Singapore—For the first time, fireworks will be lit at the Singapore River in this year’s National Day Parade (NDP), as well as be part of the celebration going out to residents living in the heartlands.
2019 is a significant year for the country as it marks its bicentennial. Channel NewsAsia (CNA) quotes Military Expert (ME) 6 Johnson Ling, chairman of this year’s fireworks committee, as saying, “2019 is a special year and it marks our Singapore bicentennial.
That’s why we selected the Singapore River as a significant site, where our forefathers and ancestors gathered and pioneered what we are today. It is also the theme of Act Three of the parade – Our River.”
The Singapore River is a particularly historic site since this is the birthplace of many of our forefathers’ lives of trade, commerce, and finance.
On the evening of the National Day Parade, the fireworks display will start at 8:00 in the evening and is expected to last for five whole minutes. The CNA report also says that part of the fireworks display is the deployment of the longest barge in the history of the NDP.
Mr Ling said, “As part of the NDP planning stages, we have understood the limitations of the Padang for the fireworks display.
And because the barge will be 450 meters long, it will allow for a broader display of fireworks that the chairman says will “maximises the bay area.” It will be seen even by viewers in the Padang and Marina Bay Area.
Similarly, those living in Bishan, Geylang Serai, Jurong East, Punggol and Woodlands will also get to see their own fireworks display on August 10.
According to ME6 Ling, the aim is to reach out to more people in Singapore by bringing the celebrations into the heartlands.
“We want to bring the fireworks to more Singaporeans and they can look forward to a spectacular and panoramic show.”
He added, “It has been more than a decade since the NDP committee last brought the fireworks display to the heartlands. And we hope that Singaporeans will like what we have prepared for them.”
The NDP Committee said that there have been no firework displays for NDP celebrations in the heartlands since 2005.
To start the celebrations, a mobile column will leave the F1 pit at 2:30 pm on August 10, and head towards Bishan, Geylang Serai, Jurong East, Punggol, and Woodlands. This is symbolic of fifty years since the mobile column took its first journey down the Padang.
Each of the five sections of the mobile columns will reach different areas by 6:45 in the evening. The movements of the column can be easily tracked by residents via the official NDP website, and its progress will also be live-streamed as it travels across the country’s streets.
According to the website, “This year, NDP will bring the mobile column to five heartland sites on 10 August 2019. The mobile column will be travelling to Bishan, Geylang Serai, Jurong East, Punggol, and Woodlands, where there will also be carnivals organised by the People’s Association. The one-day celebrations will culminate with dazzling fireworks displays at each of the five sites.”