Chapter 41--This is where I call Home

Went to celebrate the nation’s 43rd birthday with Jiayi, Rui feng, Jiewen and 22000 other people just now at Marina Bay and I must say that it got to be one of the best ndp performance that I had witness over the years. Although the feeling of going to the parade had more or less “matured” from one of great excitement to one of anticipation in recent years, each of these parades that I had attended over the years nevertheless serve as beautiful nostalgic memories for me. The past 3 parades that I had attended- in 2004,2005 and this year 2008, in particular, left quite an impression on me. In 2004, it was the first time I was involved in the parade as a helper albeit as a SAF soldier and was able to have a first hand experience with behind the scene actions for the very first time allowing me to finally have an understanding of how ndp were executed(and also to get a chance to watch my idol Kit Chan upclose in person!). That year parade was also special because it was the year Singapore Defence force celebrated its 40th Total defence force day and it was also the last year that Mr Goh Gok Tong attend the parade as our prime minister before he step down. In addition, it was also the last parade that I attended in the national stadium before it is stated to be demolished to make way for the new sport hub. In 2005, I revisited Padang for only the 2nd time for ndp since I started to have the chance to go watch “live” national day parade and that parade was special in its own right because it involved the mobile column and being in an active armour unit during my active national service days, how could I possibly not feel a sense of pride and honour watching all the armour vehicles driving past with my peers of 46 SAR in it especially when I ORD just a few months before the parade?
Anyway, back to the parade for this year, we were indeed very lucky to obtain the “best” seats for viewing the performance and fireworks. The elevation whereby our seats are situated are just nice to have a close-up view of the spectacular firework displays and not too near to the stage whereby we cannot actually “see” the performance. In fact, I must say that the position or “feng sui” of my seat this year has to be the best in ALL my ndp that I had attended. It was also nice to see that the organizer has MV s of the past national day parade theme songs shown on the large monitor screen before the parade. Not only did it help the audience to really get into the mood and hype up for the actual parade, it also serves kinda like a sort of memory lane for us to realized that hey we have really came a looong way since 1998 when the 1st national day theme song was introduced and sang by the very talented Kit Chan. Despite the slight drizzle, the atmosphere there was certainly sunny. In fact, I must say that the rain not only have not dampen our moods for the biggest show in Singapore, it only serve to make this parade even more memorable for us hee hee. It was also great to see the choir back in action after missing from last year parade(which btw nearly caused me to fall asleep while watching the show on tv last year with the SAF orchestra playing instrumental notes; it is not to say that the SAF orchestra isn’t good but hey this is national day parade and I want to get high and not be sedated instead. In addition, their conductor was highly active and cute dancing along with them while singing the songs during the pre-parade segment. It certainly was the first time I see such “siao on” conductor. The highlight of the show IMO however, still remains the marching segment because being a soldier myself before, I can truly understand how much sweat and hard work is needed in order to execute those near perfect, precise moves. Not only that, watching these fellow soldiers marching past bring a sense of pride that simply cannot be describe. Although people may cursed and swear when they realized that they are chosen to be the marching continent for a parade, one cannot deny that he or she looks the best when they are marching especially in those smart uniforms be they number 1 or 4. In fact, me, rui feng and jiewen even went to suntec to witness the uncasing ceremony for the rehearsal parade last week.
The remaining segments of the parade continues to be a more “boring” affair with schools and organizations putting up performances which I can never truly “appreciate”( perhaps because I was simply not artistic inclined enough). It was only during the firework display that I kind of woke up from my trace. Singing the various evergreen national day songs with thousands others while watching the various fireworks explode into their spectacular patterns in mid air really makes my heart race and jump. It remains the best way to end the ndp.

Hopefully I can get my hands on tickets for ndp 2009.

Wish me luck.

Regards,
Yongster

More good years ahead...