National Day Parade

The National Day Parade (Abbreviation: NDP, Chinese: ????, Malay: Perbarisan Hari Kebangsa'an) is a national ceremony in Singapore that, as its name implies, includes a parade on Singapore's national day on August 9, in commemoration of Singapore's independence usually in the Singapore National Stadium or Padang.

Parade sequence

Although the programme and sequence of the parade do change over the years, several components and the overall flow of the parade have remained intact for the past 4 decades. With the shifting of venues for some editions of the parade, the programme may see slight modifications in order to suit the venue, for instance the Mobile Column, which is only possible at the Padang site.

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Pre-parade

The pre-parade segment today may include mass-displays, choir performances, school band displays, sky-diving displays, and other light-hearted performances to entertain the crowd prior to the parade proper, with the added positive effect of encouraging parade-attendees to be seated earlier. Initially introduced on an ad-hoc basis as an informal filler, it has since became an integral part of the parade particularly when live television coverage was extended to this segment in recent years. As audience participation has become a part of the parade, the pre-parade segment also becomes an opportunity for the hosts to lead and rehearse with the audience actions they may have to do when the parade proper begins.

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Parade and Ceremonies

The parade has been a traditional staple of the National Day Parade. Participants of the parade include members of the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Police Force, Singapore Civil Defence Force, representatives of the different unions and Ministries as well as students in uniformed groups (such as the National Cadet Corp, the Singapore Red Cross).

Related Topics:
Singapore Armed Forces - Singapore Police Force - Singapore Civil Defence Force

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Participants are spilt into two main sections: the main body and the Guard-of-Honor contingents. The four Guard-of-Honor contingents are made up of members from the three arms of the Singapore Armed Forces as well as the Singapore Police Force. All members of these contingents are dressed in their respective ceremonial uniforms. Behind the Guard-of-Honor contingents stand the Colours Party, a group of officers, each holding on to their respectively military Formation Colours, as well as the State Colours.

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The parade traditionally starts with the Parade Regimental Sergeant Major (Parade RSM) forming up the parade on either the Padang or the field of the National Stadium. The command of the parade is handed over to the Parade Commander once the parade has been formed up. Typically, both the Parade RSM and the Parade Commander come from the SAF, and usually hold a minimum rank of Master Warrant Officer, and Lieutenant Colonel respectively. Upon sizing up the parade, the Parade Commander will wait for the arrival of the members of Parliament, members of the Cabinent, and the Prime Minister, in that order. Upon the arrival of each group, the parade will present it's salute and present arms.

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Lastly once the President has arrived, the Parade Commander will call for a full salute, during which the National Anthem will be played accompanied by a flypast of the State Flag. After that, the Parade Commander will request that the President inspects the parade. During this inspection, the President will be accompanied by the Chief of Defence Force, Chief of Staff and the Parade Commander. A presidential 21-gun salute is also given to the President during this time. It's customary that the President speaks to some members of the Guard-of-honor contingents as he passes by. After the inspection ends, the President will return to the podium before the Guard-of-honor contingents presents a Feu-de-Joie. At the end of it, the Parade Commander will ask the President for permission for a Parade Marchpast.

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Marchpast

Mobile column

The Mobile Column is the parade of vehicles and other hardwares from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), Singapore Police Force and Singapore Civil Defence Force. The first Mobile Column was organised in 1969 which displayed the then newly acquired armour vehicles of the SAF. In 1990, after an absence of 20 years, the Mobile Column made a come back as Singapore celebrated its 25th years of independence. Since then, it has been on show during the more important anniversaries of the nation's birthday, such as the 1995, 2000, and the upcoming 2005 editions held at the Padang.

Related Topics:
Singapore Armed Forces - Singapore Police Force - Singapore Civil Defence Force - 1969 - 1990 - 1995 - 2000 - 2005

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Flypast

Show segment

Multimedia Show

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The multimedia equipment is used during the show segment, this are the lists which type of multimedia equipment in the year.

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2003, it using the PIGI projection directed at stadium playing field, which used in 2000 Summer Olympics Opening/Closing Cermony before. Also, three cheaper video screens set at the blue sector.

Related Topics:
2003 - PIGI - Projection - 2000 Summer Olympics - Video

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2004, "Biggest LED Screen" in Singapore, measuring 31m x 7m, made up of 23 panels wide by 7 panels high. Also one of the largest outdoor screen in the world. In this year, for the first time, public could send national day greetings via SMS/MMS that will be shown on this LED screen.

Related Topics:
2004 - LED - Screen - SMS - MMS

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2005, "Panoramic Screen and Still Image Projectors", The Panoramic Screen is made up of 26 individual screens each measuring 10m by 6m. Still Image Projectors will be used to project the colourful images onto the screen. Also 2 large LED screen, each measuring 8m by 6m, will be used to screen numerous videos and ?live? feeds .

Related Topics:
2005 - Panoramic - Videos - Live

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Post-parade