Raya Fiesta 2019 - Geylang Bazaar (Unrealised)

People’s Association was looking to reboot the 2019 edition of the Hari Raya “Geylang Serai Bazaar” amidst alleged issues of sky-high rents and “hipsterism-creep”, turning the fair less traditional year by year. I headed creative direction with Revolution Event Management (REM) for the bid.

Their stipulation for this edition’s bid was to make it “traditional again”. Without any indication as to how “traditional”, and to which time period the point of reference was — I proposed, instead of one or the other, and as this fair was to be the tabula rasa — that the theme/key selling point of this year’s bazaar: What if you could experience ALL of the Hari Raya Bazaars EVER, at this 2019 edition?

Instead of polarising young or old themes, my proposal sought to put culture and community (which is incidentally what the heart of “tradition” and “kampung spirit” means) at the forefront, and to celebrate/educate the best of Malay entertainment/culture to Malays of all ages, and to the other races/tourists attending the fair.

The bid was heavy on programming, with the bazaar delineated into 3 zones, 60s - 70s, 80s - 90s, and modern day, with the “Raya Stage” at the heart of it all. One could experience curated food and drink, entertainment and retail, in a time-capsule recreation of the era in their respective zones. Major local/Malaysian entertainers were also slated to perform.

The “inclusive” framework also extended to less-fortunate communities — detailed “pay-it-forward” coffee schemes; “pay anything” Fridays on select menu items, so that the Bazaar does not exclude families who cannot afford.

The bid was ultimately not selected. The eventual was build-up eerily similar to REM’s proposal (albeit in a frankenstein-pastiche), right down to the “pallet slat” furnishings, corrugated steel panellings, containers and lighting, though none of the programming were “co-opted”.

Proposed Festival Identity, varied applications. Clockwise from left: Monotone application; horizontal non-crest variant; proposed brand extensions for different programming zones (dining zones, retail and nostalgia-throwback cultural programming.

Proposed the bazaar to be delineated into 3 zones, 60s - 70s, 80s - 90s, and modern day, under the theme/key selling point of this year’s bazaar: What if you could experience ALL of the Hari Raya Bazaars EVER, at this 2019 edition?

From left to right: proposed programming touchpoints; proposed key performance indicators for the Bazaar.

Proposed "Raya Makan" Dining Experience render.

One of the key considerations for the Bazaar, is while to press the reset button on the hipsterism creep on the meta of the bazaar over the years, back to a "Kampung" theme -- I proposed to have a "old-with-new" amalgamation of youth and nostalgia dining experience with novel, unique ways to dine with family and friends, while being surrounded by community programming.

I've designed the dining area, to be open to be entered from all directions, with the "Kampung Dining" zone effortlessly fused with the more youth-focused "Raya Food Gallery", for ease of mobility with the young and the old, with zero physical separation between the demographics, while with each zone looking distinctive and special.

Main entrance for the "Kampung Dining" zone, with a side entry for the "Raya Food Gallery" zone.

A key consideration in the creative direction was not to just create a run-of-the-mill, cheap-out dining area, but to consider how Malays in the past enjoyed their kampung experience, and what the idea of "Kampung" means to them -- the "Kampung Dining" zone was conceived with community and communal hangout/eating experience in mind. With that, the fencing, the signs in a rustic finish, with tropical flora, as well as the zone being on an elevated platform, evoking the traditional houses of yore.

Detail views of some of the proposed built-up furnishings for "Kampung Dining". From left to right: low tables for a floor-seated experience for visitors to dine traditionally with friends and family (with consideration to large and extended families, hence tables are in a 4+2 format for a combined 6 pax or for smaller parties), with coloured "pasar" lights and "kampung gazebo-esque" open-platforms for communal lounging; detail view of a gazebo platform.

"Alley Wall", a connector to the respective dining zone from the other side, was designed to ease a visitor's experience into the main area, doubling up also as a standing-room dining area for singles/small parties.

The "Wall" for "Kampung Dining" was also proposed to be plastered with photos of old Singapore kampungs (to be requested from Natl Heritage Board/Natl Archives) on both sides, to immerse diners with the literal experience of dining in a kampung.

View of "Raya Food Gallery" zone, the flipside of "Kampung Dining". This zone was designed to evoke "alfresco dining in the streets", reminiscent to closed roads in Kampong Glam, dining under the night skies (deliberate transparent tentage), surrounded by local street art. In a stark contrast to the traditional dining experience offered by "Kampung Dining", the furninshings here while also having a communal focus, is designed to incorporate "repurposed" unconventional eco-focused furniture made of pallet slats.

The street art was to be original pieces from local artists and from schools and children community programmes for certain panels.

From left to right: Standing panels to be filled with original pieces from schools and children community programmes; "repurposed" eco-focused pallet slats furniture, under LED "balloon" lights, ebbing a synchronised multi-coloured cycle.

"Alley Wall" (for "Raya Food Gallery"), a connector to the respective dining zone from the other side, was designed to ease a visitor's experience into the main area, doubling up also as a standing-room dining area for singles/small parties.

For this zone, colourful corrugated steel panels were employed, to reflect the vibrance of the zone and for youth, with blue/magenta neon lights lined on the top for a unconventional contemporaty-futuristic experience.

Top view of both dining zones.

Render of the "Raya Fiesta Stage" which was to be the centrepiece of the Bazaar, with deep cultural programming planned throughout the whole duration of the festival. It was to be situated in the middle of the main fair area, with the programming able to entertain and attract the visitors around, be it they are dining, shopping or watching. Some of the proposed acts include, from both Singapore and Malaysia: Taufik Batisah, Joe Flizzow, Tomok; hosted by Suhaimi Yusof and Sheikh Haikal.

↑Back to Top