racial harmony day: kebaya

every 21st of July, schools in Singapore celebrate the Racial Harmony Day. it is the day to commemorate the 1964 Race Riot in Singapore. during this day, usually, the students wear their traditional clothes and bring traditional snacks and delicacies.

this year, the 21st falls on the weekend, so Aina’s school moves the Racial Harmony Day to today. just like last year, many of the kids were wearing Cheong Sam, Baju Kurung or Punjabi Suit. for the non-Singaporean students, they were encouraged to wear the traditional clothes from their countries. so, this year, aina wore the Kebaya.

earlier this year, Chili gave us this beauuuutiful hand-made Kebaya. the lace was delicate and intricate… the color was very light pink, almost white. it is very pretty. and at that moment, we all agreed that aina should wear this Kebaya on Racial Harmony Day.

even though Chili had reminded us to buy Batik cloth for the sarong part of the kebaya, i forgot all about it until a few days before the D-day. so one day prior to the Racial Harmony Day, i ended up making this franken-sarong out of aina’s batik baby nightgown and ari’s black old T-shirt. i tried to make the bottom wider, so that she can still run around in it.

we took one of aina’s tanktops, the light pink one, as the undergarment. unfortunately, the Kebaya was still a bit too loose on aina (she’s thin). Chacha made a suggestion to put on a belt/obi, so that the Kebaya will look more fitting. so, after digging through my stash, we found a very nice, light-colored fabric for the obi.

 

so, there she was, wearing a (kinda) Balinese style Kebaya, and loving it. she said it was a success, as many kids and teachers in her class asked her about the costume.
and, for me, it’s fun to see all the different and colorful costumes worn by the kids at school… they are so adorable!