Sunday, August 9, 2009
NDP 09
Today is August 9th 2009. Its has been 44 years since our independence and not 1 moment in these 44 years have we forgotten out trails and successes. Today Singapore celebrated our National Day with a bang. A grand parade made up of 10 chapters depicting Singapore's Journey from our founding by Sang Nila Utama to the present times. Here is a brief summary of the celebrations. (This will be a long post. Sorry about this guys)
It starts with Chapter 1 and its theme of' 'of Singapore'. Chapter 1 depicts the arrival of Sang Nila Utama to Singapore with his admiral(Mark Lee) and his minister(suhaimi yusof). As expected of these 2, there was great humor coupled with intelligent jokes. We move on to Chapter 2 whose theme was 'we, the citizens' representing our teamwork and togethereness i conflict. To examplify this, they place together a simulated terrorist attack ranging from chemical, seabourne and underwater mine threat. This was to signify the importance of Total Defence and its 5 individual aspects. It is good to note that some actors were humorous and that the total simulation took like 10min to complete(the 'newscaster' on site was saying that it would take time to neutralize the threat)
Chapter 3 'pledge ourselves' signifies the march in of the contingents. The highlight of every parade. The marching contingents all sung the song 'we are one' as they marched in. The contingents all march with unity and precision and this was reflected in their 1 united solid bang after the march. The parade command was then passed to Lt-Colonel Yong C.M. from the Air Force. He then called in the Guard Of Honor comprising of the elite of the army i.e commando, Navy, Air Force etc. This also marks what we defend which corresponds to our theme for chapter 3 and was reenforced by intereviews with selected people of what in SG will they defend. Next came the arrival of his exellency President SR Nathan. It was clear by the amount of cheering for him that he was well-loved by the people. Following immediately was the National Anthem 'Majulah Singapura'. Next came the fly-pass by the F-16 squadran. After which the President inspected the GOH along with 21-gun salute an old Navy tradition as a markl of respect to the President and the GOH. He was then saluted by the rifle fire from the GOH themselves as a form of 'Thanks' to him. The final march-pass then ensued with permission from the President. The order wnet as such:GOH-->Noraml army-->PAP-->Total Defence--> UYOs-->Captial Land and last the NTUC.
Chapter 4 or 'regardless of race, language or religion' depicts the First Wave or the early immigrants of SG. This was shown via a grand display of traditional cultural songs and dnace in the order of Malay, Chinese, Indian and the rest of the races followed such as Nonya and Eurasion and this was wrapped up with everyone singing 'this is SG' in the 4 national languages.
Chapter 5 'prosperity and progress' depicts our Fast Forward to the present. The acting depicted the contrast between the east and west of SG, the past and present of SG and its transition from the 60s to now. This was done in the form of the different genres of songs that were popular from each period. The biggest attraction was undoubtly Sulhaimi acting as John Travolta. This chapter closed with a speech made by LKY during one of his national day rally speeches.
Chapter 6 'as 1 united people' talks about SG going against all odds to overcome crisis after crisis. This was represnted by 5 armoured warriors who represented the 5 aspects of Total Defence. The meaning was that of persistance and resilience to dangers and troubles and our spirit to overcome and succeed over them as one eg SARS, terrorism, Influenza A etc and this was coupled with the song 'I will survive'.
Chapter 7 'so as to achieve happiness' themed as when I grow up. This was done as a video segment. The video was of kids and their aspirations ranging from psp helper to Presidency.
Chapter 8 'to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality' is based upon the herat lands. Here we sang the national songs coupled with a beaitiful array of irridiscent colours, performers and formations ending off with the performers setting ballons shaped like red herats into the sky.
Chapter 9 'for our nation' depicts us as the Little Red Dot. This was to potray Singaporeans around the world as people who carry bit of the 'Little Red Dot' wherever they go and to always know that here is where their herats belong. To enhance this, they managed to get 6 internationally acclaimed Singaporean musicians to perform along witha big MAJULAH formation. A big float depicting the globe was filled with little red dots to depict the Singaporeans around the world holding a bit of SG with them.
The final chapter 'the pledge' has a theme What do you see as with our national day song. Here we played our song 'What do you see?' by Electrico. A song which depicts the uncertain future of SG but with togetherness and us Singaporeans acting as one, we can surely overcome all odds and trails. I for one, support this song as it is very true in our world and it follows with my belief that hard work and unyeilding spirit overcomes all. After which, we all said the national pledge at 8.22pm around the globe and in multiple places in SG and in one voice as citizens of SG we renewed our commitment to our homeland. We ended of the night with an amazing display of pyrotechnics.
Well although I spent the whole day doing physics revision I still am a patriot at heart for I am grateful to the country that gave me all I have and all that I will have. For no matter what, I am and will always be a SINGAPOREAN!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY 44TH SINGAPORE FROM ALL THE GUYS AT AC AND ALL OF US FROM THE KNIGHTS OF THE LEGLESS TABLE!!!
Lameketeer03 signing off: This is my country, This is my home...Singapore =D
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