WOW.
Did anyone expect anything less from China? After over a hundred years of ‘humiliation’ by the West and even Japan, this was the moment for China to make an official announcement of its status as an emerging superpower; to throw a party that would make every country – especially those that excluded China from their parties before – look on in awe and astonishment.
The messages of world unity, friendship etc. were all there at the opening ceremony. But the resounding message I hear all night is: “Top this, World.”
You get the feeling that Zhang Yimou, the director, was handed a blank cheque – spent all you need, just make sure that this is a show that owns them all.
And it was. Stirring, mesmerizing and at times genuinely moving, it was as much a spectacle as it was a catharsis for Chinese pride; a vindication of the trials and tribulations that the country has endured, despite its many imperfections.
When an airborne Li Ning sky-ran the circumference of the Bird’s Nest roof to ignite the Olympic cauldron, accompanied by a galaxy of fireworks, any Chinese watching must have felt a palpable sense of history and pride.
Cut to a day later and the Singapore National Day Parade. One can’t help but feel a little sorry for everyone involved in what must cruelly feel like a sideshow to the event that transpired in Beijing 24 hours earlier.
