Performers keen to put on spectacular show
The Singapore Indoor Stadium was filled with strange-looking beings yesterday afternoon.
Some were wrapped in attire with flickering white and blue lights, others had pants that looked like a soldier's camouflage attire, and there was even a group in black-and-yellow attire, looking like a swarm of bees from a distance.
Fret not, The New Paper did not accidentally stumble into the Twilight Zone yesterday.
The 12,000-capacity Indoor Stadium was simply being used as a holding area for performers in the opening ceremony of the South-east Asia (SEA) Games on Friday.
More than 5,000 performers for the opening ceremony were involved in the full-dress rehearsal at the Sports Hub last night.
Among them were 13-year-old Koh twins, Ler Ting and Jin Hao.
After she found out her brother would be part of a group from Raffles Institution performing at the National Stadium on Friday, Raffles Girls' School student Ler Ting decided to volunteer as a performer.
"I wanted to have the same experience Jin Hao would have," she said.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform in front of such a big audience, and I don't know if I will get a similar chance again."
Jin Hao, who was born one minute after his sister, said preparations have not been a cakewalk.
"We have been rehearsing every Saturday since February," he said.
"At first, it was just two hours, then as long as from 12pm to 10.30pm."
Another youngster who is relishing the experience of performing in front of up to 55,000 people is Koh Hao Xuan, 13.
He is the only one from Victoria School who is performing in the opening ceremony, and was selected for an "aerial role" at the start of the second act of the ceremony.
He belongs to the Martial House, who is also heavily involved in the opening ceremony, and was asked by his wushu coach to practise certain movements a month before he went to audition for the role he eventually got.
"A lot of people will be watching me (during my performance) but I am not scared at all, after weeks and weeks of training," said Hao Xuan, who clocks almost 30 hours of training a week.
"It is an experience that not many will get, so I am very appreciative to be given this chance to perform."
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