Chingay parade 2016: Ping Zhi

On Saturday, 30th January 2016, I watched the annual Chingay parade for the first time. I did not know what to expect from the Chingay parade but I was surprised that it emphasised the meaning of racial harmony much more than the National Day Parade I had watched in 2013, when I was Primary Five.
 The theme of this year's Chingay parade is "Lights of Legacy, Brighter Singapore" which is displayed on this float.

The theme was introduced as 2016 is the first year towards another 50 years for Singapore and Singaporeans hope that it will allow Singapore to shine brighter than ever. On that night, I was amazed by the dazzling colours of the floats and the costumes of the performers. In the dark of the night, the LED lights on the floats were especially piercing. But, one float other than the one above bearing the theme of this year's Chingay parade caught my eye.

"Beacuse we are different, we are one" was a statement, to me, that summed up the entire purpose and meaning of Chingay, as well as the racial harmony in Singapore. Most Singaporeans will know that Chingay was originally organized to keep the festive spirit of Chinese New Year after firecrackers were banned in Singapore, but now, Chingay is all about racial harmony, as Chingay is a time when all the different races, "regardless of race, language and religion", come together to celebrate the festive occasion of one race: Chinese New Year. This was also the dream of our founding fathers, like S. Rajaratnam, who wanted Singapore to be be a racially harmonious country, without borders or unrest between the different races. In my opinion, this is also one of the reasons why I am proud of Singapore, as I believe that we have truly become a racially harmonious country.
During the performance, there were different performances of different races, which allowed me to appreciate the different cultures of the races. Because of this, I think that the organizers of Chingay parade 2016 have successfully fulfilled the purpose of celebrating racial harmony in Singapore and allowed the audience to understand that "Because we are different, we are one.".
In conclusion, I have enjoyed this valuable experience of being able to watch the Chingay parade while enjoying the live atmosphere of celebrating the different cultures in One Singapore.