Racial Harmony Day

Racial Harmony Day is celebrated annually on 21 July in Singapore. The event is to commemorate the 1964 Race Riots, which took place on 21 July 1964. Racial Harmony Day also represents a day for schools to reflect on, and celebrate Singapore's success as a racially harmonious nation and society built on a rich diversity of culture and heritage. In schools all across the nation on that day, students are encouraged to be dressed in their traditional costumes such as the Cheong Sam and the Baju Kurung. Traditional delicacies are also featured in the celebrations. Traditional games such as Kutih-kutih and zero point are played in schools, where inter-class competitions are sometimes organised.
Today, Racial Harmony Day was celebrated all around Singapore, and in Hwa Chong Institution, a bazaar was held in which students could eat food and play games of other ethnic cultures as part of the celebration. Firstly, each different had to wear a different couloured shirt to school. For the Secondary 2s, we had to wear yellow, which I was a littlereluctant to, because we would look like also had supporters of the Malaysian Bersih group. :D
We also had a Community Involvement Programme (CIP) in which we went to an elderly care centre to bring them over to our school so that they could enjoy our celebration as well. The bazaar that was held was very crowded, with students trying out new types of ethnic foods and paying with their coupons. For my class, 2i3, we put up a stall with the 'Chinese' theme for the goods we sold. For my class' stall, we sold traditional Muah Chee, a tangy, sticky and sweet dough like delicacy, as well as Chin Chow, otherwise known as Grass Jelly. Chin Chow is a traditional Chinese jelly, as is usually consumed as a drink. It is black in colour, and is sweet and cooling, which was why many students had patronised our stall to get a savoury treat. We also had a cultural performance in the auditorium in which we had our elderly guests to join us. The performance was extremely exciting and fun-packed, which was why mostly everyone loved it. The performers were students of exchange programmes, from our own school, Hwa Chong, and also from other schools such as Bukit Panjang Government High, Chestnut Drive Secondary, and Assumption English School. They were all dressed in ethnic costumes and also, some of them performed with traditional Malay instruments. After the performance, we then went back to the bazaar, which was located in the Oei Tiong Ham hall. We then could return home once the bazaar had ended and helped to pack the tables back to their respective classes. It was an extremely exciting and eventful day, and I am looking forwards to next year's Racial Harmony Day celebrations.