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As 2008 drew to a close, the Marina Bay SINGAPORE Countdown 08/09
drew people from all walks of life together to celebrate and collectively
express their hopes and wishes for the year ahead. This year’s countdown
event, jointly presented by the Esplanade and URA, the development
agency for Marina Bay, took on even greater poignancy as a rallying point
for Singaporeans to gather to contemplate the year past and greet the
New Year with anticipation and hope.
The written wishes of people all over Singapore were
carried on 10,000 wishing spheres released into
Marina Bay, double the number for last year’s event
and spreading over a much larger area of the bay.
The community embraced the idea with enthusiasm,
responding to the outreach effort to pen their wishes.
Groups such as the People’s Association Youth
Movement brought the wishing spheres to community
clubs around Singapore. Members of SOKA Association
even took the spheres to the man in the street along
Orchard Road, Ang Mo Kio and Tampines, encouraging
people to pen their wishes. Others flocked to wishing
stations at the Esplanade, regional libraries, Singapore
Visitors Centre @ Orchard, Marina Square, Suntec City,
Raffles City and Parkway Parade shopping malls
throughout December.
On New Year’s Eve, the waters of the bay became a
stunning visual art display as coloured beams danced
their way across the spheres.
Along the waterfront, members of the community
shared their hopes and dreams for themselves and
Singapore in special video dedications. Their heartfelt
wishes added to the poignancy of the event, imbuing
it with depth and meaning. Friends and family living
overseas were not forgotten. They joined in the event
via a dedicated website created to capture wishes
online in photographs, short video clips or text.
At the stroke of midnight, to the awestruck delight of
the hundreds of thousands of watchers around the bay
and at home, an eight minute visual arts presentation
finale burst into life. Breathtaking fireworks,
choreographed to a special composition by Iskandar
Ismail and the dancing colours on the spheres lifted
spirits and led Singapore into 2009.
The newly completed Singapore Flyer
and Marina Barrage were exciting new
vantage points for the public to enjoy
the light and audio visual feast. A
simultaneous broadcast of the special
composed fireworks music by radio
stations LUSH 99.5FM and Y.E.S 93.3FM
enabled spectators to tune in and view
the fireworks in perfect synchronisation,
regardless of their location.
The Marina Bay SINGAPORE Countdown
is unlike any other countdown event, said
a beaming Mrs Cheong Koon Hean, CEO
of URA. “It is special in that it brings
together people from all walks of life to
gather here at Marina Bay to usher in the
Year with hopes and wishes for future
possibilities. It is Singapore’s very own
event with a heart.”
For the first time, as a new media partner for the event,
MediaCorp TV’s Channel 5 celebrated with
the nation with a ‘live’
countdown show at The Float @ Marina
Bay, hosted by popular hosted by popular artists Gurmit
Singh, Michelle Chia, Fiona Xie, Utt and
Andrea Fonseka. It also rolled out a stellar
line-up of homegrown celebrities like
Taufik Batisah, Hady Mirza, Adrian Pang,
Jade Seah, Superband winner Rabbits
and regional rock band River Maya to
pump up the festive atmosphere at the
bay with a Countdown show.
The live broadcast of the Countdown
show and fireworks display on Channel 5
brought the whole event into the homes
of Singaporeans, drawing them into the
celebration to usher the New Year as one
nation. Channel NewsAsia also provided live
coverage segments of the celebrations on
its hourly news briefs right up to midnight,
when it telecast the fireworks to more than
20 countries including China, UAE, India,
Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia.
The Bay is fast fulfilling its promise as a
great venue for activities day and night.
With the addition of the Singapore Flyer
and Marina Barrage to this year’s Countdown
scene, the Bay was bustling with activities
along much of the waterfront, with more
such spots to come as more projects around
the bay are completed.
The festivities started at the Marina
Barrage at 12 noon with a fun-filled family
carnival at the courtyard, performances at
the open-air rooftop and free water-based
activities at Singapore’s first reservoir in
the city. The Singapore Flyer attracted
crowds with a Concert for Hope along their
waterfront. Private yachts sailed into the
Marina Reservoir, where the owners and
their guests watched the fireworks and
participated in the celebrations from this
new vantage point.
With the uncertain economic times,
the Marina Bay SINGAPORE Countdown
offered Singaporeans a unique opportunity
to gather in a collective expression of their
hopes and dreams for the year ahead.
Last year’s public photography competition for the Countdown was a success.
This year’s event drew hundreds of entries showcasing the meaningful gesture of
penning a wish, spectacular lighting of the bay, the breathtaking fireworks display
and heart-warming moments shared with friends and family along the Singapore
waterfront. Prizes included top-of-the-range camera prizes sponsored by Nikon.
[ View the winning entries of the
Open and Youth categories ]
Log on to www.marinabaycountdown.sg for an online exhibition of this year’s top entries.
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