Hearing the festive sounds of traditional Chinese instruments playing in the background while walking down the packed streets of Chinatown, as you’re greeted by row after row of brightly lit lanterns, it sure felt as if Chinese New Year (CNY) was here again.

This being the last day of May, the crowd was celebrating the arrival of Vesak Day instead.

‘A Dream is Blooming in Chinatown’ was an apt theme for the inaugural Chinatown Vesak Festival organised by the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (BTRTM) .

As mentioned on their website, the organisers plan to make the festival a grand annual affair, “with a focus on revitalising Chinatown, and [providing] a unique opportunity for Singaporeans to enjoy” Vesak Day.

Vesak Street Light Up

Up between May 19 and Jun 10, the Vesak Street Light Up according to the organisers, was “the longest street light-up ever in Chinatown, with the largest display of 108 colourful and lively dragon lanterns” stretching about 2 km from Elgin Bridge to Hoe Chiang Road.

Vesak Festival Parade

Not to be outdone, the Vesak Festival Parade the night before Vesak Day featured 10 beautifully designed floats, each with its own significance, and relation to Buddhism.

The floats ferried the parade performers to their designated stage area, and added a certain sense of grandeur to their arrival before they performed for the guest-of-honour, President S R Nathan, as well as the distinguished monks and thousands of devotees who turned up for the celebrations.

The parade featured local and foreign performers from countries with significant Buddhist populations like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China, Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand.

One of the performers at the parade was Manimaran, 45, who was portraying the Hindu deity Lord Ganesha as part of the Indian dance segment.

The veteran of at least 10 Chingay Parades described the experience of the parade to UrbanWire as something “very different, because when I take part in Chingay, I feel I’m doing it for Singapore, but when I take part in this, I feel very, very happy because I’m doing it for a religious purpose”.

Large projection screens were set up nearby to cater to the hundreds of people who were unable to watch the parade clearly. Many who didn’t want to elbow with the masses or didn’t want to view the parade on the screens filled up the empty levels of a nearby building to catch the show which started at around 8pm.

And many Chinatown residents enjoyed a first-class view of the parade.

And it did seem ideal that the parade ended with the much anticipated fireworks display that lit up the sky magically. Plus, from where I stood, the fireworks appeared to be shooting out of the temple. “Hong Dong”, which means “sensational” in Chinese seems the ideal word to describe the fireworks extravaganza.

Soft Opening of the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum

After the fireworks display ended, a welcome party suddenly appeared on the temple balcony and started playing a fanfare as President Nathan and the other VIPs were invited to cut the ribbon to mark the soft opening of the temple.

And despite the temple only officially opening its doors to the public at 11pm, there was already an incredibly long queue formed at 9:30pm eagerly waiting to enter. Some of them including, Madam Ong Lian Hua, 61, were already in the area since 5:30pm to view the parade before joining the queue at 10pm.

The view from the inside

On the outside, the BTRTM looked like one of the palaces you would see in period drama serials set in ancient China.

Inside, the intricate design and gold furnishing made the place appear really grand. Every little detail was taken care of, even the dustbins at the lift area, the sinks in the toilet and the lights at the stairway marry the theme and concept of the temple perfectly.

And since Vesak Day also entails bringing happiness to others such as the sick and the elderly, according to Ms Tay Lee Li, Corporate Communication Executive of the BTRTM, to celebrate this occasion, the temple will be donating all the money collected through the donation boxes on Vesak Day (May 31, from midnight to 10pm) to the President’s Challenge.

She added that proceeds from the Wishing Card, a leaf-shaped card which the public can get with a minimum donation of $2 will also go to the President’s Challenge. In the Wishing Card, the public can pen their wishes before “planting” it on “a collection and display point in the temple’s main hall from May 30 to Jun 30”.

Vesak Charity Carnival

Also in the name of charity, a Vesak Charity Carnival was also held a short distance away from the temple at the open field along Dickenson Hill Road from May 30 – Jun 1.

And in line with Vesak Day, only vegetarian food was sold at the carnival. But food aside, items like jewellery, antiques, CD/VCD, and even bed sheets found their way to the carnival for sale.

Charity organisations like the Kidney Dialysis Foundation (KDF) and Metta Foundation were also present.

With various cultural performances slated to perform during scheduled time slots, Jason Yong, 24, felt that, “The carnival is not bad, but we only got to know about it through a friend. This place is also quite hard to find, and we only saw it because we happened to pass by .”