Orange

For me Chinese New Year is about exchanging oranges with my relatives and wishing them well wishes. This is because it is only during Chinese New Year would people go to their relatives's houses that they may not visit two or three times a year and exchange mandarin oranges. Not only that, after exchanging oranges, we would catch up on each other's life and it is really meaningful for me so orange, the colour of the mandarin oranges is a colour that I would like to use to represent. Chinese New Year.

Image :

( little kids dressed nicely in their new clothes)

cr: to the owner of the above picture.

During Chinese New Year the most important thing that can not be missing are the new clothes and shoes bought in celebration of the Chinese New Year. As it is the New Year, a new start, new clothes and shoes are definitely not missed out. When we are visiting our relatives, everyone would be dressed nicely in their new clothes and shoes looking neat and tidy to celebrate the new year while wishing others well wishes. Therefore for me, new clothes and shoes is something that is very evident in Chinese New Year.

Symbol : (:
Chinese New Year is held to celebrate a brand new year and the mood is all festive and happy. Everywhere you go, you would always see smiles on people's faces, therefore I choose a smiley face as a symbol that would like to use to represent Chinese New Year. Not only that, during. Chinese New Year I would get to meet lots of relatives and hang out with my cousins and other family members too and for me, being able to spend time with my family is a really blissful thing and it makes me feel happy to be together with them. Last but not least, I am also very elated to be able to get lots of red packets from my relatives as not only will I get money which I can use to buy things I like, it also represents all the well wishes that my relatives give me. The goodies that I get to indulge myself in is also something that I enjoy and makes me happy. As I am a food lover, seeing so much food will always brighten up my day, furthermore, during Chinese New Year, there isn't any limit in which the amount I can eat^^ With all this, who would not be happy on Chinese New Year? Therefore I chose a smiley face to represent it.


Sean
Colour : Red

As you can see, during Chinese New Year , most of the things are decorated red in colour , which symbolizes good fortune and good health ,hence the colour I have chosen is red.

Image :

During Chinese New Year , the thing that reminds me of the latest Chinese New Year , is always the lion dance . I have always wondered how the lion dancers can do their moves so smoothly and nicely . As the saying goes 台上十分钟，台下十年功 . So , I do respect the lion dancers for putting in so much effort into their training and hence the first thing that I think of is the lion dance.

Symbol : $$$$$$$$$$

 During Chinese New Year, we get our red packets which makes us richer and richer is just a matter of days ! During Chinese new year, me and our cousins will compare with who gets the most amount money in the red packets. In conclusion , I LOVE THE RED PACKETS~