CELEBRATING SINGAPORE'S 47TH BIRTHDAY WITH LOVE

Singaporeans will soon feel the love in the air, with the wide range of celebratory events and initiatives that organisers of this year's National Day Parade (NDP) are bringing to the table, in the lead-up to 9 Aug.

Themed Loving Singapore, Our Home, the organisers of NDP 2012 are encouraging Singaporeans to reflect, rediscover and express what they love about the country.

From family and friends to a favourite hang-out place or food, organisers hope Singaporeans will actively share the things that make Singapore uniquely home.

Said Chairman of the NDP 2012 Executive Committee (EXCO) Colonel (COL) Desmond Tan: Singaporeans are beginning to be more expressive, and National Day Parade is a natural platform to do that. It's a time where Singaporeans should be able to express what they feel proud about, and what matters to them, unreservedly.

On how he hopes the theme can rally Singaporeans to love their home, COL Tan said: We recognise that Singapore is not perfect but what is important is that National Day is a time to think about what it means to be a Singaporean, not just for the good times, but for the difficult moments we go through.

Added COL Tan, who was Chairman of the NDP Show committee in 2009: It is a time for us to rally together, regardless of the difficulties we've gone through and pledge ourselves to come together to overcome these difficulties. We hope that this year's celebration and the theme will rekindle that warmth and affection for our own home.

A slew of social media initiatives have also been introduced to whet the appetite of Singaporeans for NDP 2012.

Leveraging on popular mobile application Instagram, members of the public can take photos that express this year's theme using the app and post them on the NDP 2012 official website which goes live on 25 Apr.

For the first time, all NDP-related social media channels, such as the Facebook page, Twitter feed, YouTube videos and Flickr album, are all consolidated under one website - LovingSG.

Here, Singaporeans can post thoughts, photographs and videos of what they love best about Singapore.

The NDPOnTheGo mobile app, introduced last year, will return this year. Rolling out in May, the app will be enhanced with an augmented reality feature that will allow Singaporeans to participate in four LovingSG trails, which will lead them to buildings of historical significance, iconic buildings, parks and food places.

On 9 Aug, besides enjoying the crowd favourite Red Lions Freefall Display, audiences at The Float@Marina Bay will also witness the Salute to 45 years of National Service.

As part of the salute, parade contingents will, for the first time in NDP history, execute the Advance-in-Review Order manoeuvre, where more than 2,000 members of the parade will march forward in unison.

It will also include a Sea Salute, performed by assets from the Republic of Singapore Navy, and an aerial flypast by nine fighter jets, the largest display of the latest Republic of Singapore Air Force's fighter jets in an NDP to date.

Organised by the Singapore Armed Forces' Guards formation, NDP returns to The Float@Marina Bay for the fifth time this year.

Loving Singapore with the Orchidstar

When Ms Tan Ai Khim thinks of home, an image of the orchid comes to mind.

Every time she comes back from an overseas trip, the sight of Changi Airport lined with orchids "... to me, it's like 'I have reached home'," said the lecturer at the design and media department of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA).

This is why the orchid features prominently in Ms Tan's creation, the "Orchidstar", which is the logo for this year's NDP.

Ms Tan, whose design was picked from close to 30 submissions, worked with the NDP committee to tweak and refine the logo - a process that took several weeks - before the final design was decided on.

The colours of the logo reflect the vitality and diversity of Singaporeans, while the red heart embedded within the logo symbolises love for the nation.

The design, reminiscent of a star, also represents our hopes and dreams and encourages Singaporeans to reach out together for a brighter future.