NDP National Education Show for Primary 5 pupils returns after 2 years
The National Day Parade (NDP) National Education (NE) Show returned on Saturday (July 2) after a break of two years, with thousands of Primary 5 pupils showing up at the Marina Bay floating platform.
Streaming in as early as 4.30pm, the pupils screamed in delight at various elements of the parade. Many of the children held up their phones to capture the action.
These included aerobatic displays by F-16 fighter jets, landings by the Red Lions parachutists, and a security operations demonstration by the Singapore Armed Forces and Home Team called the Total Defence Display.
Among the Primary 5 pupils in attendance was Chai Rui Jia from Kranji Primary. The 11-year-old was looking forward to the parachutists as there was "suspense on whether they can land in the right area".
It was their first time watching the parade in person for many of the pupils, including Saravanabhava Sonika and Mohamed Hafiz Mohamed Haneefa from Fengshan Primary. They are both 11.
Hafiz told The Straits Times: "I feel lucky to be part of the batch that is able to watch the NE Show in person, as some of my friends had to miss it in the past two years."
Saturday's rehearsal was the first of three NE shows to be held for the NDP, which is returning to its usual, centralised format. Organisers are aiming to fill up to 26,000 seats at the floating platform.
Pandemic restrictions in the past two years had meant that the Aug 9 bash had to be scaled down.
Highlights this year include a segment marking the contributions of national servicemen, with this year being the 55th anniversary of national service.
The show segment - helmed by first-time creative director and theatre veteran Adrian Pang - consists of five chapters and a film. It aims to depict how Singapore battled the pandemic and emerged from it.
In a statement, Mr Tan Kean Loong, assistant director of the Ministry of Education's Student Development Curriculum Division 1, said the NE shows are a key cohort experience for Primary 5 pupils to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be Singaporean.
He added: "Through this collective experience, we are also going to have a deepened appreciation of what we can do as a nation and how we can forge ahead, as a nation, in the future."
With Singapore in the midst of a new Covid-19 wave, NDP organisers are working with partners to ensure that the NE shows are able to return safely in accordance with national guidelines.
Lieutenant-Colonel Law Angwei, chairman of the seating, invitation, carparking, ushering and security committee, said the executive committee "continues to monitor the national situation and remains adaptable and agile to implement necessary measures, where needed".
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