SINGAPORE: This year’s Lunar New Year installation at the centre of Chinatown has become a subject of heated debate and criticism, after photos of an 8-metre long light-up dragon went viral on social media.
The light-up dragon is one of the key installations this year, as it is meant to symbolise the Year of the Dragon. After the lights were erected, however, many Singaporeans complained online that the dragon appeared “ugly” and had a strange, “human-looking” face.
One post by Facebook user Lik Wee on the Complaint Singapore group quickly went viral, garnering over 2,000 reactions and close to a thousand shares. Lik Wee said, “The Chinatown Dragon is up. I don’t want to comment. You all see for yourself.”
The general sentiment among those commenting on the post was negative, with many expressing disappointment in the dragon’s design. Some likened it to characters like “Shrek” or a “mutant,” while others lamented that this year’s installation fell short of the standards set by previous years.
Critics even suggested that the authorities responsible for the installation should have chosen a different contractor. Memes also circulated online, with some humorously comparing the dragon’s expression to a “when the boss says bonus cut it in half” scenario.
However, opinions diverged among those who visited Chinatown in person. Some visitors, speaking to Lianhe Zaobao, defended the installation, asserting that the dragon looks impressive when lit up at night.
One Singaporean, who visits Chinatown every year to see the lighting decorations, told Lianhe Zaobao that he saw the memes and complaints about the lighting decorations circulating on Facebook but found that the lighting angles in the online photos were not good, which made the lighting decorations look ugly.
“The lights are more beautiful when they are turned on, but they cannot be compared with how they look during the day. When you come down and look at the lights yourself, they will definitely look better than the photos on the Internet,” the 40-year-old accountant said.
Another visitor, a 29 years old manicurist also pointed out that the lights are more “powerful” when they are turned on at night.
Despite the positive feedback from some visitors, not everyone shared the same sentiment on the ground. One man interviewed by Lianhe Zaobao expressed his disappointment, describing this year’s lighting as “mediocre” and failing to capture the grandeur associated with the Year of the Dragon in Chinese culture.
He remarked, “The dragon is a zodiac sign with a ‘king’ quality in Chinese culture. I don’t think the lighting brings this feeling.”