Singapore’s Largest Star Wars Fan Gathering in Character @The Centrepoint | November 16, 2017
About a 100-plus Star Wars fans from local SW communities — namely 501st Singapore Garrison, Cathar Base Singapura — Rebel Legion, FightSaber Singapore and The Galactic Academy Hosnian Prime Campus Singapore — converged at The Centrepoint shopping mall on November 16 to set a local record for the biggest gathering of fans dressed as the franchise’s characters.
A Singapore Book of Records official was there to recognise the feat that was certified and established as 112 participants to be exact. Organised to promote the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi movie, the event is part of the Fulfill your Destiny campaign to offer a Star Wars-themed shopping experience through various attractions at Frasers Centrepoint Malls’ shopping centres.
Close to 8pm on Thursday evening, fans congregated at the second floor of The Centrepoint before proceeding to an activity area at the first level, where attendees can take photos against the façade of a battlestation’s interior, try their hands on Nerf dart guns or pilot a Millennium Falcon drone.
Several participants came as the iconic Stomtrooper although a good number were also dressed as Jedi warriors, Rebel pilots and other Empire military personnel. Some kids were even decked up as Jawas with their signature glowing eyes and hoodies.
Speaking to Mass Forces, fans expressed a universal adoration for the 40-year old Star Wars, whose flaws are often overcome by a multitude of its more appreciated elements, be it in the movies, TV, computer games and (increasingly so for the past decades) pop cultural impact outside the franchise.
When asked about the best aspect of Star Wars, Kim, an English tuition teacher dressed as a TIE Fighter pilot, emphatically stated its female characters. “They are not wallflowers. They go out there and are in the thick of the action, and they don’t take shit,” she remarked.
Jamie Poh, a bank employee donning a jumpsuit of a Rebel pilot, pointed to the franchise’s ability to attract audiences of various personalities. “The best thing about Star Wars is, no matter who you are, you can always find a character that speaks to you and that you can identify with. That’s why people can find someone in the movies that they want to be,” she said.
On the other hand, Chee Kiat, a 17-year old student who cosplayed as young Obi-Wan Kenobi, reiterated what countless fans felt was the worst of the Star Wars legacy. “Jar Jar Binks,” he answered. Mint, who is also a student and armed with a lightsabre as an Old Republic Sith, thought that particular elements of the fan community have become the franchise’s bane, as it is “with so many popular series that go mainstream.”
How about the ongoing debate on whether Jedi hopeful Rey could be the daughter of Luke Skywalker?
“I think that’s really a possibility,” Jamie said. “It is the way the final scene in The Force Awakens plays out; the way they kept Luke until to the end. It’s quite a poignant scene when Rey goes all the way to an island and finds him. So it leads to the question of whether they would have a much stronger bond.”
And the intensifying fascination that the former Stormtrooper Finn could find himself in a love relationship with heroic X-wing pilot Poe Dameron?
“They look good together,” Chee Kiat joked as he preferred a Finn-Poe romance over a Rey-Finn pairing. Mint doubted Rey is capable of forming romantic relations with any of the characters.
“People say Rey is a strong female character but I see her being very flat. Her character development kind of stopped (in The Force Awakens) when she gets behind the controls of the Millennium Falcon, which is quite sad. So that is where any potential connection with Finn kinda died,” she opined, believing Finn and Poe’s relationship might become more of a bromance.
Overall, most participants agreed that the Star Wars fan community has grown strongly over the years, thanks to the recent films which brought the next generation of fans.
According to Kim, the worldwide membership of the 501st Legion fan organisation stands at more than 10,000 members. “In (the 501st chapter of) Singapore alone, we have more than a hundred members. Our sister group, the Rebel Legion, has grown from an ‘outpost’ to a ‘base’ (membership size). They have been expanding quite well, especially with the new movies,” she commented.
“When I joined FightSaber Singapore, there was not much interest in Star Wars. It is really a niche fan interest,” Mint remarked.
“When The Force Awakens came out, you could say the fan community is also awakened. I think we have quadrupled and grown a lot.”
