A NATIONAL DAY SHOW LIKE NO OTHER

'40 Years of Nation Building' is the theme for the show segment of this year's National Day Parade.

The grand and highly anticipated 90-minute show will tell the story of Singapore's development from a small, sleepy fishing village to where we are now, expressing our hopes and aspirations for the future.

More than 2000 participants are involved.

Young participants, Lim Rui Qi, 7, and Jocelynna Seah, 8, are sweet ballerina dancers who enjoy every bit of their dance performance. Jocelynna revealed that she is happy and proud to be in the Singapore birthday show .

So who are the brains behind this year's show?

Colonel (COL) David Lim, Chairman of Parade@Padang said the show is a collective effort and the key players of the creative team are Glen Goei, creative advisor, Elaine Chan, music director, participants from the Ministry of Education and himself.

The show is going to be very fresh and exciting with many new elements, said COL Lim.

The choreography of the mass dance is different this year. It brings the performance closer to the audience so that they can literally feel the energy of the participants.

Do look out for 10 colourful floats in the procession.

Described by COL Lim as very dramatic and beautiful , the floats reach up to eight metres in height. They move around the Padang, coming from Beach Road to St Andrew Road and vice versa at 6pm and 7.55pm respectively.

The show will unfold itself in three major acts and end with a magnificent finale.

Excitement levels are set to rise when our very own local rising singers, Singapore Idol Taufik Batisah and singer-actress Rui En perform the new NDP theme song, 'Reach out for the skies'.

Next, 40 pledge takers, a number symbolic of Singapore's 40th birthday, will lead Singaporeans in taking the pledge. They represent the five pillars of Total Defence.

Morgon Yeo, a student representing Psychological Defence, will be participating in the pledge-taking with his whole family.

When I was in secondary school, I used to lead my school in taking the pledge as I was a prefect. Now, it is very special to be doing it with my family.

Kim Wakerman, another student pledge-taker, feels very happy and honoured to be one of the 40 people chosen as she believes it is a once in a lifetime experience .

The finale will end off with a big bang, literally. Dazzling fireworks, a hot favourite of many Singaporeans will bring this year's NDP to a climatic close.