Singapore's national day falls on the 9th of August. It's a pretty big event each year and parade tickets are usually highly sort after comodities. This year, I was fortunate enough to score two national day parade preview tickets from my boss, so Mr Kwek and I headed down to the Padang to catch the parade.
It was a great day for a parade. Amazingly, amidst the wet weather recently, we were blessed with a bright sunny day. We arrived at 5pm and proceeded to get a nice tan while waiting for the parade to begin. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it a bit more if the aunty next to me did not keep poking me with her umbrella...
Being the obedient Singaporeans, like 99% of the other people in the Padang, we were decked out in the colours of the national flag. Soon enough, the parade began. The spirits of the people at the Padang picked up and umbrellas cames down :)
Those of u in Singapore have probably watched the parade many times b4 on tv and can list down all the usual elements of the parade. this year was nothing particularly special. there were the patriotic songs, the march past, the display of all the latest military equipment, the fly past, and mass dances and the annual highlight- fireworks.
The only difference was, that this year, I was there. Squashed together with a cross section of Singaporeans, all waving our flags in unison. In an atmosphere of joy and pride in what the nation has achieved.
Going to watch the national day parade is not exactly the coolest activity around. But I'm really glad I had the chance to go. The feeling of actually being there is completely different from watching it on tv. Everything really comes alive.
I'm sure most of those who were happily waving their national flags like me last night have gone back to complaining about taxes, ERP, inflation or floods. But it think we all know that we are blessed to stay in such a lovely island, free from wars or unrest, and where the closests we get to natural disasters is when our starbucks gets flooded.
Hope you guys had a lovely weekend as well and are all geared up for another week ahead.
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