Singapore National Day Parade 2021

 

The theme for Singapore National Day Parade 2021 (NDP2021) is “Together Our Singapore Spirit.” It was postponed this year due to COVID-19 “Heightened Alert” restrictions to 21 August 2021 (traditionally it was held on the National Day, 9th August). It was very well done even with the constraints of the parade’s rehearsals and performance being executed with safe management measures in place. We pray for a Singapore spirit that reflects the righteous compassion of Psalm 33:12 and practice the merciful justice of Micah 6:8.

According to the “live” broadcast blurb, NDP2021 is about the “Singapore Spirit.” Through three locally produced animated short films, “the show captures the pain of isolation and hardship experienced by several individuals, the struggles they faced to survive and the friends they made that helped them triumph.” The NDP is thus a reflection on Singapore’s past and a review of the way ahead.

The theme song video is a compilation of the “voice of the nation” with singers across ages, races, religions – all found in Singapore! Do watch it here (see below).

 

Mr Ng Eng Hen, Minister of Defence, wrote: “Let’s all enjoy the NDP, in the spirit of solidarity and confidence in Singapore’s future. Even though delayed and with fewer participants and spectators in response to COVID-19, NDP 2021, as it did in previous years, reaffirms our belief in one another and undiminished hope in our nation’s bright future. These images tell our Singapore story once again. Majulah Singapura! [Onward Singapore!]”

The following is the NDP2021 as broadcasted live by MediaCorp (about 2-hour long).

 

This year’s NDP also sees a word cloud formed (see below) through responses of the SG Traits Map survey.

 

The full six-hour plus NDP2021 livestream is as follow.

 

More information on NDP2021 can be found on the official NDP site.

In a post-event article Warren Fernandez, the Straits Times Editor-in-Chief, lauded this year’s very memorable NDP. “What made the greatest impact on me,” he wrote, “were the moving stories told about what it took to build this country.” These apparently ordinary people were from the pioneer generation who contributed in their own ways to the building of the nation. He also highlighted the intentional multicultural nature of Singapore from its inception in 1965. He quoted from the founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, that this nation “is not a Malay nation, not a Chinese nation, not an Indian nation. Everybody will have a place in Singapore.”

 

#NDP2021 #TogetherOurSGSpirit #OurHomeOurStory #EASTLifestyle #TogethernessInChrist #TogetherAsOne