PM thanks organisers, S’poreans for ‘electric’ Padang atmosphere
A young man lets the Singapore flag flap in the wind at the National Day parade 2015 at the Padang on Aug 9 2015. Photo: Raj Nadarajan
SINGAPORE — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and other ministers were all praise for Sunday’s National Day Parade (NDP) and yesterday thanked the many people who pulled off the Golden Jubilee celebrations.
“What a wonderful Parade to mark our SG50 National Day!” Mr Lee wrote on his Facebook page. “The atmosphere at the Padang was electric. I know many were with us all over Singapore, and the world, when we sang and waved our scarves and flags.”
Mr Lee, who attended the first NDP in 1966, recalled how Mr Lee Kuan Yew personally supervised the rehearsals “because he felt it was vital for Singaporeans to feel united and confident as a new nation”.
And the Prime Minister felt his father “would have been proud” of the unity felt this year: “We celebrated as one people. When Kit Chan sang ‘Home’, we all joined in, and could hear our voices resound around the Padang.”
Among the many Mr Lee thanked were the organising committee, parade participants, performers and volunteers. And he extended the thanks to the many others who “worked hard to make the Jubilee Weekend memorable”, such as organisers, staff and traffic police.
He ended his post, which contained a number of photos he had taken, by thanking Singaporeans for joining in the celebrations.
Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen also thanked the organising committee and creative director Dick Lee yesterday for pulling off the largest NDP ever.
“I suspect it will be the largest for a long time to come, perhaps even up till SG100,” Dr Ng told reporters after a constituency visit.
It was a “massive undertaking”, he noted. At the peak of Sunday’s celebrations, close to 250,000 people turned up at multiple sites such as the Marina Bay Floating Platform and the surrounding area.
“To me, the most important thing the NDP achieved — and I want to thank Singaporeans for it — is that they made the show their own,” he said. “They put emotions into it, and from that point of view, that was the greatest success in my mind.”
For instance, Singaporeans reminisced when the veterans from the vintage parade marched past, they gushed when the aerial display was up, and some cried when the tribute film for Mr Lee Kuan Yew was aired, said Dr Ng.
Singaporeans also sang the songs with gusto, he noted, adding that he was initially concerned that during rehearsals, they did not sing very loudly. “I was glad that I was proven wrong,” he said.
On his Facebook page, Dr Ng also said that in the planning for this year’s NDP, which came soon after the death of Mr Lee, he urged the organisers to ensure that Singaporeans look forward and that the NDP should “end on a high about our future”.
Looking ahead was something the Education Minister Heng Swee Keat hoped as well that Singaporeans continue to do, with the SG50 year not yet ended.
“We still have many exciting things coming up, like the Jubilee Walk and an exhibition showing our hopes for our future,” he wrote on Facebook as he added his thanks to the various SG50 organisers as well as the Old Guard and pioneers for making Singapore’s short history a proud one.
“I have confidence. We are a young but special nation. There are challenges ahead, but we have the heart and the spirit to take Singapore onward.”
