In Yerevan, Armenia
IT IS past 9pm on a weekday night, but it feels like a weekend.
Hundreds of people are gathered round a large man-made pool, in the middle of the city. Many are sitting on the parapet around the shallow pool, feet dangling almost in the water, chatting.
Cooling their heels.
ST photo: Leslie Koh
This is not a large city, mind you. Not New York, London or Beijing.
This is Yerevan, the capital of Armenia - which has a population of just over 3 million, smaller than Singapore. The capital itself houses about 1 million. There are hardly any tourists, so most of the crowd are local. Yet they're here, teens, families, groups of old men, turning Republic Square into a bazaar-like place.
Just what's drawing so many people to hang out in central Yerevan on a weekday night? Doesn't anyone have to work?
The reason lights up at 9:30pm, literally.
Music blares out from giant loudspeakers hung on the imposing facade of a building facing the square, and all of a sudden, numerous fountains shoot up high into the air, lit up by coloured spotlights.
Show time.
ST photo: Leslie Koh
The crowd cheers. This is what they've been waiting for.
It's not a static fountain. These water spouts dance. As the music plays, switching from classical tunes to local hits, the jets of water twirl, sashay side to side, gush up high, then subside slowly, watery ballet dancers that move in sync with the music.
Different rows of fountains explode at the four corners of the pool at times, then fade out, like dancers that twirl onto stage and off. The spotlights glow and fade, changing colours from red to blue, green to yellow. It's an enthralling performance.
This goes on for more than an hour, night after night, six days a week (Mondays off). And, I'm sure, the crowds are here, every day that the show is on, and likely in even greater numbers on weekends.
And it's not just a gawking audience that fills the square. The crowds in turn draw quick-thinking entrepreneurs who pack the square selling food and drinks, toys and balloons, and renting battery-operated cars for the kids. It's a great atmosphere.
Catching the crowds.
ST photo: Leslie Koh
Ah, what a simple, brilliant way to get people together. Build a nice big pool, throw in some high-tech fountains, inject some creative choreography, and the crowds will come.
Sure, we all know Singapore has the fountains at Sentosa. But the Yerevan fountains are in the centre of the city, smack in the middle of the square that forms the heart of the capital.
Perhaps we could do the same, if we want to create more buzz in our city. A similar nightly performance would draw the crowds, I'm sure, if they're impressive enough. But they have to be convenient. Not just on the resort island, but downtown, so it's just an MRT or bus ride home when the show's over. Orchard Road, perhaps? Raffles Place?
And if the pessimistic foresee traffic and parking problems, how about the bigger town centres, then? Think of the people who would stay on after their dinner and shopping if there were similar liquid shows in Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio or Bedok. (Toa Payoh, I remember, used to have something along these lines in front of the library in the 1980s, and they worked too.)
It'll take some effort, some money and some precious land, for sure. But in return, we'll get a little more buzz in our city, a little more fun, and one more reason for families to come out to town and spend some time together.
And, maybe, a little more feel of weekends on our weekdays.