CALLING ALL SINGAPOREANS TO PARTICIPATE IN NDP 2016

If you enjoyed being a part of last year's SG50 National Day celebrations, then this year's National Day Parade (NDP) is for you.

With the theme "Building Our Singapore of Tomorrow", NDP 2016 is a birthday celebration that every Singaporean can be a part of.

At a media event held on 9 Mar at the National Stadium - home of NDP 2016 - Chairman of the NDP 2016 Executive Committee, Brigadier General (BG) Kenneth Liow, unveiled the plans for Singapore's 51st birthday celebrations.

"2016 marks the first of the next 50 years of our Singapore story. We wanted a theme that is more futuristic (and) addresses the Singapore of tomorrow," said BG Liow, who is also Chief Armour Officer. Headquarters Armour is the organiser of this year's NDP.

He added: "(The theme) therefore serves as a call to action for Singaporeans to build our future collectively."

The organisers hope to bring the parade closer to everyone through activities such as websites and social media channels for Singaporeans to offer their ideas for the celebrations and funpack items that enable audiences to form part of the celebratory spectacle at the parade.

Explaining the motivation for the public activities, BG Liow said: "The way we went about organising this year's NDP is aligned with the idea that we wanted Singaporeans to participate actively in our future, to participate actively in contributing towards NDP 2016.

"This is a parade by Singaporeans, with Singaporeans, for Singaporeans."

Bringing together old and new

NDP 2016 marks the return of the annual celebration to the iconic National Stadium after 10 years away. Fans will be able to enjoy much beloved traditional elements of the parade, such as the Parade and Ceremony, military tattoo comprising the combined band and precision drill display, State Flag Flypast and Salute to the Nation performed by the Republic of Singapore Air Force F-16D+ fighter planes.

However, as this will be the first NDP in the newly-built arena, the show will leverage the stadium's infrastructure to give audiences a refreshing new experience.

Audiences can expect to see 3-D projections, aerial displays that feature both props and performers, and even indoor fireworks, in addition to the traditional outdoor fireworks at the end of the parade.

Putting heart into design

During the media event, the logo for NDP 2016 was also launched. This was the first time that the logo design competition was opened beyond schools to all Singaporeans, and the public was able to vote for their favourite logo design.

This year's winning logo was created by Ms Chelsea Lim, a Singapore Polytechnic student. The 19-year-old Visual Communications and Media Design student spent about 10 days conceptualising and bringing her idea to fruition.

Her design features a heart, coloured in four different shades of red - to represent Singapore's diversity - a five-star firework for each of the nation's ideals, and is imprinted with the number "51" in handwritten font.

"I took reference from past logos, but they were not styles that I could do. I preferred something that was more personal," said Ms Lim of her inspiration for the logo.

The design, which is a reminder to all that the future is ours to write and build, won the hearts of the judges and public voters. Mr Dennis Mark, one of the judges of the logo competition, was impressed by the concept. "I think it's refreshing, it's coming from the heart," said the Vice President and General Manager at HP Inc.

He added: "We were looking for a logo that's iconic, that can really resonate with the people, and also represent this year's NDP. You can see from her (Ms Lim's) description that it's one that really represents the diversity of Singapore and the love and experience that Singaporeans (have gone) through over the last 50 years."

Ms Lim revealed a surprising and heartfelt reason for her desire to take part in the competition: "I've always been interested in NDP. In the past years, I wanted to volunteer as a performer, but couldn't find the time. This year, I thought it would be interesting (to take part in the logo design competition since) I've always enjoyed designing.

"This will be the biggest achievement of my life!"