12 COUNTRIES 1 CELEBRATION!

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Ceremonial Band joins 11 other countries in the Royal Brunei Armed Forces' (RBAF's) Golden Jubilee with a spectacular musical display of Singapore's culture at the Brunei Darussalam International Tattoo 2011 (BIT 2011).

Singapore's national flower Vanda Miss Joaquim swayed gently to a cheerful instrumental rendition of Home, while the rotating Singapore Flyer evoked a mood of festivity to the light-hearted melody of Singapore Town.

These emotive images were brought to life through display formations by the 42-member SAF Ceremonial Band at the Hassanal Bolkiah Sports Complex Indoor Stadium, where BIT 2011 was held from 31 May to 2 Jun.

Alongside military musicians and artistes from 11 other countries including Australia, Oman, Thailand and the United States, the SAF Band performed for more than 22,000 people during the three-day military tattoo.

Themed Military Band and Family Entertainment, the event was held to commemorate 50 years of the RBAF.

The days when traditional military tattoos were just drum performances informing soldiers to return to their barracks have long gone. Tattoos have since evolved into musical events participated by military - and sometimes civilian - bands to promote peace and harmony.

The organising committee for BIT 2011 took it a step further.

Said producer of BIT 2011 Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Salleh Suhaili from the RBAF: "We want to celebrate the RBAF's meaningful occasion with Bruneian families from all walks of life. So, we added diversity to the show by incorporating a variety of entertainment elements such as acrobatic acts and motorbike stunts."

With that in mind, LTC Salleh requested a singing segment in Singapore's display. He even hand-picked artiste Ms Nurun Nuwwarah from the SAF Music and Drama Company (MDC) to sing at BIT 2011, as he was very impressed after watching her perform in Singapore last December.

Together with Singapore Idol 2009 winner Lance Corporal (LCP) Sezairi Sezali, the duo belted out famous Bruneian folk song Kampong Ayer ("Water Village" in Malay) to the live accompaniment of the SAF Band. The crowd fell silent when the music introduction filled the stadium, and broke into rapturous cheers when the vocalists started singing.

As the second last act of the show, the SAF Band put up an impressive display, showcasing Singapore's multi-racial culture in a lively repertoire titled Spirit of Celebration. The performance comprised popular tracks such as Munneru Valiba ("Progress, Young Man" in Tamil) and Yong Gan De Zhan Shi ("Brave warriors" in Chinese).

Complementing the show were eight MDC dancers, whose dance routines and traditional multi-racial costumes added vibrancy to the marching display.

Tough training

For a display band mostly made up of Full-time National Servicemen from three different Ceremonial Bands, it was no easy task ensuring that the military musicians produced cohesive sounds and moved in precision, said Military Expert (ME) 4 Steven Tan Aik Kee, Director of Music of the SAF Ceremonial Band.

The band musicians undertook a month of intensive rehearsals, progressively mastering the music techniques and foot drills for the formations.

ME4 Tan said: "Despite the tiring training, the military musicians were cooperative and dedicated. They pushed on to make this display a success."

MDC vocalists Ms Nuwwarah and LCP Sezairi mesmerising the audience with their rendition of Kampong Ayer.

Rapturous response

The nine-minute performance concluded with a Bruneian National Day song, Brunei Bumi Bertuah ("Brunei the Blessed Land" in Malay), coupled with formations featuring "50" in Western and Arabic-Indic numerals to mark the RBAF's 50th anniversary.

This was very well received as echoes of the audience singing and clapping along were heard reverberating across the stadium even after the music faded and the band had marched out.

For Bruneian student Noor Nabilah Haji Sirat, the best part of the SAF Band's performance was when the band members snapped open red and gold Chinese fans in perfect sync with the beat of the music.

Raved the 14-year-old: "The scene was spectacular. One moment they were holding their instruments playing music, and the next they were flicking the fans in synchronisation.

"It's pretty normal to open one fan, but when so many are done at the same time, they look wonderful!"

Commanding Officer and Conductor of General Headquarters Band, Armed Forces of the Philippines 1st Lieutenant Theodore C Lumagui praised the SAF Band for its high standard of musicianship. "The music quality and display execution were very awesome. I look forward to future musical interactions with Singapore's band."