Amongst the grand display of illuminated performances and aerial acts in this year’s rehearsal, they stand out as a novelty. The Wheelies was a group of flashy individuals who seemed to do things a little differently, by rolling into the parade instead of walking. 

 

Established in 2013, The Wheelies is Singapore’s largest electric unicycle community. It will be participating in this year’s Chingay parade for the very first time on 19 and 20 February at the F1 pit building. Adorned in bright LED lights and strips, ten or so individuals from the community had joined in for the parade’s rehearsal and contributed significantly to the phenomenal display of lights. “We light ourselves up like a Christmas tree,” said Thomas Hoon, head coordinator of The Wheelies.

 

Not only that, the group was also executing unique choreography moves, very much like dancing, whilst straddling electric unicycles and synchronising themselves with each other. It was a riveting and nerve-wrecking display as members strived to move in momentum and multi-task.

 

The electric unicycle is a green product powered by electricity. Equipped with a gyrostabilizer, it can detect unwarranted rotary movements and make “wheeling” a more pleasant and natural experience for the rider.

 

These eco-friendly vehicles are no longer a foreign concept in our conservative island nation because of communities such as The Wheelies and Singapore Unicyclists, among others, who helped boost the trend. The latter had organised the first ever meet-up in Singapore which took place in 2002, and a mere six people showed up over a common interest: electric unicycles. 

 

One year later, in 2013, Mr Hoon of The Wheelies too became transfixed on the device after spotting someone riding it on the streets of Shenzhen, China. The market price of the device was set at $3000 USD then, leaving Mr Hoon instantly discouraged by the high price. However, he stumbled upon a shop which sold it for $600 to $700 USD. Thereafter, Mr Hoon and three of his colleagues brought the device back to Singapore where a trend was already beginning to emerge. 

 

Then, The Wheelies would organise small events at Marina Barrage and Sentosa where it would garner a turn-out of about 15 people. Now, it operates a Facebook page with over 3000 fans and organises events with far larger turn-outs.

 

This year, the group will reach a new milestone by participating in Chingay which is Asia’s largest street performance with live broadcast to 11 countries. With this, The Wheelies hopes to be receive recognition overseas and be invited to events outside of Singapore.

 

In our homeland, stringent laws continue to work against motorised vehicles such as the electric unicycle, electric bicycles and e-scooters. Such vehicles are still banned from being used in national parks and footpaths in favour of pedestrian’s safety. However, communities and enthusiasts such as Mr Hoon believe that these vehicles should be taken pride of for their eco-friendliness, efficiency and safety. He said: “Wheeling is fun and safe, the government should not be uptight over such electric vehicles.”