We balloted for the NDP tickets like every other year and this year we got it! We basically punched in ALL the available NRICs into the NDP website from our household and opted for 4 tickets each. I did not know the odds, but yay! we got them. Green Zone! Which meant we would have the city skyline as the backdrop for any photos we take.
The ushers did a fantastic job. They calmly guided people to their seats systematically. You could see from their perspiration and volume of their instructions that they must be super tired. They still did it with a smile. Kudos to them.
The motivators at the venue were all very enthusiastic, they tried their very best to do all the dance moves and encouraged the audience, but the chilled out crowd was not really in the party mood just yet.
Out came the emcees and they got us on our feet. We waved our flags, shouted MAHJULAH! did the wave and shouted lots. Instagram version of this photo here.
As with tradition, the parade displayed our country’s military might. All services were showcased. Army, Navy, Airforce, Civil Defense, etc.
Then came the marching contingents. They moved in quickly and when the country leaders arrived, we all sang the National Anthem with the flag fly pass like every other year.
This year’s performance was like a huge musical with In A Heartbeat as the theme. As far as musicals go, I do feel that it was nicely arranged. The musical score and different renditions worked well with the overall storyline. Kinda emo in the end where the mom died. However there were also cringing moments in the performance that seemed like a hard sell effort to relate to the general commuting public. No matter what people say, I still think overall it was a good musical and it brought out the essence of the theme song.
After the pledge moment at 8:11pm where the whole nation recited the pledge, the fireworks started.
BOOMZ! BOOMZ! BOOMZ!
The best pop song that they played that night to me was LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem. Hearing it really makes me wanna PaRtY!
Kids were tired and hungry, so we went to Marina for dinner and talked about how the parade was put together using the booklet that was given out. We explained to the kids who the different people were and their roles in the parade.
My daughter Clié then out of the blue said “daddy, can I not do PSLE and just go to Secondary School?” I was like huh… Apparently the mammoth task of putting the parade together was to her like the mammoth task of doing well in School.
Anyway… we wish Singapore a very Happy Birthday and hope to come to the Parade again with our baby Clara next year.