Catch this arresting video police made to share Deepavali joy

Top: The Deepavali video being performed by the Singapore Police Force. Above, from left: Staff Sergeant Priya Vamen, Deputy Superintendent Magdalene Ong and Sergeant Syafiqah Abdul Aziz sang most of the remixed Tamil song, which was subtitled in Eng
The Deepavali video being performed by the Singapore Police Force. PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE/FACEBOOK
Top: The Deepavali video being performed by the Singapore Police Force. Above, from left: Staff Sergeant Priya Vamen, Deputy Superintendent Magdalene Ong and Sergeant Syafiqah Abdul Aziz sang most of the remixed Tamil song, which was subtitled in Eng
Above, from left: Staff Sergeant Priya Vamen, Deputy Superintendent Magdalene Ong and Sergeant Syafiqah Abdul Aziz sang most of the remixed Tamil song, which was subtitled in English. PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE/FACEBOOK

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) are lighting up this year's Deepavali with a music video released on their Facebook page yesterday.

Deepavali, celebrated today, is a Hindu holiday also known as the Festival of Lights, meant to mark the triumph of good over evil.

In a video lasting over two minutes, police officers can be seen singing and dancing - in uniform and traditional Indian garb - to a remixed Tamil song, originally from Mediacorp's Vasantham channel and composed by Mr Vicknesh Saravanan.

Subtitled in English, the song was rearranged by members of the police. Three female police officers, who featured prominently in the video, sang most of the song.

The police accompanied their post on the tune with the caption: "The SPF wishes all who celebrate the festival of lights a happy Deepavali. Have a joyous celebration with your family and loved ones."

The video has chalked up more than 35,000 views and received several compliments from netizens who deemed it a good effort on the police's part.

The police told The Straits Times that the video was made fully in-house and no external vendors were engaged for the production.

The video, which was first raised as an idea in September, took two nights to film and a few weeks to plan, record and produce.

It involved 30 to 40 officers, mostly from the police band, which takes part in performances and parades, as well as officers from various vocations such as the emergency response team and investigation officers.

This is not the first time the police have produced festive music videos. Earlier in the year, they also released videos for Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

The Chinese New Year clip, featuring police officers of various races singing a medley of classic festive songs for the holiday, got about 259,000 views and more than 2,200 shares. The Hari Raya clip drew more than 286,000 views and 4,500 shares.

A police spokesman said videos show that the police force are part of the community and they celebrate the same holidays as everyone else. For now, there are no plans for future videos.

Other organisations such as the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) have also done similar videos in the past.

Earlier this year, SCDF put together a short clip for Chinese New Year featuring dogs - this year's zodiac animal - from its K-9 unit.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 06, 2018, with the headline Catch this arresting video police made to share Deepavali joy. Subscribe