Chingay 2017 Reflection

     Chingay 2017 was such a blast! Despite the rainy weather, it did not dampen the spirits of our class as we continued to wave our pom-poms along the beat of the music with raincoats covering our heads.

     Firstly, there was a brilliant performance put up by performers from various races. This event allowed people from all races to bond and work together as one and come up with a wonderful performance. It also uplifts the values in our flag—Democracy, Justice, Peace, Prosperity and Equality. It was followed by a fascinating dragon dance performance and a series of stilts performance. I think that walking on stilts requires a lot of practice and hard work. Also, practising the dragon dance performance requires a lot of team-work and good coordination. Hence, I admire those performers for their determination and perseverance.
   
     There was also a fascinating performance put up by our friends from Yakutia, Cambodia, Indonesia, South Korea, China, and Singapore. This activity can allow people from different backgrounds to merge and work together, whilst boosting friendships among countries. I was really happy when I saw this scene as late Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s legacy of a “multi-racial” society has been well passed down by our generation.

     Somewhere in the middle of Chingay, there was a showcase of future Singapore by various performers through colourful props and costumes as they paraded along the platforms wearing their costumes. Music was playing in the background as performers showed off their vibrant costumes. Next, there are also many cajon players and saxophonists playing their instruments while walking along the platforms, showing the vibrancy of our community. It lifted our spirits up as everybody cheered and waved our star-shaped wand enthusiastically according to the beat of the music, despite the heavy drizzle.

     If I remembered correctly, there was also a grand finale at the very end of Chingay. It was the coming-together of almost all the performers and they sang many songs together. We also joined in and waved along if we do not know the lyrics but sang together if we recognised the lyrics. Chingay 2017 left a deep mark in our hearts as it allowed us to bond together as a class, and was hence a memorable and unforgettable experience!

      I think that the purpose of Chingay is for people of different races, different ethnic groups, and different backgrounds to come together as one and work together to put up a successful performance. Also, I feel that Chingay allowed us to show others that we are a strong country and would persevere through any difficulties or challenges we may face together as one.

     I think that Chingay has indeed fulfilled its purpose. It helped many people in Singapore to have the chance to come together and put up a performance all by themselves. Also, it allowed people to learn about the importance of teamwork, and gave people of different races chances to bond together, putting an even deeper emphasis on the value of “racial harmony”. Through this event, as mere spectators, I learnt that we all should work hard together as Rvians and help each other in our studies to achieve good grades and success!

3 Chinese Cultural Aspects

Aspect of Chinese Culture	Description of scene from Video	How does the scene demonstrate Chinese Culture?
Chinese Tea	A person was pouring out tea from a tea jug.	Chinese people normally drink tea during special occasions such as Chinese New Year and sometimes even during family gatherings.
Chinese Calligraphy	A man was writing out Chinese words onto a roll of red paper.	Chinese normally buy or write Chinese calligraphy as couplets to paste on walls of their house. One example includes “出入平安” which is pasted at the front doors to signify the safety of the people.
Dumpling Making	A family were making dumplings together while chatting happily among each other.	Normally, during Chinese New Year, Chinese would gather around as a family and make dumplings together, emphasizing on the unity of the family.

Forces of Culture

I think that food is what a country normally eat, or what is popular in the country. It can also be one of the well-known dishes, such as chilli crab in Singapore. For China, they specialises in making dumplings and buns(包子) as it is part of their culture and tradition. I think that different festivals also plays a part in determining cultures.

For example, Singapore, which is a multi-racial society, celebrates Hari Raya, Deepavali, and Chinese New Year. However, in China, they only celebrate Chinese New Year. This distinguishes the tradition of one country to the other.

I think that fashion is what clothes people in one country normally wear. I think that the people in China normally wear the same clothes as the people in Singapore during both normal days and New Year. However, as Singapore is multi-racial, there will be some Malays or Indians wearing their traditional costumes during either Hari Raya or Deepavali.

I think that folks is the type of races that a country contain. For Singapore, we all have our Indian, Malay, or European friends surrounding us. However, China mostly contains only Chinese people, except for a few who either went there to do business or to study.

This picture shows Hainanese Chicken Rice which is well-known in Singapore. This is what we eat often, and it can be found in food courts or coffee shops. It costs about $2.50—$4.50 and is well-liked by all races. It is considered one of the national dishes of Singapore. Most chicken rice vendors in Singapore also sells roasted chicken, while other choices include the barbeque version or honey-roasted chicken.

Typical Singaporean and Chinese

Introduction

Hello! I am Liu Xin from 2F. Now, let me share with you about myself! Some of the hobbies I have include playing the piano, swimming and reading during my free time. The books I like the most are Catching Fire and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I like eating laksa, durians and ice cream as those are my favourite food. My virtual idol is Chihiro, from Spirited Away as she has many good characteristics that I wish I could own. My CCA is English debates and I find it very enriching and fun as I always have many takeaways from it. I am looking forward to OELP as I can learn more about Chinese culture and their way of living or studying. Last but not least, I hope that I will forge better friendships with my peers and do better in my studies. May 2017 be a great year ahead!