There’s more this year

The atmosphere that fills Marina Bay and the Esplanade theatres during the month of December seems to be more than just that Christmas warmth.

December is the month where the Esplanade arts centre organises various activities and performances themed around what they named as “Celebrate December”. The name speaks for itself; it’s more than just injecting that certain Christmas cheer for its visitors in December.

Comparing to the previous years, there’s definitely more to celebrate this December for the arts centre as well as for Marina Bay. Firstly, it’s the arts centre’s tenth year for being one of the two presenters to the yearly Marina Bay Countdown since 2005. Not only it's the tenth edition for the arts centre, it is also the tenth edition of the Marina Bay Countdown. The other presenter to this yearly affair is the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Secondly, this countdown to 2015 event is an official one to mark the beginning of all the other official celebrations in 2015 for Singapore’s Golden Jubilee year. Assuredly, these two reasons are more than enough for a grand celebration this December at the Esplanade and of course, at Marina Bay.

To mark the start of this jubilee occasion, a few additions have been planned, including one that broke the record of previous years.

Firstly, as usual, spheres penned with wishes from the public have been set afloat on the waters of Marina Bay. But for the first time in ten years, a record number of spheres have been planned to set afloat on the waters. Out of the record breaking number of 25000 spheres, 5000 of them are in the colour red and have been placed to create a giant number ‘50’ on the waters, marking the jubilee year for the nation. With this ‘sphere initiative’, a common sight since November at the Esplanade and at selected areas around Marina Bay is none other than people gathering around the ‘sphere stations’, penning down their wishes for the New Year.

Secondly, in addition to the spheres, a 3D mapping video projection has been planned for the façade of The Fullerton Hotel. This video projection will feature visuals that represent Singapore’s past, present and future. An edited version is currently being shown till 30 December and an extended version including five key historical milestones of Singapore will be shown on New Year’s Eve just before the countdown to 2015 begins.

That’s not all. Five buildings around the Marina Bay area will be specially lighted on New Year’s Eve. These 5 buildings will be lit in red and white, and also with the number ‘50’. Furthermore to these 5 buildings being specially lighted up, the ArtScience Museum’s white façade, the underside of the Marina Bay Sands SkyPark, and the Esplanade will also feature the ‘SG50’ logo.

Last but not least, the fireworks. As per previous years, the fireworks display lasting about 8 minutes will spark off soon after the clock strikes midnight, ushering in the New Year. A specially choreographed music composed by local talents will be synced to the fireworks display. However, there’s something more than the usual fireworks accompanied by music. For this year’s fireworks display, about 400 drummers will be performing ‘live’ at the Marina Bay Sand’s Event Plaza, whereby they will be synchronising their beats to a portion of the music.

If you think that’s all, I’ve to say ‘no’. Other than those highlights mentioned above, there will also be a few other events comprising of ticketed and non-ticketed ones taking place at the various venues around Marina Bay.

However, I’m not entirely excited about all that have been planned. The question of why doesn’t the event goes beyond Marina Bay still appears in my mind. Why don’t the organisers extend the area of the event grounds to the Marina Channel area bounded by landmarks such as the Gardens by the Bay South, the interim Gardens by the Bay East, the Singapore Flyer and the Marina Barrage as well? Why not even bring it further up into the area of the new Sports Hub? By ‘expanding’ the countdown event to these areas, more people will be able to join in the celebration and this could possibly result in a more pleasant experience for all. In contrast, having the event all packed around Marina Bay might only result in a possibly packed like sardines experience. One simple possibility of ‘expanding’ the event is to have a smaller scale fireworks display on the waters of the Marina Channel as well, rather than having all of it at Marina Bay itself.

But from another perspective, it’s not entirely that bad an idea for the main event to take place only around Marina Bay. This would allow people who prefer a slightly quieter and peaceful place to visit areas further away but not too far away from Marina Bay. As we know, the further we go from Marina Bay, so will all the events be further away from us. And also, the views of the fireworks display will for sure be very much less magnificent or even hardly any views as we move further away from Marina Bay. Nonetheless, I believe it’s still a great alternative for those who prefer a quieter and peaceful area but still hoping to have a tiny bit of that Marina Bay Countdown atmosphere to venture into these areas as they welcome a New Year.

Another thought appeared in my mind that day. Have the organisers considered about doing away with the spheres? This spheres initiative has been a tradition probably since 2005. I felt that it’s not an easy task especially for those people who physically go onto the waters via boats to align and secure these spheres. I’m all of a sudden highlighting the spheres because from my memories, I do see workers on boats going out to the waters pulling and placing the spheres into position weeks before the countdown event. Soon after the event, the removal of the spheres, possibly seen as a daunting task too, appears to be faster than I could take note of. This made me think of whether all the effort is really worthwhile.

The sight of 25000 spheres is without any doubt a sight to behold. In addition to taking awe of that magical sight of 25000 spheres, we should also take time to think about and thank those people who have put in all the effort required to make all this possible. I wonder too, whether or not these workers get an opportunity to admire their efforts from a good vintage point on New Year’s Eve, as a way to thank them for their effort.

But I do like the idea of penning wishes. This allows a certain kind of public involvement into the New Year celebration, rather than an ‘organisers organise, public just watch’ type of celebration.

Of course, all the other elements of the countdown event are equally important and they are the result of many people coming together putting in all the effort possible. Without them, there’ll be no countdown event at all.

2014 is coming to a close and there’s certainly more this year at Marina Bay not only to mark the arrival of a New Year, but also marking the start of jubilee year celebrations for Singapore. And so, where will you be this New Year Eve/ New Year?


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Month taken: December 2014
Time taken: Night
Photo size above: 640 pixels - Longer side