Have a better appreciation of the Chinese Singaporean culture with this online lineup of programmes by the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre to highlight the customs and traditions of this Festival.

Lantern walks, mooncake tasting, and lantern riddles – these are familiar practices observed by the Chinese community in Singapore during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Taking place on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, the Festival has its roots as a harvest festival when farmers gave thanks to the moon for a plentiful harvest. One of the most popular stories associated with the Festival is the legend of Chang’e who swallowed an elixir of immortality and fled to the moon, to prevent it from falling into a villain’s hands.

To encourage a better appreciation of the Chinese Singaporean culture, the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre (SCCC) has launched a series of online programmes to highlight the customs and traditions of this Festival:

• Kaki Says: Mid-Autumn Festival, available from September 28, 2020, 2pm
From the legend of Wu Gang the woodcutter, to secret messages hidden in mooncakes in Yuan China – discover the traditions and lesser-known legends surrounding Mid-Autumn Festival! Let SCCC’s friendly and knowledgeable Kakishare with you the stories and beliefs behind the traditional Chinese festivals.

• Keeping Traditions Alive: Riddle Me This, available from September 18, 2020, 2pm
How do you approach lantern riddles, and is there a way to solving them? Try your turn at this Mid-Autumn Festival staple with riddle enthusiast Qiu Rong from the Riddle Association (Singapore) as she breaks down the ins-and-outs of these challenging brain teasers! Hear why she started this hobby, and how lantern riddles enable her to learn more about other cultures. Follow her fun demonstration and you’ll be a Riddle Master in no time!

• Moonlit Memories, available from September 11, 2020, 6pm
How do you celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival? Set against the backdrop of our familiar HDB flats, follow Chang’e and join in her heart-warming celebration, complete with lanterns and mooncakes. This animation is a collaboration with students from Nanyang Polytechnic (School of Interactive & Digital Media).

• Music at Monuments – NHB x SCCC, available from September 24, 2020, from 10am
Bask in the voices of local a cappella band The Apex Project as they present a medley of moon-themed songs to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival at Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, Singapore’s 33rd national monument. Co-presented by the Preservation of Sites & Monuments division of the National Heritage Board and SCCC, this is the first of the Music at Monuments – NHB x SCCC series which features our home-grown talents performing at national monuments.

• MYTHOLOGY: THE REMIX, ongoing (on the SCCC website)
Explore a modern re-imagination of traditional Chinese myths and legends, such as a modern interpretation Goddess of the Moon by Moon Malek where Chang’e looks at us from her home on the moon. Log on and discover these refreshed takes on Chinese mythology by 20 local artists.

• SINGAPO人: Discovering Chinese Singaporean Culture, ongoing (open daily from 2pm to 8pm on Monday, and from 10am to 8pm, Tuesday to Sunday, SCCC, Level 2 (1 Straits Boulevard, Singapore 018906)), free admission
How much do you know about the local celebrations during Mid-Autumn Festival? Find out more at the Centre’s SINGAPO人 exhibition which highlights Chinese Singaporean culture through festivals, food and languages. Learn how Chinese culture in Singapore has evolved in a way quite unlike other communities around the world. Come discover (and rediscover) what it means to be a ‘Chinese Singapo人’.

Members of the public can visit Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre’s social media channels on YouTube, Instagram,and Facebook to gain access to its online programmes (unless otherwise stated above next to the programme). For more information, visit www.singaporeccc.org.sg.

 

(** PHOTO CREDIT: Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre)