Operation STOM: Editor's Note

To adequately cover the parade route on the Dinagyang Festival weekend, travellers broke up into four smaller teams inspired by James Bond films- Skyfall, Thunderball, Octopussy and Moonraker. Tasked with recording the festival, team members filmed, photographed and interviewed the people and the things they encountered. Some of these encounters have been reproduced in the Operation STOM articles that follow, while still more are to be used in the making of our documentary.

Operation STOM: Octopussy Dinagyang Field Report

Written by Lestari Hairul

Photographs by Lestari Hairul and Emily Choong (collage)

     The Octopussy team was assigned to cover the Dinagyang Festival on the ground over the two days we were there. We were a roving team of one videographer, Anis, impromptu photographer, Emily and a motley crew of girls and a guy excited to experience the festival (Andrea, Tracey, Gwyn, Paolo and myself).

Operation STOM: Moonraker Dinagyang Field Report

Written by Helen Sneha and Esther Ho

Photographs by Melissa Chia

*Names in this article have been changed to protect their identities.

     During days eight and nine of the In Search of Iloilo City study trip, the six-person Team Moonraker was assigned to the Capitol area of town. Having arrived there and discovered that good seats were hard to come by, we decided that it would be more productive to split into two separate groups. While Team Moon obtained a birds-eye view of the proceedings for a while (see ‘We Storm the Capitol’), Team Raker remained on the ground to sift through the crowds and speak to people. The following are some of the people we spoke to, and what they had to say about this year’s Dinagyang, its crowds, and its performances.

Operation STOM: Thunderball Dinagyang Field Report

Written by Team Leader Sheril A. Bustaman
Photographed by Sarah Chong

*Names in this article have been changed to protect minors’ identities.

     Beneath the scorching heat of the Iloilo sun, four students, a student guide and their pathfinder were struggling to find a nice spot to watch the Kasadyahan Street Dancing that was to begin in an hour. Whilst walking down the streets of Iloilo’s Chinatown, team Thunderball had an encounter with the boy who was to play the child Jesus, in the flesh.

The boy who was to play the Child Jesus in the festival.

     This little boy was getting made up by a professional make-up artist at the back of his parents’ car when our team happened to walk by. Judging by the fuss that was being made by the people around him, we decided he’d be a good subject to interview. Being Malaysian, we always think people who a fuss is being made of are important, and almost always we are never wrong.

One With The Tribe: Part 3

Written by Chrishandra Sebastiampillai

Pictures by Jonathan Lim, Sarah Chong and Melissa Chia

<< One With The Tribe: Part 2                                  One With The Tribe: Part 1>>

     Last night, we attended the last dress rehearsal of Tribu Panayanon in their school hall. We managed to speak with some of the dancers, and caught a glimpse of their preparations for today, the morning of the Dinagyang Ati-ati competition.

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     We are up bright and early, sitting in our jeepney and heading into the heart of the city. As part of Team Moonraker, I am headed to the Capitol judging stage. Traffic is heavy, and roads on the parade route have been shut, which means that we will have to continue on foot. The way is not entirely unfamiliar, as we spent yesterday covering the same area for the Kasadyahan parade- read about our adventure in pursuit of a good vantage point for filming HERE, and the rest of our team’s encounters HERE.