As Singapore dressed up its heartlands with colourful expressions for its 55th birthday bash, residents also got a close-up view of the celebrations on August 9 through various activities.
At the community level, National Day celebrations continued throughout the month of August. At the event conducted by Bukit Batok Zone 11 RC, Mr Murali Pillai, MP and Adviser to Bukit Batok GROs, was heartened by the younger audience’s overwhelming response as the mobile column made its way through the neighbourhood. “I specially want to thank our Armed Forces, Home Team and frontline workers for their dedicated efforts during the pandemic. As we embrace our differences, I hope we can also hold more conversations to talk about our common destiny and common future so that we can have more respect for each other,” said Mr Pillai. The event also included a live-stream National Day workout that was conducted together with ActiveSG Bukit Batok & Bukit Gombak Sports Centres and Team Nila.
At Bukit Batok East, a live-stream afternoon celebration also took place with a repertoire of nostalgic National Day Parade (NDP) songs by well-known local artists, including JJ Lin and Dick Lee. The show also featured recipes from Together at the Table and other exciting programmes.
On August 8, residents and frontline workers in Jurong Central took part in a virtual event celebration as they did a virtual flag passing to offer birthday wishes to the country. At the live event, solo performers sang multi-language songs, while there was a magic show to entertain the online audience.
The spirit of giving and sharing with the community was evident in Jurong Spring as grassroot leaders and volunteers gave out National Day flags and packs of rice to residents and lower-income families on August 9.
Riding on the theme of “Though Better or Worse, Through Thick and Thin”, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Adviser to Jurong GRC, shared his NDP message with Taman Jurong residents. “Our grandparents and our great-grandparents came to Singapore in different ships. But we ended up in the same small boat together. And we have to take care of each other in the same small boat as Singaporeans.”
At the Taman Jurong NDP celebrations on August 8, there was an online harmonica performance by TJ Harmonics, and a pizza making workshop conducted by Chef Daren, who runs a Western food stall at Taman Jurong Hakwer Centre. Residents also got to attend an online healing art class on nagomi art, which originated in Japan where soft pastel colours are used to produce gentle, warm and colourful pieces.
The Yuhua NDP online show kicked off with a montage of key educational, transportation, recreational and religious infrastructure as well as highlights of the Jurong Lake District. One of the event’s objectives was to spread the Yuhua’s community spirit and draw awareness to interesting developments in the town with fellow Singaporeans islandwide.
A virtual National Day observance ceremony also took place in Bukit Batok Zone 6 on August 15 with a flag-raising ceremony, the singing of the National Anthem and recitation of the Pledge, as well as a mass singing performance conducted by residents.