As I watched the golden lion perform its dance last night at the Lunar New Year celebration hosted by Sentosa Development Corporation last night, I couldn’t help but relate it to the very similar stunts and manoeuvres we in travel have had to make to survive the pandemic and come out the other side.
To start off, the lion has to jump onto pretty high pillars and balance on all fours. Then it has to stand up on two hind legs and, with great dexterity and courage, takes a flying leap to land squarely on the next pillars, and make its way across the row of pillars. (Watch the video to see what I mean)
Occasionally, it’s been known to stumble, although last night, I wasn’t sure if this was a “pretend” fall to give us a thrill or two.
Was this a stumble? Fake or real?
I am told it takes years of training and practice and countless injuries to perfect this dance and the men behind the golden lion and dragon dances we saw last night at the dinner held at the newly-opened Southside on Sentosa were clearly masters of their art.
Us in travel, we were pretty much plunged into the pandemic, had no time to practice, and had to very quickly learn new manoeuvres and skills to make it through the past two to three years.
For us in Asia, it’s been a much longer “dance” than anywhere else – which is why this year’s Lunar New Year celebrations is extra special, marking the first time the Chinese community could mark the festival together as a global village.
The folks at Sentosa pulled out all the stops to make it a night to remember – the longest “yu sheng” or “lo hei” – known as the “prosperity toss” – I’ve ever been part of as well as the longest prize giving ceremony in which I think I was the only one who didn’t win anything.
Thien Kwee Eng, CEO of the Sentosa Development Corporation, leading the longest Prosperity Toss I’ve ever been part of.
Clearly, I must toss more food into the air and make more wishes like “da ji da li” (good luck and great prosperity), although at this time of life, I may opt for “qīng chūn cháng zhù” (eternal youth).
Be that as it may, there are good reasons to celebrate the year of the Rabbit, whose celebrations will end on February 5, the Chinese Valentine’s Day.
According to data collected by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism, there were 308 million domestic trips during the Spring Festival holiday this year, a year-on-year increase of 23.1%, bringing it to 88.6% of the same period in 2019. Realised domestic tourism revenue totalled 375.843 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30%, and levelling off at 73.1% of the same period in 2019
Specifically, on January 26, 2023, civil aviation performed 12,757 passenger flights, an increase of 5.7% from the day before, returning to 83.3% of 2019, of which 12,432 were domestic flights, returning to 98.7% in 2019.
Numbers to rejoice over indeed. It’s only to be expected that domestic travel will take off first in China, before anything else.
Speaking to industry folks on Sentosa, the inflow of Chinese visitors has not happened yet. India has been a huge market, as has been South-east Asia, and MICE business has also returned with a vengeance.
The Goddess of Mercy temple in Penang
The situation was similar in Penang where I celebrated part of the Lunar New Year. The inflow of Chinese visitors has yet to happen but there were definitely enough tourists – both domestic and international – around on the island. It was good to see the rickshaw men back in business, peddling cruise passengers around the city.
Every celebration seemed bigger, felt more festive – it was definitely noisier in Penang than in Singapore, with fireworks and firecrackers lighting up the sky every day. Streets were closed for markets and on the eighth day, which is observed by the Hokkien community in Penang, the area around the clan jetties were closed off in the biggest party of the year.
At last night’s event, Thien Kwee Eng, CEO of SDC, said that Sentosa would do its part to secure a big chunk of the 12-14m visitors projected to arrive in Singapore in 2023. The island has done a brand refresh from “state of fun” to “where discovery never ends” to “force us to tell better stories”, she said.
Fun is still important, she noted, but the last two years have helped everyone, including herself, to appreciate the hidden discoveries and interesting stories of the island. Southside, for example, sits next to the historic coastal Fort Siloso, and the area was once the haven of pirates and traders. It’s been repurposed into an event space that can hold up to 5,000 pax.
I can imagine a “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie screening here, perhaps with a couple of lion dances thrown in.
The good thing is, after the couple of years of practice we’ve had manoeuvring the pandemic, we’re in better shape to face whatever comes along the next 11 months. In fact, I think we can do just as well as the golden lions last night.
