Michael (first from right) shares his experience of the dragon dance journey with his three friends, Taiwanese international student Huang Liangkai (second from right), "Fa Xiao" Ishrak (third from right) and Daniel (first from left). (Photo by Xie Zhiyang)
On the first day of the new year, a seven-member team took to the streets to dance paper dragons. Behind this joyful and funny action are a group of young people who want to break the rules, find a way to create fun for themselves, and try to be themselves. The leader is Michael, a 24-year-old young man. He has done unconventional and nonsensical actions with his friends before, and wants to do something new and interesting in addition to the regular life.
On the first day of the new year, a short video went viral on social media. A team of six people dressed in homemade paper dragons took to the streets for a parade, with the "God of Wealth" leading the way. They passed through Chinatown and Marina Bay to spread a happy atmosphere. Michael Collins (24 years old), who dressed up as the God of Wealth, was the "leader of the dragons". Together with several friends who were also born in 1999, he completed the "Dragon Dance Journey" during the Chinese Spring Festival.
Once the video went online, it attracted nearly 90,000 views. Many people left messages in the comment area: "So cute" and "Very good and creative!" Some sharp-eyed netizens also noticed that the police came to their door in the video and worried that they would encounter Trouble, netizens helped to plead: "The happiness and communication they bring to everyone is really great. The police can give them a chance. Happy New Year!"
Recently, reporters contacted Michael and his friends and invited them for interviews and chats, hoping to understand who these young people with creative brains are and how they have the courage to make funny and nonsensical actions.
On the day of the interview, Michael brought his three friends Huang Liangkai, Ishrak Khan Chowdhury and Danial Razif Shah. Michael is currently a master's student at the National University of Singapore. Ishrak and Daniel were Michael's childhood friends and had known each other since middle school. The three of them went to Victoria School and Victoria Junior College together to complete middle school and high school, and then went to the National University of Singapore to study mechanical engineering. Huang Liangkai is from Taiwan and was a classmate in Michael's master's class. He had only been in Singapore for two months when he was dragged by his friends to do something funny and "crazy."
From time to time, Michael would invite his friends to dress up and hang out and do nonsensical things. (provided by interviewee)
Recalling the "calling order" for the dragon dance on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Huang Liangkai admitted that he was a little hesitant at the time and asked his friends whether he would get into trouble. After all, he had heard that Singapore is a country with strict rule of law, and he wondered whether such a funny act would be acceptable. It wasn't until I walked onto the streets of Chinatown and was surrounded by everyone's enthusiastic cheers that I realized that they were not as rigid as they thought. The public was happy to see this and continued to interact with them. "I remember one Ange happily shouted to us, 'Huat lah!' and kept clapping. The whole atmosphere was very joyful."
The team originally just wanted to dress up as a dragon and walk quietly down the street, without any big plans. On the contrary, the public's enthusiasm heated up the atmosphere. Children kept coming forward to "play with the dragon" and followed them and refused to leave. Seeing how enthusiastic everyone was, the team also started to get excited, high-fiving and waving to passers-by. When saying hello, the dragon head "swallowed" the child whole, which made the whole audience burst into laughter, and the passing public also took out their mobile phones to take pictures.
Michael conceived and designed the paper dragon, with input from his family. (provided by interviewee)
This paper dragon with a nonsensical appearance and a sense of joy was designed and handmade by Michael, with his family also helping to conceive it. The entire dragon is 15 meters long, excluding the head and tail, which are 1 meter each. The body is divided into five sections, with a 2.5-meter interval between each section. A cardboard box was used as the faucet, and the dragon body was sewn section by section with bright red cloth. The keel was also supported by a shelf to prevent the body from looking too light. It took two weeks to complete.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the friends made an appointment to gather at Anxiang Road to dress up. It took a full 45 minutes to unfold the originally folded dragon body and get in one by one.
On New Year's Day, a small team gathered on Anxiang Road. It took them 45 minutes to put on their props and get ready to go. (provided by interviewee)
In the video, Michael dresses up as the "God of Wealth" and occasionally rides on a dragon. He holds an Insta360 camera throughout the process and shoots it from a fish lens perspective. The picture is hilarious. It ended with the squad sitting on a bench at the Gardens by the Bay, surrounded by several police officers. Netizens had different opinions on this in the comment area. Some people said that they may have been banned because they did not apply for a license, some said that the public called the police, and some people thought that they were arrested by the police by "extending the plot". Michael didn't know whether to laugh or cry about this. He also heard that someone posted a discussion on Reddit specifically about this.
The team performed dragon dance and took photos with the God of Wealth at Gardens by the Bay. (provided by interviewee)
Michael told reporters the true story of the day. On that day, there was the "Spring 2024" event in the Gardens by the Bay area, and the authorities deployed additional patrols. They happened to be resting nearby when the police patrol came over. At first, the police asked them if they had applied for a permit. Michael explained that they were not performing, but just for fun, wearing paper dragons to visit the garden. When entering the garden, security personnel had already conducted routine inspections. After the police learned about the situation, they called the organizer to report and then left. The six-person team continued to visit the garden without being driven away.
"Actually, throughout the whole process, we remained polite and respectful and responded calmly. Before setting off, I also expected that I might be stopped for questioning. I have always been a relatively optimistic person and believe that problems can be solved through communication. The most important thing is Let the other person know what we were doing was just for fun and had no other intentions,” Michael explained.
Before the team set off, they checked online to see if they could shoot videos in public spaces, but they didn't consider it and didn't know whether they needed to apply for a permit. In this regard, the reporter learned from the lawyer that entertainment performances such as street performers, street concerts and outdoor activities need to apply for a permit from the relevant agency. Individual spontaneous actions must be carried out without affecting other members of the public.
In fact, this is not the first time the funny team has acted. Last Christmas, Michael dressed up as Santa Claus and three friends dressed up as elk and took a homemade paper sleigh to Orchard Road. Because the carton car was unstable and often rolled over, it attracted bursts of laughter from bystanders, and some onlookers were so itchy that they simply joined in to experience it.
Not long ago, Michael and another friend cosplayed as anime characters and walked around the Marina Bay Sands mall, attracting everyone's attention. He noted: “My personality is like this. I like to do fun and unconventional things (out of the box), even if they seem a bit silly (stupid). I just want to do something new and interesting outside of the regular life. Try." Michael's mother is Singaporean Chinese and his father is Irish. As a native Singaporean who was born and raised here, Michael speaks authentic Singaporean English and can also speak simple Chinese. His mother gave him a Chinese name - Sheng En.
In the eyes of his friends, Michael is unique. "He has been like this since he was a child," Ishrak said: "He has a lot of wild ideas in his mind, and he doesn't care about public opinion. He just does it when he thinks of it. He can always go out of the box and do something nonsensical and funny. Maybe this is It has something to do with the environment in which he grew up, and his parents also support him being himself."
From the perspective of friends, spending time with Michael always brings inspiration beyond mainstream life. Ishrak said with emotion: "Everyone wants to be themselves and doesn't want to be assimilated by society. In Singapore, our life plan is very clear. We go to school and work all the way. Everyone walks on this path, but there are also people who want to explore themselves. road. We don’t necessarily have to live a regular life, because we still have many dreams and many things we want to do. Of course, as the times change, a generation grows up, and seeing the changes in recent years, there are actually many opportunities for us. You can find a way in your own way, a way to create fun for yourself. Maybe five years later, looking back, what we are doing is actually a very common thing."
Born into a mixed-race family, Michael is a native Singaporean. (Photo by Xie Zhiyang)
Daniel is thinking that perhaps the same education system has cultivated a common thinking mode among the public, which has become a "box" over time. "Of course to some extent it has made us who we are and we have seen this model bring success to the country. But at the same time, these seemingly non-mainstream, outside-the-box moves are harmless and can coexist. Conflict, or gradually opening up the box through creativity.”
Huang Liangkai, an international student from Taiwan, had just arrived in Singapore two months ago and met Michael in the master's class and became friends. (Photo by Chen Xinyuan)
When asked what the reaction would be if this behavior happened in Taiwan, Huang Liangkai said that it is common to see young people cosplaying on the streets of Taipei, and everyone is no longer surprised. From an outsider's perspective, Huang Liangkai observed that compared with other places, Singaporeans are more pragmatic and focus mainly on things that bring practical value to life, such as studying and career. So he was surprised when Michael was invited to do some hilarious antics.
As long-time friends of Michael, Ishrak (right) and Daniel (left) find his attitude of living out his own life inspiring. (Photo by Chen Xinyuan)
Ishrak believes that many people have the impression that Singaporeans are conservative, well-behaved, and not very good at having fun. Being a "fine city" has many requirements, but in fact many people have unique and interesting ideas. Many times, considering social norms, we are reluctant to take action. After this first-hand experience, the team was surprised by the enthusiastic response from the public along the way, which actually inspired them. After the short video was posted, they also received many positive feedback messages, "This is a very happy thing, and it also overturns the stereotype of Singaporeans."
