Chingay 2013 Warms our Heart

By the time you read this post, Chingay 2013‘s second night would be in progress, and Daddy can imagine the crowd shouting themselves hoarse. Besides the special effects, gadgets, and costumes, do you know what is Daddy’s favourite segment?

Daddy loves the cooking segment, the cooking Uncles and Aunties literally Rocks with their wok of goodness !

Daddy had the opportunity to attend two of Chingay 2013’s media-invites. Both previews are very different in terms of presentation and atmosphere. The First preview pumped up with energy, with Zumba vibes electrifying the whole conference room.

The Second preview was more subtle, but no less Impactful. Our “Heroes” (Resilient Singaporeans 生命勇士) would be among the thousand who will be appearing in the finale holding their fire torches (in the Snow), symbolising Life-must-go-On!

Everyone of them, had been through a tough journey, be it disaster, illness or disability. None of them wish to Give up! Just to highlight a few Heroes, Mr Zeng is a Jakarta Marriott bomb survivor, Maximillian and Gemma is part of London Olympics’ Equestrian team.

Together, 生命勇士 (Heroes) show us how to be Brave and conquer our own struggles.

Chingay is all inclusive, anyone, anybody can always be part of the performance.

Fire in Snow(雪中火) is the theme for Chingay 2013.
With all the flames surrounding us, together with the crowd and participants’ enthusiasm, we can certainly feel the warmth 🙂

..even when the “Snow” fell, the experience is superb as everyone sings to the tune of
雪中火 (Fire in Snow).

You can trust Marina Bay’s amBAYssadors to bring you all the Fun and Excitement of Chingay 2013 ! We love it too.

Experience Chingay fun, from left, Darren, Andy(Daddy), Kevin, Jerome, and Edmund. (Kelvin and Marcellus are not in photo)

(group photo courtesy from Darren Chin Photography)

There is a replay on Sunday 24Feb at 8pm, let us show you what to expect for Chingay 2013 🙂

Traditional Operas (Yang warriors) and Phamtom of the Operas take turn to thrill the audience.

Send in the mystical creatures who can spit fire or sparklers ! The Centipede must be one of the Highlights. LOUD Firecrackers will accompany some of the performers.

China, Malaysia and Japan are some of the oversea contingents.

Explosion of colours and music will immerse audience for two hours. All Races, Religions and Faiths come together. We have Indian girls role-playing Chinese-folk-fairies, and Chinese gals dancing to Bollywood hip hop, Multiracial Singapore 🙂

Additional snapshots

Splendid display, sniff in the aroma. These cooks are in their elements, entertaining !

.
Chingay is very much an Asian Musical, some other notable musical performances :
– Theme song for Chingay 2013 雪中火 (Fire in Snow)
– Billy Wang and Taiwanese artists singing 让爱动起来
– Ukulele performing Top of the World

Video : Do not worry if it rains, just don your raincoat, the show will go on ! These performers were caught in heavy downpour but they were smiling throughout 🙂

Video 2 : More contigents + the finale Snow !

We wish Chingay 2013 all the best !

– More Chingay photos on SengkangBabies fanpage
– We were honoured to witness Queenstown Cantonese Opera‘s Chingay pre-parade preparation
2012’s Water Chingay is Fun too

Queenstown Cantonese Opera troupe – behind the scenes

Last Saturday, Queenstown Community Center’s Cantonese Opera Troupe (女皇镇粤剧团) don their Yang Warriors (杨门女将) costumes into battle Chingay 2013’s rehearsal.

The audience would not get to see the painstaking effort taken before the scenes. Daddy is proud to be one of the Marina Bay amBayssadors who gets to witness the awesome transformation !

At Queenstown CC, Ms Teo Lin Lee (Chairperson for Queenstown Arts & Culture Committee and also Opera lead actress & troupe leader) got us immersed in some Cantonese Opera. The original itinerary includes face-painting for the amBayssadors, but the tight schedule means our own makeover fail to materialized.

We did get to see the elaborate makeup process. The painted face, eye, eyebrows, lips, hair, and finally the costume. Lin Lee highlighted the troupe’s makeover process is like a conveyor belt, one section after another, non-stop.

There are only four makeup artists and one Shifu (Mr Ong is 師父), who work tirelessly to ensure the troupe is ready. They are the last ones to eat their lunch, at 4pm !

Nothing is taken for granted, we witness the makeup artists transform our Opera singers literally, layer by layer 🙂

The final touch-ups, to bring out 穆桂英, 杨文广 and 佘太君 (100 years old matriarch!)

The final steps would be the accessories, the costumes, hear gears, weapons, even shoes. All are elaborately selected to bring out their characters.

Edmund’s kids are curious about the painted faces.

Throughout the afternoon, there was a flurry of activities in the makeup rooms. Someone was always moving around. As photographers, you sense that something is going to happen, the anticipation is electrifying 🙂

We saw first hand the camaraderie, passion, and dedication of our proud Cantonese Opera troupe. You cannot help but gets enveloped in the festive-like mood, everyone is engergizing themselves for the evening.

Did you know the oldest member is 75 years old Auntie Julie (wearing Yellow).
Talk about active aging 🙂

The friendly and eloquent lady on the left is Lin Lee. The five fun-loving amBayssadors are from left Edmund, Jerome, Darren, Kevin and Daddy (not in pic).

What are some of the Fun and interesting scoops?
Our Uncles and Aunties are techies, most of them know WhatsApp, Facebook, and they sure know how to Pose 🙂

The Marina Bay paparazzi amBayssadors had a field day of FUN too !

At 4pm, the troupe is ready to depart for Chingay Rehearsal at F1 Pit. Are you ready to Party, Qing (dynasty) style 🙂

4 hours of preparation, 20 minutes of performance.
Behind the glamour, we witnessed the hardwork. Kudos to the passionate performers!

We hope you like our Opera writeup, Daddy is really happy to be part of the action.
For more photos, do pop by SengkangBabies fanpage, or you can readup our previous post about happening Chingay 2013.

Remember, Chingay 2013 will be on 22.23Feb, and tickets are on sale now.
More information about Chingay 2013 can be found at the links below :
http://www.facebook.com/passionchingayclub
http://www.chingay.org.sg/