JOHOR BARU: This year’s Chingay parade will be rerouted to avoid the construction of the Rapid Transit System Link (RTS Link).
Johor Baru Chingay Festival main coordinator Lee Poo Sin said the new route, which is 1km shorter, would skip Jalan Gereja and Jalan Ngee Heng to ensure that the parade, scheduled for next Tuesday, runs smoothly amid the project to connect Malaysia and Singapore by rail.
Previously, the parade travelled along Jalan Wong Ah Fook in the city centre, then entered Jalan Gereja and Jalan Ngee Heng before continuing to Jalan Tun Abdul Razak.
The over 150-year-old Chingay Festival will kick off with a lighting ceremony on Saturday and end on Wednesday.
The highlight of the event is the parade, which will see devotees carrying palanquins housing five deities, each from the main Chinese clans of the Hokkien, Cantonese, Hainan, Hakka and Teochew.
Lee estimated the turnout to be some 500,000 people.
“It is expected to be grander as Malaysia and Singapore will jointly nominate the Chingay parade to be inscribed on Unesco’s intangible cultural heritage list in March,” he said.
He also announced that 80 colourful floats as well as 21 dragon and lion dance troupes are set to wow the crowd.
There would also be special performances related to snakes in conjunction with the Year of the Snake, he added.
In October last year, National Heritage Department director-general Mohamad Muda Bahadin said culturally rich and traditional activities such as lion dance and Chingay would be nominated for Unesco recognition.
A month later, Singapore’s National Heritage Board announced that both countries would submit a joint nomination for Chingay.
