A Bittersweet Ending to the Fireworks Festival

Be afraid. Be very afraid . . . especially when this chili padi starts to get frantic. The girl next to me in the crowd sure was. She told me to “calm down” and she’s a complete stranger.

You know those moments you have when you are so close to something great but yet so far away? I experienced one of those moments today. I eventually did get to my goal, but not before turning into a frantic broken tape recorder and learning to compact my tiny little body and squeeze into whatever miniscule place is possible.

Why you ask? Today marks the end of the Singapore Fireworks Festival, and last year’s favorites, Team France, are hosting tonight’s fireworks event: Celebration of Life. Indeed there was much to celebrate! After that fantabulous munificent display of fireworks, it was not difficult to understand why they were the favorites last year. Team Singapore’s fireworks display, was sadly (sad as it IS our own country and the display was held on the eve of National Day – you would expect it to be a real bang) a speck of glitter in the sky in comparison to tonight’s. I was blown away. Team France’s precision timing and unique fireworks and great choreography placed them a few notches above the Singapore one. I can’t comment on the displays by Team Italy and Team New Caledonia because I didn’t see them.

They had lovely multi-coloured fireworks (I know some of you out there are thinking there’s nothing special about this. Let me clarify. When I say multi-coloured fireworks, I mean the same tube of fireworks explodes with a bang, and not one but a multitude of colours emerge, speckling the sky) that formed a huge sphere upon exploding. I think it was the combination of green, yellow and red used that reminded me oddly of Christmas when that particular firework exploded. Very festive indeed. They also had fireworks that came down as curtains which they used much to their choreographic advantage. The ones that I thought were really nice were the ones that exploded-upon-exploding. These fireworks would explode once, releasing a burst of bright yellow into the skyline, and just when the streaks left behind were fading, the tips of the design created would explode and release a spread of yellow once again! Everyone was clearing impressed by the gargantuan spherical fireworks that threatened to dominate the entire sky. Once again the collective echo of “Ooos” and “Wah” could be heard.

The best part was, naturally, the finale. Team France spared no firework on the final display. The sky was literally covered in fireworks! I, suffice to say, was bedazzled. From the positive comments and cheers of joy after it ended, so was everyone else.

To be fair, I had a much better view today. Instead of viewing the display from the Esplanade Park, where the Esplanade Bridge cut off some of the little fireworks that settled at the bottom of the skyline, I had an up-close view from One Fullerton, without any obstruction! Hurray for me. I do admit, perhaps that is why the experience of the show was tons better and why I was more impressed. However, I maintain that the choreography for tonight’s display was unerringly the better of the two.

Every firework seemed perfectly timed. There was one section where some smaller fireworks would explode within larger ones in a synchronized pattern! Plus, the fireworks exploded almost accordingly to the beat of the music. The fireworks display really did complement the music very well, although it would have been better if the music was louder – it would have certainly enhanced the fine experience.

By now you are probably wondering where the “You know those moments you have when you are so close to something great but yet so far away?” comment comes from right? Sit back and relax, because I’ve got a lot of ground to cover. I was with LL and M when we left Suntec City to make our way to One Fullerton. Apparently MC’s boyfriend managed to book a table at One Fullerton at the “Flow” Bar, (it’s relatively new in case you are wondering where you’ve never heard that from,) and invited us to go join them. A great unobstructed place for fireworks watching, away from the sticky, smelly, confines of THE crowd – Yippee! Naturally we took them up on the offer. It was making our way to One Fullerton that was the problem.

First, we had to make our way to Fullerton Hotel by walking through the congested Esplanade Bridge. We were lucky to cross the traffic light from the side of Esplanade Park to Fullerton Hotel, as right after that, the policemen started to stop the crowd and started yelling out in attempt to control the massive mob, “No more crossing allowed. It’s too crowded there!” I doubted they were going to be successful long but I didn’t stick around to find out. We were on a mission to find an alternative route to get to One Fullerton from Fullerton Hotel. What’s that? Cross the road you say? Well, in case you haven’t noticed the men drabbed in navy blue uniform, with luminous yellow jackets that read POLICE on them, you may notice the roads are literally blocked with tape. We eventually went through the underpass. It was snail-moving traffic there.

Emerging at One Fullerton, you would be met by hundreds of people standing around. We weaved our way around the mob, resorted to taking the staircase (after some nice soul suggested this upon hearing my desperate plea to LL that “we need to get through to our table on the other side, just push through the crowd and say excuse me!”) to get across to the other side of the “center” of One Fullerton, only to find they don’t lead anywhere being locked down and all, and walked an entire round around One Fullerton, till we got to the “center” of it. The “center” as classified by MC’s boyfriend, KY, is simply a wide obviously open-spaced area. However, with the massive crowd, it wasn’t so obvious. There was a field of people seated on the floor, forming what I thought looked like the valley of a mountain. The people that stood surrounding those seated, up against the walls, formed the mountains. Mountains and Valleys – homosapien style.

Eventually, we figured (through a broken telephone kind of conversation over the phone in more than comfortable volume with KY) the only way we were going to get through to our table was to drudge through the people in our way. This is where the “so close yet so far” phrase starts to play in your mind, driving you to near insanity.

The situation was as such: There was a huge opening in the sides of the glass wall, like a rectangular huge corridor. There was a mob in front of it. There we were in the mob, with me shouting to LL to “just squeeze through into that open area then we can move a bit up and squeeze through again to weave through the crowd”, which after a while became “just squeeze through to that area there!” then “Squeeze through!” (If by this time you are wondering what in Hell’s name triggered my sentence to two mere words, it was the sight of a couple managing to squeeze their way through relatively amiably whilst we were stuck in the crowd, with the worst view ever, 5 minutes to countdown, with full knowledge that we HAD a legit table somewhere waiting for us, with an excellent unobstructed view, and plenty of space to stretch one’s legs and stand.) I admit. I was a little deranged. This girl, who was the only obstruction between me and the open gap with the bouncers, turned around at one point and told me to calm down. Like I said – I may have come across as deranged. Just a little.

Thanks to my perseverance (maybe it was sixth sense nagging me?) I managed to get close enough to ask one of the bouncers where “Slow Bar” (that’s what I gathered from the poor reception telephone conversation I had with KY). He corrected me and told me I was standing in front of one of its entrances. EUREKA! Now all we have to do is get to our table. You’d think it would be smooth sailing from there on right? WRONG! We were stuck again, behind another, albeit smaller crowd. It only latest a minute though. When one of the waiters broke through the crowd to get to the tables, the entire crowd moved with him. We pushed our way to the front of the crowd (which wasn’t that difficult because everyone was in loose formation, and not packed tightly together like sardines and walking at the same time) and got to another bouncer/waiter.

It took me a gazillion phone calls before I finally got through to MC or KY to ask them what name the table had been booked under to gain entry. Throughout the night, I had been experiencing really bad reception. Seems the whole world decides to use their phones the same time as I. Do crowds have anything to do with reception I wonder? Amusingly, I watched on as some dolled up chick decided to use her contacts to get into the area with the tables by saying she was “Jolyn’s friend” (after she had failed by asking if she could just stand 2 steps closer.) She failed the first time but for some reason, when she mentioned something about drinks, she got through! Much to my irritation. We finally met up with them – one minute before the commencement of the fireworks display.

It was really a bittersweet experience – in exactly that order.

Singapore Fireworks Festival & Kiasu-ism

The Singapore Fireworks Festival 2006 was held in conjunction with Singapore’s 41^st National Day celebration at Marina Bay. Yesterday, I received a SMS from one of my friends asking if I wanted to go watch the fireworks display at night. I was bewildered. “A fireworks display today? I thought tomorrow was National Day?” Nevertheless, a fireworks display, a rare occurrence in Singapore, was too good to miss. I realized later at night how ignorant I’ve been, practically living under a rock.

The Singapore Fireworks Festival is NOT a new event. Apparently, it was been held yearly since 2004. I mentally kicked myself after swallowing this information. When I found out that yesterday’s event was actually the second one in the Festival (out of a grand total of 4 fireworks displays), I felt my foot connect with my butt once more. I had missed the Italian Team’s display on the 5^th of August. It didn’t help my disappointment when I found out their display was called “Dynamic City” and promised to be a “loud, dynamic and passionate display”.* Darn it darn it darns it.

If you think you can foresee the experience, you will be sorely mistaken. I was. The most recent fireworks display I had attended was the 15 minutes long display at Marina Bay on the 15^th Day of Chinese New Year. The crowd was naturally a huge one. The entire stretch of open area at the Esplanade which faced the Bay was swarming with people. The Esplanade Bridge was cluttered with still traffic, and people lined the walkway a gazillion times over. Motorists were parking their vehicles in the middle of the road, and standing next to them, watching the display.

The crowd I saw yesterday was massive. I had an entirely different perspective as I had arrived early this time around, and not on time like my most recent sighting. I met my friends at the Esplanade, in the open grassy area behind Glutton Bay (Square), at around 7pm. Already, 2 whole hours before the commencement of the display, the open areas at the Esplanade facing Marina Bay was already swarming with people – most of them already seated where they would have a good view of the fireworks. All the eating outlets were more than packed, and people resorted to eating on the grassy floor, or along the sidewalks, for to wait for a seat meant to not have dinner at all. The queues were at least 3 metres long per stall. I was stunned. Kiasu-ism at its best. I wondered what time the crowd had actually begun to form.

Walking across to Marina Square, the situation was not much better. It was probably one of the few times you would see somebody standing next to virtually every table in the food court, like hawks, waiting to swoop down and secure seats as soon as they were emptied.

After dinner, we decided to make our way to One Fullerton, figuring that we would probably not be able to see anything amidst the horrendous crowd at the esplanade. Exiting Marina Square proved to be another challenge. It was like walking through the Rea Sea after Moses had a less-than-perfect attempt at parting it. Every inch of the vast concourse at the entrance of Marina Square, along with its wide and stretched staircase had contact with at least one human butt. Surprisingly natural enough, there was still a tiny walkway created amongst the huddled sea of bodies. The happiest people that night would probably be the various mobile ice-creams and drink stall owners, as they capitalized on the hot and thirsty crowd.

Even walking along the paths towards One Fullerton was such a surreal experience. An endless sea of people emerged at intervals from the MRT underpasses, like waves that crash and break into the gentle sea of people walking. Human traffic dominated the roads, with cars having to give way at times to the massive influx of humans. If aliens were to swarm and take over the world, this would be exactly how I would envision it.

We decided to watch the fireworks from the Esplanade Park in the end. Esplanade Park was teeming with people as well. Upbeat music blasted from oversized speakers standing a metre in height. Families and groups of friends settled on the grassy field, busying themselves with a nice little picnic, complete with a picnic mat. Photographers lined the park bank, facing the esplanade bridge and Marina Bay, armed with their stands and cameras.

When the fireworks began, murmurings of “beautiful”, “nice”, “wow” could be heard amongst the crowd, with groups of people conversing amongst themselves about the best firework. Amateur photographers stood with their digital cameras, and some with their phones, to record and take pictures of the display. A dazzling display of lime green, red, orange and yellow ruled the skies for the next 10 minutes.

Amidst the horrors of having to battle the crowd though, there was certain warmth that could be derived from this experience. There was a certain feel-good feeling that could be felt watching numerous groups of friends, and families take pictures together at the event. It was somewhat delightful to see all these people come together to share their experience in this one event. It was harmonic. It was with one voice that the crowd Ooed and Ahhed when a spectacular display hit the skies. It was with one organized movement that the crowd dispersed in various seemingly set directions. It was as if you were part of something. It was as if you were one with everyone else.

It was worth it.

The upcoming Fireworks Displays

11^th August 2006, Team New Caledonia. Theme: “Nature & Mystique”.

12^th August 2006, Team France. Theme: “Celebration of Life”.

*Source: http://www.unusual.com.sg/sfw2006.html

Freedom

I wrote this for a NUSSU Aspire Competition sometime in the first half of the year. Just thought I'd share with you my thoughts on the subject of Freedom.

Freedom : What does it mean to you?

Chains weigh me down. Worries are tossed about the desert plains, in the deepest recesses of my mind, by foul winds building up to the strength of hurricanes. They swirled around the empty void, coming together as a collage. Under the hooves of galloping horses, my head begins to pound. Voices. They come all at once – interlaced with their different demands, increasing in volume as they gain my attention.

Taking in a breath of fresh air, my suffocating mind rejuvenates itself. I draw the curtains upon my eyes and the lights begin to dim. Darkness creeps into my consciousness. The voices in my mind are gradually muted as everything starts to fade.

Trapped between the world of harsh realities and the world of illusion. Where can one find freedom? Does it come when you are unrestricted? Does it come when there are no rules to abide by? Does it come when you have no worries? Does it come when you are not shackled?

Perhaps you find it in your friendship. Perhaps you seek it from your parents. Perhaps you find it through wealth? Religion? Perhaps you breathe it in the air. Maybe it is granted by the guiding elite. Maybe it is granted by your mind. Maybe your heart?

But true freedom? True freedom comes in my sleep. True freedom comes in my dreams.