PESTA CHINGAY , LION DANCE AND DRAGON DANCE PARADE 2018

SPEECH BY CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG
AT PESTA CHINGAY , LION DANCE AND DRAGON DANCE PARADE 2018

16 DECEMBER 2018, 9.30PM, ESPLANDE

YB Yeoh Soon Hin
Penang State EXCO for Tourism Development, Heritage, Culture & Arts

Dato Neoh Chong Poh
Secretary, Penang Chingay Association

Distinguished guest

Ladies and gentlemen

A very good evening to all.

First of all, a warm welcome to everyone today to the “Penang Chingay, Lion Dance and Dragon Dance Parade 2018”. I can see a number of foreigners here. I'm sure many of you have never seen this before anywhere else. This is Penang, the melting pot of multiculturalism in food, festivals and faiths.

I am very delighted to be here tonight to witness a very important tradition that has been celebrated since the 1920’s. I believe every Penangite has very vivid and pleasant memory of the annual Chingay Parade, as it is part and parcel of Penang’s cultural heritage. Although it started as a religious parade, today the parade is a celebration of Penang’s multicultural society with participants from various races and background.

I was informed that this year we have the parade consist of 36 teams: 12 Chingay Teams, 15 Lion Dance Teams and 5 Dragon Dance Teams from various associations and neighbourhoods around Penang. They have started the parade from Padang Brown at 7pm and have walked around the city through major roads such as Jalan Dato Keramat, Jalan Penang and Lebuh Chulia.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the participants of the parade tonight for taking your time to join this exciting parade. I would like to also thank and congratulate everyone here tonight for keeping the Chingay tradition alive for our generations to come.

With that, I hope you will enjoy the performances tonight.

Thank you.