Singapore will be celebrating its 50th Birthday on 9 August 2015. To make sure more Singaporeans get to come together to celebrate, People’s Association (PA) and SAFRA will jointly organise National Day Parade Celebrations At The Float 2015 to engage 25,000 Singaporeans each night at the Marina Floating platform on Sat, 1 August and Sun, 9 August 2015.

Spectators will be invited to sing and groove along to popular Singapore community songs such as ‘Singapore Town’, ‘Sing Singapore, Move on Singapore’ and ‘Stand Up for Singapore’.

This will be led by 700 community performers. The youngest performer is 7 year old Loo Hsin Yee and the oldest performer is 81 years old Tan Siew Kiat; both are from PAssionArts Community Singing Network.

While at the backstage, we had the chance to catch these community performers preparing to head out to put on a good show for fellow Singaporeans.

It is especially heartening to see performers of different age group spending time to practise together and help each other in the process. Quality bonding time does bring out the best in people.

A special video capturing the collective hopes and aspirations of more than 500 Tanjong Pagar residents who are involved in a project called the ‘Dreams Singapore, Majulah SG100 Pinnacle Challenge’, will also be screened.

The video will be accompanied by the song, ‘Thank You for Singapore’ which was first performed in 1991, at the National Tribute Dinner to honour our late Founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, after he stepped down as Prime Minister. The song will be sung by the East Coast Choir. The song pays tribute not only to the late Mr Lee but all founding fathers of Singapore, and to encourage Singaporeans to build on their legacies.

Kelly Yiew Ping Hsien is one of the wonderful voices that make up East Coast Choir by Kampong Chai Chee. The East Coast Choir started with only 30 members at its first choral practice session in late May this year. Within a few months it has gather about 120 members, regardless of musical background. Kelly, who is pursuing her ‘A’ levels this year, joined the group because she loves to sing. The many rehearsals took away significant study time for her milestone examination, but she feels it is all worth it as she is proud to perform for Singapore’s Golden Jubilee and excited to watch NDP ‘LIVE’ for the first time. She has also made many new friends in the choir and has even recruited her 46 year old mother to join the choir. They now have more opportunity to spend quality time together to bond over their shared passion.

Apart from the performance by PA Community Performers, the Float, also known as the Marina Bay Floating Platform, will offer unblocked views of some spectacular segments.

This includes a special film and performance by the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s Black Knights; in honour of the late founding Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the Black Knights will do the “Five Stars” aerial flypast as a tribute. Meanwhile, this year’s fireworks display, another perennial airborne highlight of the parade, has been billed as the largest-ever such display for National Day.

Revellers may also watch the mobile column procession pass by, participate in pledge-taking with the marching contingent, and get into the groove with local artistes in a post-parade Celebration Concert only at the Float.

260 motivators will also heighten the celebrative mood by getting the spectators to do the ‘Singapore Wave’. They will also toss 10 red and 10 white balls to spectators during the PA Mass Display Segment of the ‘live’ telecast as part of audience engagement.

One of the motivators, Mohd Sahri Bin Sairi is a 15 years old student from Si Ling Secondary School and he is no stranger to PA’s event. He participated in Chingay Parade Singapore in 2014 and 2015 as he enjoyed meeting and getting to know new friends. When he and his friends knew about the role during their school camp, they volunteered immediately.

Despite his passion and enthusiasm, Sahri earnestly shared that becoming a motivator does have its sacrifices. Attending training workshops over weekends were particularly tough for him as he had to pass up some family bonding time which he deeply treasures. He appreciates his family members’ understanding during this period. With their support, he was able to persevere and do his part to make Celebrations At The Float a memorable experience for fellow Singaporeans.

The Float, having previously hosted audiences for several Bay area fireworks displays, is a prime viewing location for this and some exclusive segments, including a dedicated pre-parade segment.

Of course, we must not forget our unsung heroes working hard behind the scene to make sure that all Spectators receive medical attention real time should the need arise.

Frederick Yeo Lye Hock, PBM, our First Aider from Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is trained in Standard First Aid (SFA), Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation & Automated External Defibrillator (CPR+AED). He has attended countless Emergency Preparedness (EP) trainings (eg. SFA & CPR+AED) organised by the PA in the Community Clubs and goes for advanced Basis Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) training on his own to enhance his life-saving skills.

Although this is the fourth time that he will be participating in the NDP as a First Aider, he is very excited to be able to serve as one of the Sector ICs this year and oversee a team of 20 CERT volunteers for the medical deployment. He knows that their role is especially critical in mass events like the NDP, as they can immediately administer aid in the event of mishaps, and in more critical situations before medical help arrives.

Host & Emcees

A star-studded cast of show hosts and emcees including Irene Ang, Jerald Justin Koh (JK), Mike Darren Tan, Chua Leelian will engage and entertain spectators throughout the evening as we celebrate Singapore’s 50^th birthday.

Overview of the Programme

If you are heading down to the show this weekend, here are the details:

4.45pm Pre-Parade Show: 

– Celebrating the Extraordinary Games – A contingent of 400 Team Singapore athletes, officials and Team Nila volunteers will be recognised for their stellar performance at the 28^th Southeast Asian Games.

– Spectators will sing and groove along to the tune of popular National Day songs with more than 600 performers from various community groups

5.40 pm The Parade: 

– The celebrations at the Padang will be screened live on four LED screens (Size: 9.8-metres x 4.7-metres)

– Spectators will be able to have one of the best views of the aerial display, 21 gun salute, fly-past of the Singapore flag and fireworks over the Bay

– A segment of the mobile column, including 28 vehicles showcasing some of the best of Singapore’s defence capabilities, will drive past The Float

– The parade contingent will march from the Padang to join the celebrations at The Float during the pledge moment

– Spectators will join the rest of Singapore for the pledge moment and in singing the National Anthem

8.30 pm Celebration Concert: 

– Spectators will be treated to a variety of performances by local artistes

9.15 pm End of Programme

Have fun and do share your experience in the comments section below!