That Cloud

Sunday, July 14, 2013

I was involved in NDP!

No I don't mean being there as part of the audience like I did last week.
No I wasn't a performer, flashing those flowery bright costumes.
No I wasn't a kacang puteh man, wearing that sarong and lobbing peanut packs to the audience.
No I wasn't a crowd usher, wearing that cool purple shirt, waving their light sticks and encouraging the crowd to cheer.

I did stuff that was way more important! I did......... heavy lifting....hmmph! It's an honest and honourable job you know!

Well, there's always some heavy lifting to be done, like moving stores, setting up barricades, moving fences...etc and these need manpower. No one does the job better than young, full bodied and able men from the SAF.

You see, during the next few weekends, Primary 5 students from all over Singapore will be attending this year's national day parade as part of their national education journey. For most of them, it will be the first time they have ever been to NDP. It will be the first time they have ever seen the performance this close! Also, they might have friends performing on the day itself. All of them will share this one lasting experience of watching the NDP live with their classmates, SCREAMING AND CHEERING AS THE SPECTACULAR FIREWORKS DISPLAY BURSTS ACROSS THE SKY AGAINST THE BACK-DROP OF THE CBD!

...

I remember watching the NDP live for the first time when I was in Primary 5. We still held it in the old stadium then and it was a moment I cherish greatly. Watching the marching contingent, ever so smartly dressed, with a band playing the parade music was an eye-opener. We stared in awe as the Lions did aerial stunts and parachuted onto the parade grounds. I could see that everyone had their mouths agape during that segment, staring at the blue yonder that is the sky with a tiny red dot slowly but surely navigating down and POP! The parachute was released and everyone does a countdown to the Lion's landing.

I remember being awestruck by the military display, how fighter jets screamed past overhead, firing their afterburners and leaving smoke trails in their wake or the boom of the artillery as they fired blanks. We saw tanks rolling down the stadium track, soldiers peeping out of the entry hole and the chinook helicopter fly past with the giant sized national flag.

Of course, who could forget the Kallang wave?

The performers, dressed in a kaleidoscope of colours, pranced around the stage, energetic and executing their dances and formation with accuracy, no doubt they had put in much effort to practice. We sang patriotic songs, songs of home, that call us to treasure our family, to love oneself and to share love. We did a whole lot of singing back then. Nowadays, songs are chopped, then mixed and mash. It sounds creative, but the songs sounded rough. Then rap is added, plus (gasp) a bit of dubstep. I preferred singing whole full songs from back then and I still do. It was a really big thing back then as primary school kids, to memorise NDP songs before going for the parade. Times are changing.

The fireworks display finale? Never ceases to amaze.

After that, who could forget the squeeze to get out of the stadium! Finally getting out, with my form teacher leading the way, we waved goodbye to volunteers and soldiers who guided us to our school bus.

I saw the faces of children exiting the floating platform after this year's NDP. Beaming smiles and laughter abound. They were so cute! Some were marching! Some were singing the Ah-Boys to Men theme song. Some were singing NDP songs. Many waved goodbye, many Hi-fived me, even bro-fisted me. Several even saluted me and I saluted back. A few said they hoped to see me next year!
We got ready to move the barricades that we've set up along an entire lane in the road so that the children can safely be escorted to their buses.
As the children got on their school bus and left, we SAF men did our job to push back the barricades along the road back to the sides, along the entire road, deep inside knowing that we have contributed to a lasting memory.

signing off.

Call Of The Wild at 12:00 PM