Chingay's Charm
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In the sky, Making it Sharing and on land their home experiences 2014 Singapore Expatriates give and making Airshow wows back to the local friends crowds and sets a community in Fijian offi cials tap on new trade record various ways Singapore’s expertise JAN – MAR 2014 / ISSUE 49 A NEWSLETTER OF THE SINGAPORE COOPERATION PROGRAMME Chingay’s Charm Singapore’s annual street parade showcases the country’s cultural diversity ExpSG Jan-Mar 2014 Cover V4.indd 2 26/5/14 3:42 PM Ed’s Note CONTENTS Dear readers, 3 FOCUS Colours of the nation n the air, on land, out in the streets and in places of learning One of the largest street … 2014 got off to a dynamic, colourful and educational parades in Asia, the start as the following pages of this issue of Experience Chingay parade in Singapore Singapore will show. showcases the country’s Soon after the Lunar New Year, Singapore staged multicultural diversity. This its annual Chingay street parade in early February. A year’s parade also featured celebration of the country’s multiracial diversity and harmony, this a contingent of performers I from six other countries year’s edition featured 3,000 performers under the theme ‘Colours of fabric, one people’. Among them was an international contingent of 500 performers from China, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines 6 IN SINGAPORE and South Korea who added to the verve that has made Singapore’s In the sky, and on land Chingay one of the largest street parades in Asia. Highlights of the The 2014 Singapore Airshow, event are captured in Colours of the nation. the largest so far in the Visitors were treated to more heart-stopping event’s six-year history, moments at the 2014 Singapore Airshow which saw a record-breaking ran from 11 to 16 February. It was the largest volume of trade deals made. airshow staged so far with 60 of the world’s It also featured breathtaking top 100 aerospace companies as exhibitors acrobatic aerial displays, and a record-breaking US$32 billion worth among other attractions of trade deals concluded. The highlight was acrobatic ying displays by elite air force 8 JOINING HANDS pilots from six countries including Singapore. Making it their home In the sky and on land gives an idea of the Some expatriate groups in magnitude of the show. Singapore are making efforts to give back to the local Sharing experiences and making friends highlights how some visitors were also wowed community, whether through charitable donations or cultural by Singapore’s expertise in human resource and sporting exchanges In the sky, development and other areas. Nine high-level Fijian of cials, led by and on land, pg6 the country’s Permanent Secretary for the Public Service Commission, 10 REFLECTIONS were in Singapore in February on a study visit organised by the Singapore Cooperation Programme. The lessons they took home Sharing experiences with them, said the of cials, are very relevant to the civil service in Fiji. and making friends High-level Fijian offi cials learn Meanwhile, long-term visitors to Singapore are doing their part to from Singapore’s expertise in give back to the local community. As shows, Making it their home human resource development some expatriate groups are engaged in charitable causes. Some are and training raising funds to support the underprivileged in Singapore. Others engage in cultural or sporting exchanges such as teaching karate or Association Cover photo: People’s the angklung, a West Javanese musical instrument. If the rst three months of 2014 are any indication, a fruitful year of cooperation and friendship is de nitely on the cards! Keep in touch! Share with us your memories, photos and experiences in Copyright © is held by the publishers. Singapore under the All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole Singapore Cooperation or in part without permission is prohibited. Programme. Email us at Printed in Singapore by Times Printers. Director [email protected]. www.timesprinters.com. ISSN: 0219-2896 Public Affairs Directorate Experience Singapore is a publication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore Public Affairs and Technical Cooperation Directorates of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore. The Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) is administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore, and is aimed at sharing Singapore’s developmental www.scp.gov.sg Like SCP Alumni on Facebook Follow us on Twitter @MFAsg experience with other developing countries. Publishing Consultant MediaCorp Pte Ltd 2 JAN - MAR 2014 ISSUE 49 ExpSG Jan-Mar 2014 V10.indd 2 26/5/14 5:32 PM Focus DIVERSITY ON SHOW Colours of the NATION CHINGAYC 2014, SINGAPORE’S LARGEST SSTREET PARADE, IS A CELEBRATION OF TTHE NATION’S COLOURFUL ETHNIC FABRIC. WORDSW BY ALEX NGAI Photos: Corbis, People’s Association Photos: Corbis, People’s EXPERIENCE SINGAPORE 3 ExpSG Jan-Mar 2014 V9.indd 3 23/5/14 3:01 PM Focus DIVERSITY ON SHOW ITH ELABORATE COSTUMES, New Year, and it soon became Wspectacular oats and eye-catching an annual event that celebrates performances, street parades are Singapore’s multiracial diversity. a big part of many cities’ identities, The 2014 Chingay Parade on and Singapore’s Chingay counts 7 and 8 February 2014 showcased as one of the largest street parties some 3,000 performers in a two- in Asia. hour visual spectacle that included Chingay, which means the an eight metre-tall straw horse, ‘art of costume and masquerade’ stilt-walkers and a mass ballet per- in the Chinese Hokkien dialect, formance. Among the performers was brought to Southeast Asia by was an international con- immigrants from China in the 19th tingent that comprised Century. The modern Chingay 500 performers from parade was revived in 1972 by the South Korea, China, the Singapore government and organi- Philippines, Indonesia, sed by the People’s Association to Malaysia and Italy. These add to the festivities of the Lunar performers brought their own cultural traditions to the pa- rade — like the Chinese Fujian Two batik Ningde Huotong String Lions paintings, each 360m troupe which displayed a 1,000 long, were the -year art form using lion puppets showpiece of the parade. similar to those in traditional Chi- nese lion dance; the Indonesian performance of Gelar Tari Topeng, a traditional mask dance accom- panied by gamelan music, and the Maesta della Battaglia, a troupe of ag-wavers and musicians from Reggio Emilia in Central Italy. ‘Colours of Fabric, One People’ was the theme of this year’s fes- tivities and the parade featured a unique showpiece — two batik paintings, each 360m long, and put together by 40,000 locally-born Singaporeans and new immigrants from more than 30 schools, corpo- rations and grassroots organisa- tions. These were meant to signify the coming together of a uniquely diverse Singaporean culture made up of local-born Singaporeans and new immigrants from diffe- rent ethnic groups, and the many international in uences on the island that is often considered the business and tourism hub of South East Asia. 4 JAN - MAR 2014 ISSUE 49 ExpSG Jan-Mar 2014 V10.indd 4 26/5/14 5:32 PM THE HIGHLIGHTS OF CHINGAY 2014 Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (in red, middle) waves to the audience during the Chingay Parade at the Singapore F1 Pit Building in Marina Bay. Photos: Corbis, People’s Association Photos: Corbis, People’s EXPERIENCE SINGAPORE 5 ExpSG Jan-Mar 2014 V9.indd 5 23/5/14 3:02 PM In Singapore OF MEN AND MACHINES In the sky, and on land THE 2014 SINGAPORE AIRSHOW WOWED THE CROWD WITH A NEW RECORD-SETTING SHOW. WORDS BY ALEX NGAI The public, which was allowed in on the last two days of this bien- nial event, had a spectacular show put up for them. With some 50 air- craft on the ground, it was the larg- est number of aircraft on display so far. The display included the debut of the Airbus A350-900, a new ex- T WAS THE BIGGEST SHOW tra-wide airliner that can seat up to in the Singapore Airshow’s 550 passengers, at an international six-year history and the event airshow. The public were also al- that ran from 11 – 16 February 2014 lowed to climb into the cockpits of Iat Singapore’s Changi Exhibition ghter jets like the F-35 Joint Strike Centre certainly lived up to Fighter from the United States, and expectations. Featuring over 1,000 take a walk through the luxurious participating companies from cabins of business jets from Gulf- 47 countries, the show counted stream and Cessna. 60 of the world’s top 100 aerospace The highlight was surely the Republic of Singapore Air Force companies as exhibitors and saw breathtaking acrobatic ying dis- (RSAF) Black a record-breaking US$32 billion plays by six teams of elite air force Knights performing aerobatics in their (about S$40 billion) worth of trade pilots from the United States, F-16 fi ghter jets. deals concluded. Australia, Indonesia, Russia, South 6 JAN - MAR 2014 ISSUE 49 ExpSG Jan-Mar 2014 V9.indd 6 23/5/14 3:02 PM The Airbus A350-900 made its debut at the Singapore Airshow. A visitor checks out the cockpit of a Republic of Singapore Air Force Boeing F15-SG Eagle. Korea and Singapore. To com- Pushing the right th buttons in the memorate the 45 anniversary modern cockpit of of the Republic of Singapore Air the Boeing 787-8 Force (RSAF), the airforce’s Black Dreamliner. Knights — who were last seen at the inaugural show in 2008 — took A captivated to the skies in their F-16C Fighting audience taking in the action of a US Falcons.