If you were too busy watching the Olympics over the last two weeks, you might be expecting some beautiful fireworks to go off today (7 Aug) and tomorrow.
Well, I’m sorry to have to do this, but I have to burst your bubble.
Reader: Oh god, please no. Enough travel bubbles have been burst already.
See, the fireworks displays scheduled for today and tomorrow have been cancelled.
More importantly, our National Day Parade (NDP), for the first time ever, has been postponed.
So instead of a big, grand parade, a small ceremony will take place.
National Day Ceremonial Parade on 9 Aug Will Comprise 600 Participants at The Float @ Marina Bay
Held at The Float @ Marina Bay, the National Day Ceremonial Parade will have around 600 participants from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the Home Team.
Previous NDP celebrations at The Float saw around 2,000 participants.
This won’t look like any previous NDP, however, as the authorities have to ensure that safe management measures are in place.
This includes:
- reducing the number of participants forming up at the parade by 70%
- reducing the size of the contingents
- ensuring a 1m distance is kept between participants in the same contingent
Four contingents made up of 72 personnel will assemble at the parade for the Guard of Honour, in addition to a contingent commander and a second-in-command.
Another 200 participants from nine uniformed youth groups and 12 social and economic organisations will also participate in the parade virtually.
This will be the first time that virtual participants are involved in the NDP, with each uniformed group represented by a different school.
There will be a total of 12 civilian contingents, comprising nine marching participants and one contingent commander.
Flypast Yes, Fireworks No
As previously mentioned, the fireworks display for this year’s NDP has been cancelled.
Fortunately, the iconic flag flypast will still take place, and it’ll be a little closer to Singaporeans in the heartlands.
From 9:50 am to 10:35am on National Day, two Chinook helicopters carrying the state flag, along with a pair of AH-64 Apache helicopters, will fly across Singapore from the east and west.
From the east, the helicopters will fly past East Coast, Changi, Pasir Ris, Bedok, Punggol, and Khatib.
And from the west, it will cover West Coast, Jurong, Bukit Panjang, Bukit Timah, and Choa Chu Kang.
Once the flypast begins, jets will also fly towards Paya Lebar Air Base, covering areas such as Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio, Jurong, Tiong Bahru, Yishun, Clementi, Queenstown, Tampines, and Hougang.
The RSAF’s F-15SG fighters will fly in formation as well over Singapore’s heartlands for around half an hour.
Areas around Marina Bay will be closed to the public from midnight till 2:30pm on 9th Aug, and people are advised not to loiter around or near parts of Fullerton Bay and the promontory.
This postponed NDP is expected to take place on 21 Aug, with a host of safety measures.
All participants and spectators will have to be fully vaccinated. Spectators will also be required to undergo pre-event testing, as will performers before rehearsals.
Watch this video to the end to learn more about COVID-19 tests:
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Featured Image: Jordan Tan/ shutterstock.com