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Singapore's Chingay held to wrap up celebrations of Chinese New Year

Xinhua, February 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

The annual Chingay parade unveiled its curtain in Singapore Friday night as a highlight event to wrap up the celebration of the Chinese New Year.

Themed "Lights of Legacy, Brighter Singapore," this year's parade aims to remind Singaporeans of the core values fostered by Singapore's late founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and the pioneers, which stresses meritocracy and integrity, said Ang Hak Seng, the organiser, People's Association's chief executive director.

A total of 8,000 performers participated in this year's Chingay, with the youngest only four years old. This also reflects the core value of Chingay, which is a celebration with the public.

"Chingay is people's parade of Singapore. It's parade by our people, for the people and with the people. It's a parade that our people come to together to share the Singapore spirits and our multi-ethnic unity," said Nah Juay Hng, chairman of the Parade Executive Committee.

Contingents from nations around the world, including the United States, Russia, Japan, South Korea and China, also presented their fantastic performances.

Among the foreign performances, a 66-meter-long helium-filled flying LED dragon from China's western city of Xi'an stunned the audiences.

The 35-kg dragon were manipulated by 10 performers, with a diameter of 1.2 meters. The dragon managed to fly in August last year after multiple tries, test and experiments. This is the first time for it to appear on a foreign stage.

Another highlight is the sky stage, which is also the first of its kind in Chingay. With the support of a 50-meter-tall crane, dozens of trained performers flew up with stunts such as hoops and bungees.

The word "Chingay" is phonetically borrowed from the dialect in Hokkien or Fujian, China, meaning the art of costume and masquerade. It evolved from celebrations in the southern part of China during the Spring Festival, and has been held in Singapore each year since 1973.

According to the organizer, the parade will be repeated on Saturday evening, and a related event named "Chingay Night Fiesta" will be held on Sunday evening. Endite