Marine Parade's own NDP
About 1,000 participants, five-minute fireworks display in pre-NDP parade this Sunday
It may be only a mini National Day parade at the open car park near Block 8 Marine Terrace this coming Sunday, but Marine Parade residents are going the whole hog.
The planning, the logistics and the number of participants are anything but small.
Almost 500 hours have gone into the planning and execution of the project and about 1,000 participants - school children, tradesmen and senior citizens - will be forming 28 contingents and a military band.
Not forgetting the Harley riders who will lead the ceremonial jeep on which Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong will be riding in.
There may not be military precision, but it is expected to be a great show for the 3,000 residents in the constituency, culminating in a five-minute fireworks display that promises to light up the night sky.
The cost? More than $100,000, which will be covered by the Citizens' Consultative Committee (CCC) as well as corporate sponsors, said CCC chairman Tan Jack Thian.
The idea of a full-fledged National Day parade in Marine Parade was first mooted by Mr Goh himself five years ago to give residents there the chance to participate.
Mr Goh, a Member of Parliament for the Marine Parade GRC, told The New Paper that this year's mini parade will showcase Marine Parade as an inclusive community.
"Residents in wheelchairs, a blind man with his guide dog and other special needs people will be among the contingents," he said.
Mr Tan added: "A lot of effort has been put in by the working committee as well as the contingent participants to make this mini National Day Parade one that our residents will talk about for years to come."
It will be Singapore's first National Day without founder Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
Mr Lee died on March 23 at the age of 91.
Mr Goh said that while the late Mr Lee will not be at the Padang physically, his presence will still be felt.
"The concept of National Day parades to create and bond a people as Singaporeans, as one people, started with him.
"This year's parade is therefore his legacy. It is a tribute to him, for the country he built and the pride he instilled in us as Singaporeans," Mr Goh said.
Proclamation of Independence to be heard islandwide
On the morning of Aug 9, Singaporeans will get to hear, for the first time, the country's Proclamation of Independence read by founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
At 9am on National Day, a recording of Mr Lee's reading will play on all local TV and radio channels, and at the 82 National Day observance ceremonies across the island.
The People's Association (PA) said it would be the first time that all the ceremonies will be held on the same day at the same time: 9am on Aug 9. The recording of the proclamation will go on air after the sounding of sirens islandwide.
Mr Lee did not announce the separation 50 years ago because he had "too many other things to do in quick succession", he wrote in his 1998 book The Singapore Story.
The proclamation was read by an announcer over then Radio Singapore on Aug 9, 1965. To make up for this, Mr Lee agreed three years ago to do the recording, said the PA in a statement released in July.
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