I almost missed the front part of the parade this year.
Not because I was out of the house, not because I was busy with something else (well, technically I was) but because I thought the parade started at 615pm. And it was only when I got an alert telling me that it had already started did I dash to the TV and turn it on.
Which, I'm uber glad for.
Cos' I hate missing out on any part of the parade.
Especially the beginning.
Where the Red Lions come in and where all the ministers make their appearance and the march past and the contingents and the colors.
This isn't about whether I'm patriotic or not.
We're all Singaporean. And it doesn't matter whether you feel excited or you don't. It doesn't matter whether you think all this is a waste of time or you don't. Just so long as you're Singaporean, there's a lil part that's just gonna be there. In any case, if the parade doesn't excite you, something else about Singapore will- it can be the ice cream sandwich uncle, it can be our transportation woes, it can be anything- so there.
It's great fun to watch, I suppose.
If there's a parade of military might on show, then it's a parade with military might on show. That's just it. And it's just once a year, on a day right in the middle of summer that you get to see a bit of action, a bit of dance, and a bit of clappity-clap stuff on an official stage. It's a day when the usually stoic, stern-faced Ministers get to wear stylish outfits and wave at everyone with their light sticks and take pictures and bang together whatever's in their fun pack.
That's what I tend to look out for, actually. :P
I'm always on the lookout for people who are loosening up and letting go and being real and just having a fun time without being too cray over everything.
So I caught the Red Lions in time- there was a guy in black this year- the last guy to land- and whom didn't take off his sunglasses at all.
And then everything else went as it was meant to go.
You had the band, and then after that, the bagpipers. The arrival of our MPs and Ministers, the men decked out in an array ranging from polo tees to short-sleeved shirts of red, or red and white, the ladies in outfits of tops and bottoms and dresses, some with floral motifs stretching right across the outfit. The motifs were lovely, as were the bright red cigarette pants worn by one female MP/Minister, and which were really, really eye-catching in the setting sun. Too bad the cameras didn't catch the shoes of one Minister. :)
The uniformed contingents went in... and I'm pretty glad that the Civil Defence had their own contingent this year, so that made it five in total. I can't remember the last time the Civil Defence had their own, in fact, I can't remember them ever having one at all. If they had, it must have been a fairly long time ago. They looked pretty cool in their protective gear and all too... :) The same coolness could be extended to the students' contingents- you know, the NPCC, the NCC, the GB, the BB etc. Except... why the umbrellas? What was the prop supposed to be? Had it been arranged that they'd open them?
The non-uniformed contingents went in after. NTUC, OSIM, SINGTEL, SEMBCORP. I salute the workers who had to spend months and days and hours rehearsing under the unrelenting sun. I can only imagine how exhausting it had to be for them. Most of them aren't the youth of the uniformed groups anymore, and it really isn't easy for ordinary folks to get ourselves on there and to march as well as them uniformed folks in front.
And then came what, to me, is the highlight of the whole celebration. The flag fly past.
Okay, so I know that many of us have differing, if not strong opinions about this and that about the Administration and the Management and there are things which I support, things which I'm not sure if I should support, and things which I don't really support at all. But when all's said and done, there's just one thing that isn't going away.
Being a Singaporean.
And being a Singaporean means that I know how to sing the National Anthem, I know how to recite the pledge and I most certainly got that sense of national pride when the flag flies past- with the Chinooks and the Apaches. There's something significant about seeing the flag crossing past our banks, our skyscrapers, our Bay area hotels in the orange glow of the setting sun.
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| how it looks from suntec city |
It didn't end there, of course, we hadn't come to the party yet!
So we had the dancers, the formations, more singing, more of the local hits, plus the one and only NDP song that I'm strangely averse to, more performances, where we had Rahimah Rahim and Brian Richmond and Grandma Mary and the Purple Symphony, and lots more singing and dancing, and to top it off, at the end we had Joseph Schooling and Yip Pin Xiu on top of the mountain... whom I thought both looked rather lonely by themselves up there.
Not forgetting, of course, that this year, there was a very special segment. One that involved a whole lot of vehicles zooming in one by one, a chopper over the Bay waters, and quite a bit of manpower running in and out. I'll be straight. I didn't really pay much attention to the details, cos' the PR side said it was straight-out Hollywood action and I've already seen a lot of action blockbusters coming out from Hollywood, but bits and pieces here and there caught my eye, and I'm glad for the presence of the uniformed females, and for the professionalism of the "terrorists".
That made the sequence very, very likeable. ;)
No NDP is complete without the pledge recitation and of course, the fireworks, and yup, I'm glad the weather held too. Cos, fireworks somehow hit the soul of the heart and make everyone stop, look and be happy.
No NDP is complete without the pledge recitation and of course, the fireworks, and yup, I'm glad the weather held too. Cos, fireworks somehow hit the soul of the heart and make everyone stop, look and be happy.