Over the weekend, Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall (SYSNMH) organised Wan Qing Mid-Autumn Festival 2018 with many fun activities and events on 22^nd and 23^rd September 2018!

Mid-Autumn Festival is one of my favourite festivals, with the colourful lanterns and getting an opportunity to taste different mooncakes (although I don’t really eat a lot!) with Chinese tea, catching up with family, relatives and friends. At the Wan Qing Mid-Autumn Festival, we can see extended families coming down together to soak in and enjoy the Mid-Autumn festivities and activities at SYSNMH.

今天是中秋节，祝全家团团圆圆，幸福快乐！

Looking at the multi-generational families coming down to SYSNMH for Wan Qing Mid-Autumn Festival, it was heart warming to see the families bonding together, enjoying themselves and having fun!

Visitors also took the opportunity to visit the permanent galleries and learn more about the history of Dr Sun Yat Sen revolutionary activities in Southeast Asia as well as the contributions of the Singapore Chinese to the 1911 Revolution, the impact of the revolution on Singapore and the Chinese community in Singapore.

For Wan Qing Mid-Autumn Festival 2018, there is something very big and delicious that stood out for this year’s celebration! They unveiled Singapore’s largest mooncake sponsored by Kwong Cheong Thye, measuring approximately 1.8m in diameter and 20cm in height! I was glad to be part of this historic moment, up close and personal with the largest mooncake in Singapore!

Oh yes, they had tea appreciation for this year’s Wan Qing Mid-Autumn Festival and it was really good! Pek Sin Choon Pte Ltd and Lion City Nanyang Tea Society provided the Chinese tea appreciation. I haven’t tasted such excellent tea for quite a while!

Wan Qing Mid-Autumn Festival has many interesting and fun activities for everybody during the two-day weekend event, attracting the young kids and adults coming together for family fun and bonding time, while enjoying the Mid-Autumn Festival. Although I didn’t sign up for any of the activities, you can check out their Facebook Page for more photos of their activities and fun time!

My favourite segment from the evening concert at SYSNMH Lawn was the LED Dragon Dance, a regular feature at SYSNMH! I reckon they are always a crowd favourite there at SYSNMH! The compound of SYSNMH was packed with visitors watching and enjoying the evening concert at the lawn! More photographs of Wan Qing Mid-Autumn Festival 2018 can be viewed inside my Flickr photo album!

If you haven’t visit Wan Qing Yuan – Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, check out their website and social media pages for more information and updates on their events:

Website: Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall

Facebook Page: Wan Qing Yuan – Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall 晚晴园-孙中山南洋纪念馆

Instagram: Wan Qing Yuan (晚晴园)

I would like to wish everybody 中秋节快乐！Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! Have a good bonding and fun time with your family and loved ones, with your lanterns, mooncakes and Chinese tea under the bright lunar 15th day full moon of the Chinese 8^th lunar month!

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Earlier in the week, I went for the media preview session organised by Kreta Ayer – Kim Seng Citizens’ Consultative Committee. During the session, we were informed on the key highlights of this year’s 2018 Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival and I would be sharing some key information and details here!

The theme for Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2018 is “Our Chinatown. Our Mid-Autumn” (“我们的牛车水, 我们的中秋节”). Visitors to this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival are able to feel, go back in time and reminisce the scenes and life experiences of the Singapore’s Chinatown in the 50s and 60s. This wonderful festival is a great festival and event to encourage more people, especially for the youth to learn more about Chinese traditions and heritage, the lives of their forefathers when they first arrive in Singapore.

The street lanterns in the form of traditional accordion paper lanterns, showcasing centrepieces of early Chinese immigrants, are nice and beautiful, along the streets of Chinatown, you have to stop, take a look and admire them! There would also be nightly stage shows with exciting dragon dance performances on weekends, mass lantern walk (great for the kids and our international visitors!)

There is a new night event for this year’s Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2018, that is the “Singapore Culture and Heritage Trail – Cantonese Chapter: Reliving the yesteryears once more”.This is a two nights event, it’s about food! They are bringing back traditional Cantonese cuisine and street food commonly found in the 1950s and 1960s. More than 10 popular Cantonese delicacies with traditional dishes which are quite difficult to come by today, such as the “Gold Coin Chicken” (金钱鸡) and “Prawn Toast” (虾多士)!

There are other street activities taking place, such as fortune telling, face threading, Chinese calligraphy, Cantonese costume photo boothand opera will surely delight visitors. Out of the programmes lined-up, many of which are supported by WeCare PALs; PA’s network of corporate and community partners such as International Left-Hand Calligraphy Association, Kong Chow Wui Koon, Kowloon Club and The Wedding Chamber. Besides immersing in the Cantonese culture, visitors can also be part of history by joining in for a record breaking feat of the most number of oriental masks to be worn at the same time.

Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2018 will officially kick start on Saturday 8^th September 2018 with the Official Light-up and Opening Ceremony (开幕典礼与亮灯仪式), graced by Guest-of-Honour, Mdm Halimah Yacob, President of the Republic of Singapore.

Dr Lily Neo (梁莉莉医生), Adviser to Jalan Besar GRC GRO (KRETA AYER–KIM SENG) (惹兰勿刹集选区基层组织顾问(牛车水–金声)) said, “Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two key Chinatown Festivals that bear rich Chinese traditions and heritage. It is important for us to continue preserving and passing down our traditions and heritage from generation to generation. This year Mid-Autumn Festival tells the story of Chinatown where it reminisces the early days of our forefathers coming to Singapore in search of a better life and how they have contributed in many ways to our nation building. They have also brought along their culture, traditions and festivals while they settled down their roots here. We hope that through this festive celebration, it will remind us of our own history and culture while we continue to build on the strong foundation laid by our forefathers to bring Singapore to greater heights.”

“The Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations bring to life the heritage, character, and beauty of Chinatown, delighting visitors and Singaporeans year after year. The festivities also play a key role in bringing together the local community to foster a deeper appreciation of the rich Chinatown heritage,” said Ms Serene Tan, Director, Arts and Cultural Precincts, Singapore Tourism Board.

When you visit Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2018, spot the iconic main centrepiece display, a Chinese junk ship measuring 10m tall, 8.5m in length and 2.5m in width, along with 168 sculptured lanterns of the different vocations of the early Chinese immigrants, particulary the Samsui Women, Coolies, Street Hawkers and Rickshaw riders, along Eu Tong Sen Street and New Bridge Road. Do not miss the 180 beautifully hand-crafted lanterns, hand-painted with orchids, peonies and hydrangeas, giving South Bridge Road bright and festive mood! In addition, 1288 lanterns, enlarged versions of the traditional paper accordion lanterns in bright and vibrant colours of red, pink, yellow and orange light up the main streets of Chinatown along New Bridge Road, Eu Tong Sen Street and South Bridge Road.

The design of the Mid-Autumn Festival Street Light-up 2018 is the 3^rd collaboration between the organising committee Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng Citizens’ Consultative Committee (KA-KS CCC) and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). Do keep a lookout for their designs!

Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2018 is going to be bright, colourful, exciting and fun, along with food, performances and activities for visitors of all ages, whether you are a Singaporean or an international visitor! Do visit Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2018 and enjoy yourself! Keep a lookout for my Flickr photo album on my Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2018!

For more information on Chinatown Mid-Autmn Festival, please visit :

Website : www.chinatownfestivals.sg

Facebook : www.facebook.com/Chinatown.Festivals

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/chinatown_festivals

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