Familiar mascots provide a fillip of nostalgia
An elephant, two lions, a bee, a frog and a water droplet walked onto the Floating Platform yesterday, to a cheering capacity crowd.
They were familiar mascots from Singapore's public campaigns, guaranteed to evoke nostalgia.
Singa the Courtesy Lion, a cheery figure dressed yesterday in blue shorts and T-shirt with a flower emblem, exhorted Singaporeans to be courteous and considerate.
Sharity, a pink elephant in a blue jumpsuit, symbolised care and compassion for the less fortunate.
The two were joined by Captain Green, the frog who promoted a clean and green lifestyle; Teamy the Bee, which encouraged a more productive workforce; Nila the Lion, the official mascot for the 2015 Southeast Asian Games; and Water Wally, who spread the message of water conservation.
Besides dancing energetically to their campaign songs yesterday, the mascots showed they were not short on humour.
Reaching into the fun bag for the placard on which people could complete the sentence "I am", Singa wrote "I am your dream date" and cheekily showed it to emcee Sonia Chew, while the crowd roared.
Civil servant Clement Ong, 52, found their appearance at the parade "great". - THE STRAITS TIMES
Navy divers, Red Lions put up spectacular show
As the sun began to set, the massive crowd was swept up in a wave of excitement by the stunning sight of eight Singapore navy divers, joining the Red Lions for the first time, floating down from the sky.
The spectators watched in awe as the divers from the Naval Diving Unit slid into the waters of Marina Reservoir.
The eight men, who were making their debut at a National Day Parade (NDP), had jumped 1,800m from a Super Puma helicopter. They were followed by the army's Red Lions, a crowd favourite, who were greeted with thunderous applause as they whizzed through the air in wing suits and landed on the Marina Bay floating platform.
The 10 parachuters, with their distinctive red and white parachutes, launched themselves from 3,800m, a record height in NDP history.
Then came the aerial show with 26 aircraft performing formations and flying over Marina Bay. Two F-16 jets formed a heart in the sky with their smoke trails, sparking loud cheers and claps from spectators. To mark the 50th year of the air force, the final turn was done by an F-15 jet decked in blue. - THE STRAITS TIMES
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