Serangoon in full swing for party
By Teo Wan Gek
SERANGOON grassroots leaders are pulling out all the stops to make sure that their New Year countdown party is the one event not to be missed on the last night of this year.
On Friday, popular local artists such as Rui En, Jeanette Aw, Mark Lee and Henry Thia, and Singapore Idol Hady Mirza, will lend their star power to Serangoon Swing 2011.
Along with host celebrities Michelle Chong, Moses Lim and Justin Mission, they will kick off seven hours of song, dance and celebration from 6pm at the Serangoon Garden Circus, where a stage is being erected.
To top it off, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will join the star-studded event and ring in the New Year with residents.
Over the past three days, about 16,000 invitations were hand-delivered to residents of Serangoon - a ward of Aljunied GRC - by 500 grassroots leaders and volunteers.
The ward's MP, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Hwee Hua, said that Serangoon Swing 2011 will provide residents with an opportunity to celebrate New Year in their own backyard.
'We expect some people to even come in their pyjamas, with their grandparents and children. It is for people to pop out, see parts of the programme, go home for dinner and come back out again for the countdown,' she said yesterday when announcing details of the event.
The $500,000 event - organised by the Serangoon Citizens' Consultative Committee and sponsored fully by businesses and other well-wishers - will include a family carnival with inflatable castles, carnival rides and line-dancing.
Partygoers will also attempt to set a new mark in the Singapore Book of Records for the most number of people performing the 'Papaya Dance', a dance craze that originated in the Philippines. The current record is by 290 people.
As the celebration is expected to draw thousands from Serangoon and elsewhere, roads leading to the Serangoon Garden Circus will be closed from 4.30pm on Friday to 3am on Saturday.
But half-hourly free shuttle buses will ply the roads of Serangoon Garden estate from 4pm on Friday to take residents from their homes to the event.
Said resident Low Mei Yen, 35, an oil company executive: 'I am not too concerned about the road closures and parking situation as this kind of party happens only once in a long time.'
In fact, she is looking forward to celebrating New Year with her family, celebrities and PM Lee as her birthday falls on Jan 1.
The GRC's other MPs - Mr George Yeo, Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Mr Yeo Guat Kwang and Madam Cynthia Phua - will also attend the event.
More than 50 countdown parties organised by grassroots organisations are being held this year, and residents can look forward to cultural performances, street carnivals and fireworks displays.
But Serangoon Swing 2011 is one of five large-scale events. The other big heartland parties are in Boon Lay, Tiong Bahru Park, Woodlands and Punggol.
By Teo Wan Gek
SERANGOON grassroots leaders are pulling out all the stops to make sure that their New Year countdown party is the one event not to be missed on the last night of this year.
On Friday, popular local artists such as Rui En, Jeanette Aw, Mark Lee and Henry Thia, and Singapore Idol Hady Mirza, will lend their star power to Serangoon Swing 2011.
Along with host celebrities Michelle Chong, Moses Lim and Justin Mission, they will kick off seven hours of song, dance and celebration from 6pm at the Serangoon Garden Circus, where a stage is being erected.
To top it off, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will join the star-studded event and ring in the New Year with residents.
Over the past three days, about 16,000 invitations were hand-delivered to residents of Serangoon - a ward of Aljunied GRC - by 500 grassroots leaders and volunteers.
The ward's MP, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Hwee Hua, said that Serangoon Swing 2011 will provide residents with an opportunity to celebrate New Year in their own backyard.
'We expect some people to even come in their pyjamas, with their grandparents and children. It is for people to pop out, see parts of the programme, go home for dinner and come back out again for the countdown,' she said yesterday when announcing details of the event.
The $500,000 event - organised by the Serangoon Citizens' Consultative Committee and sponsored fully by businesses and other well-wishers - will include a family carnival with inflatable castles, carnival rides and line-dancing.
Partygoers will also attempt to set a new mark in the Singapore Book of Records for the most number of people performing the 'Papaya Dance', a dance craze that originated in the Philippines. The current record is by 290 people.
As the celebration is expected to draw thousands from Serangoon and elsewhere, roads leading to the Serangoon Garden Circus will be closed from 4.30pm on Friday to 3am on Saturday.
But half-hourly free shuttle buses will ply the roads of Serangoon Garden estate from 4pm on Friday to take residents from their homes to the event.
Said resident Low Mei Yen, 35, an oil company executive: 'I am not too concerned about the road closures and parking situation as this kind of party happens only once in a long time.'
In fact, she is looking forward to celebrating New Year with her family, celebrities and PM Lee as her birthday falls on Jan 1.
The GRC's other MPs - Mr George Yeo, Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Mr Yeo Guat Kwang and Madam Cynthia Phua - will also attend the event.
More than 50 countdown parties organised by grassroots organisations are being held this year, and residents can look forward to cultural performances, street carnivals and fireworks displays.
But Serangoon Swing 2011 is one of five large-scale events. The other big heartland parties are in Boon Lay, Tiong Bahru Park, Woodlands and Punggol.
