Singapore got 10 religious leaders to bless upcoming F1 race
This year's Singapore Grand Prix is just two weekends away, and already its organisers are pulling out all the stops to ensure the event goes off without a hitch.
On Monday, a group of 10 religious leaders representing different faiths gathered at the Marina Bay Circuit to bless the upcoming Sep 16 - 18 event and its drivers. This ceremony has been a ritual for the Singapore Formula One racing event since it started in 2008.
According to an interview that Colin Syn, deputy chairman of the Singapore Grand Prix, gave to Today in 2013, the religious practice is unique to the Singapore circuit.
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Seeing that the race has been fraught with health concerns over Singapore's most recent Zika outbreak, it comes as no surprise that the blessing ceremony was carried out on such an elaborate scale.
Still, many Singaporeans are amused by the antics and have taken to social media to voice their opinions.
One Facebook user, Gareth T'r, used the opportunity to include a pic of the infamous Malaysian shaman who performed a public ceremony in 2014 involving coconuts and "magic sticks" to help find the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
The island state is a multi-racial, multi-religion nation, therefore calling in a number of religious leaders to bless a state-related event is not uncommon.
In December last year, members of Singapore's Inter Religious Organisation helped bless the opening of the country's new underground train line, the Downtown Line 2.
