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May the 4th be with you, Singapore

SINGAPORE — In the closet of sales and marketing manager Herve Cotton hangs a Luke Skywalker costume, complete with a lightsaber.

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SINGAPORE — In the closet of sales and marketing manager Herve Cotton hangs a Luke Skywalker costume, complete with a lightsaber.

The Star Wars fan is breaking it out to celebrate May the 4th, the unofficial “holiday celebration” for Star Wars fans around the globe.

Cotton, 43, who works for a glassware company, said he first fell in love with characters such as Obi-wan Kenobi and Yoda in the 1980s, after the 1977 original Star Wars: A New Hope premiered.

They are “old, wise space wizards that not only had magic powers, but wielded lightsabers, too”, said France-born Cotton, who has lived here with his family of five since 2008.

This May the 4th will be dream come true for him, since Singapore is celebrating the day in a big way.

Those visiting the Gardens by the Bay will be transported to the galaxy far, far away in a three-day long festival that runs from May 4 until May 6. There, the Supertrees will be turned into “lightsabers” from 8pm to 12am each night, with huge beams of light radiating from the tops of the trees. The epic Star Wars sound track will play on loop at the Supertrees Grove.

In the Grove will be a towering replica of the All-Terrain Scout Transport (AT-ST) — fondly known as the “chicken walker”.

Cotton is taking two days of off from work, and will attend the event in his Luke Skywalker costume. His wife, Susan Lee, 50, a sales engineer, will be there as a Jawa.

May the 4th has become “family affair”, since the Cotton kids — Alex, 14; Olie, 13; and Reggie, 12 — have now celebrated the day for three years running. The older Cottons are part of costume organisation the Rebel Legion, while the kids are in the Galactic Academy, a Star Wars organisation for children.

Another person in costume will be Azmi Danuri, 30, the founder of Lucas Films-approved Star Wars fan club, FightSaber. The freelance videographer will be part of a performance with fellow FightSaber members.

They have drawn on the fictional kyber crystal — in Star Wars lore, this is the object that powers the lightsaber — for their performance.

“Without it, there would be no lightsaber blade,” he said. “Kyber crystals were also used as part of the Death Star’s super laser ... In our performance, we present ‘bad guys’ trying to get their hands on one such crystal,” he said.

The Star Wars Day: May the 4th Be With You festival marks the first time that the typically fan-powered day has been turned into a large event.

It is organised by local events company Esprimo and The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia. The event is supported by the Singapore Tourism Board.

The closing evening will see the inaugural Star Wars Run taking place. Participants can choose to run either on the Dark Side, or the Light Side.

 

Star Wars Day: May the 4th Be With You is on at the Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay from May 4 to 6, from 3pm to 11pm. Admission is free. Visit www.gardensbythebay.com.sg for more information.

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