Witnessing Singapore turn 61

Singapore celebrated 61 years of independence on 9 August this year — National Day. And after many years of trying, I was lucky enough to get tickets to watch the National Day Parade in person, at the National Stadium. For those who don’t know, the National Day Parade (or NDP for short…we Singaporeans love our acronyms) is a parade that commemorates our independence from the British. It has everything: well-drilled military contingents marching in, incredible fireworks displays, song-and-dance items celebrating various aspects of Singapore’s history, present, and future, and of course the NDP song. The NDP song has a deeply-rooted place in the hearts of many Singaporeans, whatever their political affiliation. Every year, a new theme song — performed by a Singaporean musician — is chosen for NDP and all the students are taught these. Of course, some songs do better than others and every Singaporean has their own tiering system for NDP songs. If you want to have a feel of these songs,…