18 UNIQUE DESIGNS FOR NDP 2018 FUNPACKS
// REPORT by Chia Chong Jin
// PHOTOS by Tan Yong Quan
This year's National Day Parade (NDP) funpack will showcase 18 different artworks by students from 38 Special Education students, featuring images of the Singapore flag, Singapore's skyline, as well as Singaporeans!
In line with this year's NDP theme We Are Singapore, the artworks express the students' love for Singapore, as well as their well wishes for the nation. The artworks also aim to inspire Singaporeans to be proud of their identity and achievements, and also to have confidence in creating Singapore's future together.
At The Float @ Marina Bay on 26 Jun, President Halimah Yacob met the 18 students who designed the artworks that will be printed on this year's NDP funpacks.
"It is really wonderful that for this year's NDP, we are incorporating students from the Special Education Schools in the design of the NDP funpacks," said Madam Halimah. She also mentioned that these artworks effectively showcased the thought, effort and creativity that were put into them by the young artists.
"Each and every one of us, as Singaporeans, have a part to play and contribute, and we must make every effort to showcase such efforts. I am glad that the NDP committee did that, and they took the step to get these students involved.
"I hope that National Day will be a day where we all, no matter what we feel or what we think, will beat with one heart."
This year's NDP funpack comes in the form of a tote bag. Every funpack will contain interactive items such as light wands and placards that can be used to participate in the parade segment, an assortment of snack items, as well as a full-colour souvenir magazine containing fun facts about NDP 2018.
Want to see all 18 designs? A booklet showcasing all of the funpack designs will also be included in the funpack. After admiring the designs, read about the artists and what inspired them in the booklet!
"These artworks by the young students are meaningful expressions of what Singapore means to them, as well as their aspirations for Singapore," said Senior Lieutenant Colonel (SLTC) Quek Yew Sing, Chairman of the Logistics and Finance Committee for NDP 2018. "We hope this showcase of young talents will inspire and rally fellow Singaporeans to be proud of our identity, our progress and more importantly, be confident in creating Singapore's future together."
One of the 38 students involved in designing this year's funpacks is 18-year-old Fildzah Hanani Bte Adbul Malik. Instead of featuring imagery of prominent tourist attractions such as Marina Bay Sands or the Esplanade, Fildzah and her teacher decided to portray Singapore's inclusive society.
"We can guide the elderly and the blind, and if we see them on the bus, we can help tap their EZ-links cards on the reader," said the student from MINDS Towner Gardens School.
These were of the observations she made while travelling to work at Shangri-La Hotel, as part of her programme at school. The final design of Fildzah's artwork has the outline of Singapore in a splash of red paint, with six Singaporeans coming together as one in the centre.
This is also not the first of Fildzah's designs that were chosen for a large-scale event. In 2017, her design of a QR code embedded in a heart was chosen as the icon for the Singapore Youth Festival.
Singaporeans are encouraged to join the NDP 2018 conversation by tagging their photographs, well-wishes, reflections and stories on both their personal and NDP social media platforms with the hashtags #WeAreSingapore, #NDP2018 and #NDP18.
