With our different cultures in Singapore, there is a myriad of celebrations that makes living in Singapore so interesting. This month in IXUS Moments, Style Council member Anna Belle Francis lives it up in multicultural celebrations.
The month of Ramadan or more commonly known as the ‘fasting’ month has just ended so the Hari Raya celebrations are in full force. The best part about the Hari Raya celebrations in Singapore is that we have friends of so many different races coming together to celebrate it with us.
It is the joy of integrating and learning about our different cultures. The recipes we share and exchange, stories we tell, jokes we crack and pictures we take. These 'Canon moments' are definitely what makes these celebrations remembered forever.
That’s Amy Cheng who visited our home for the Raya celebrations! She’s now married to my ‘Apa’- R.Chandran- Founder of Act 3 Theatrics!
Here’s our two families put together! See how multi-racial we are!
With food, good vibes and merry making, it is always good to have a good camera around and with my Canon IXUS 220 HS, I could capture the best moments! When I look back at the pictures, I remember the beautiful memories of that very moment.
For example, here’s Nurul Aini – a famous Mediacorp, Suria Actress and Host. This was the moment where we met at the rehearsal of the Hari Raya show 2011, “Simfoni Lebaran” which means a ‘Symphony of Celebration!’ We have not seen each other since we hosted the National Day Parade together in 2009 so it was all smiles and ‘mummy talk’ as she recently became one!
And after I took this picture of her, she was convinced that the Canon IXUS is an awesome camera and enquired more about it! I’m proud to have introduced her to a whole new world – The Canon World! Especially for her new baby-taking picture moments!
And here are more behind-the-scenes photos taken at the Hari Raya TV recording of “Simfoni Lebaran”. I managed to snap more ‘Canon moments’ and caught Sheikh Haikel, my husband and Singapore/Asian Idol, Hadi Mirza back stage! And just between you and me, they were discussing who was the ‘Mama’s boy’ and who was the 'Bad boy-that girls love'!
These are the famous dancers from the Sri Warisan Dance Troupe led by the famous actress/singer/dancer, Marina Yusof. They danced and dressed up like ‘Puteri-Puteri’ or Princesses in the old-time classic Malay movies.
I love how the colours burst out from the pictures, which makes me feel happy each time I look at them. We sometimes forget to appreciate the little things such as colours that come together to make our lives a whole lot brighter!
That’s why Canon is my new best friend! It helps me capture these moments so I can relive them over and over again.
Speaking of best friends…here’s one of my best pals, Eunice Olsen. This is us on the set of a TV programme for MediaCorp’s Channel 5 entitled, ‘Beauty Sense”.
Eunice is a dear friend who I find is one of the nicest, coolest and most stylish personpeople I've athad the pleasure of knowing. She's a real bundle of energy and it really rubs off on you, which is especially useful when you're working with her.
See how the colours just grab and lift you up high from all the worries in the world?
As you can tell from the pictures I have shared with you, being in Singapore is wonderful because we make good friends from different backgrounds and races. It’s through our different cultures that we make interesting synergies we call “Uniquely Singaporean”.
To light up a candle in celebration could also mean lighting up the lanterns for another popular event - the Mooncake Festival, another interesting event that lights up the night with assorted lanterns that come in the shapes of dragons, goldfishes, horses and the other animals in the Chinese Lunar Calendar.
Nowadays, the lanterns are mostly electronic with batteries and with a push of a button, it lights up and releases a song. However, I still prefer the ‘old-school’ handmade and hand-drawn ones that are made out of very colourful but highly flammable cellophane paper with a candle holder at the heart of the lantern.
When I was young, I used to burn myself with hot wax every time I tried to get the candle to stand upright on the holder, making sure not to burn the whole lantern! And when it was successfully placed, the magic begins. I would meet my neighbours and with our brightly coloured lanterns, we would travel from the highest floor of the block of flats to the lowest!
The most magical part of the Moonkcake Festival was that we were all of different races. Today, we still see children of all races coming together carrying lanterns whilst parents eat their very sumptuous mooncakes. To prove how sensitive we are of other cultures and religious beliefs, some mooncakes are now ‘Halal’…so Muslims can also get to eat them!
My children love this festival and they too prefer the lanterns with the candles. It still has that charm and magic I had experienced as a little girl.
To me, this reflects the spirit of camaraderie in Singapore as we light up our lanterns and smiling faces in celebration!
And of cos, I have my Canon IXUS to capture it all!
Happy celebrating!