Amidst the hullabaloo of the things we had to do on National Day and the husband’s exciting evening out with Singapore’s leaders, I have been remiss in sharing about our trip to the National Day Parade (NDP) this year.

Highlights:

1. It’s the first NDP back at the spanking new National Stadium.
2. Everyone was excited about doing the Kallang Wave. I believe I counted 5 rounds before it died out. The hosts for the evening had to move the programme along and talked through at least 2 rounds of the waves.
3. This year’s performance part of the parade was amazing. The lighting, the props, the costumes, the storyline, the flying performers – it was really entertaining and relatable. Beatrice Chia-Richmond and her team really did such a beautiful job.
4. The use of technology was awesome too. We had little wrist lights that were so high tech that the lights could be controlled remotely. Depending on the scene of the performance, our little wrist lights would glow gently, or pulse according to the music, in varying colours.
5. We got to sing-a-long with our favourite National Day songs. I think this is a really important part of the NDP. These are songs I grew up with and fostered nation building. I remember at the first NDP that I went for, the organisers somehow thought it would be a good idea to introduce a lot of new songs, and then tried to make it sound cooler by doing a techno or super fast paced version. It just wasn’t enjoyable!
6. We learned sign language for the song Count On Me, Singapore, so we could sign along with the hearing impaired.
7. The funpacks were really cool looking and easy to carry. My son loved his red backpack so much he wanted to carry it home by himself.

I was a little disappointed that there were no Red Lions parachuting into the stadium or gigantic fireworks (only little ones) because the stadium’s domed roof remained closed.

But this year’s performance more than made up for it. The general theme was about Singapore in the next 50 years, and us getting ready for it.

This will forever be stuck in my head.

You’ve got to watch this clip with the flying unicorn we had!

It was so beautiful. It was part of a scene that encouraged us to dream and chase those dreams. I tried to take a photo but the photo really didn’t do this scene justice. During this scene, everyone’s little wrist lights were pulsing in the same colours as the unicorn’s, so they looked like jewels against a black velvet backdrop.

I really appreciate how Singapore has evolved and changed.

As a child, I don’t remember anyone encouraging dreams or any out-of-the-box thinking. It was always, “you must do well in math and school, blahblahblah. killmenow. Needless to say I always felt a little out of place with all my ideas. But I’m glad we’re moving forward.

To end off, here are some photos of us enjoying our day! Oh I must say that the NDP volunteers/helpers did a really good job. They were attentive and helpful. And even when there was a huge crowd waiting to get onto the trains at Stadium MRT Station, they managed to keep everyone calm and orderly. There was no stampeding and no one was pushing to get onto the trains. Other than the fact it was really hot while we waited, (this is where the fans in the funpack came in handy) I really have no complaints.