Floating The Issue

Before people took to social media to sound off about the perceived injustices around them, there was one sure way to get attention: make a float about it. Which is what students at the University of Malaya (Singapore) did as part of their annual Welfare Week.

Sure, there were food and funfairs, fashion shows and entertainment, but it was Rag and Flag Day - the procession of thematic floats - that got all the attention. The floats would travel along Orchard Road, Cantonment Road and Neil Road, and students would be alongside it selling flags to the public to raise money for their charitable causes. In the early years, a campus publication titled Yakkity Yak, was also a popular sales item. The Welfare Week activities could raise anywhere between S$12,000 to S$30,000.

The floats attracted negative publicity as well, with their controversial messages and high costs of making them. In 1965, the procession was banned because of the overtly political statements they carried. The practice was resumed the following year, and has continued as a tradition in the now-called National University of Singapore Students' Union.