I stood atop the steps of City Hall, with a view of the whole Padang that many people would really die for (especially Jontay). As the seconds ticked down towards that symbolic moment, the rifles of our SPDS guys stopped spinning, and the crowd hushed as solemnity descended upon the ground itself all of a sudden.

2010 hrs - The once-vociferous crowd was now silent, and the One Voice Show Choir took over. Even the numerous lightstick-plastic flags that they have been waving throughout are now seemingly kept at attention in anticipation of the Pledge.

We, the citizens of Singapore,
pledge ourselves as one united people,
regardless of race, language or religion,
to build a democratic society
based on justice and equality
so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and
progress for our nation.

The National Anthem, Majulah Singapura, followed the Pledge and all we military personnel atop City Hall immediately saluted as a sign of respect towards the nation, and in recognition of the suzerainty the state has over the armed forces.

It was only now after 18 years that I truly understood what the whole Parade was all about and made sense of it all. No doubt my stint in the military has opened my eyes to just how important our country is to us, and we all have a vested interest in how our country progresses both for the foreseeable future, and the long term - 'for this is where I know, its Home'.

As a side note, I'm honoured that even as a mere reserve performing access control duties (i.e. check passes) at City Hall, I managed to have the chance to be deployed to open one half of the ornate double doors for every single MP ranging from NMPs to the MM himself when they entered and left the parade. Add to that list our First lady and numerous ambassadors and the families of all the VVIPs and.. you get the picture. My first time seeing so many people in white . Regardless of what critics may opine, I still feel immensely proud to have performed such a duty for the very people that invariably made our nation into the regional hub it is today.

A brand new day, a brand new story..

Indeed.

Happy 45th Birthday Singapore!


All photos sourced from NDPeeps on Facebook, photo above is taken during Preview on 30th July

The soundtrack used in this year's parade and celebrations can be found here. Heard them so so often over the past 5 Saturdays that I think I'll even miss them being representative of my weekends. The track labelled 'Track 6' in their playlist is actually our Command's march. It was the one played during the 21-gun salute.

The one gripe I have is that the photographers did not actually venture backstage to catch all of us unsung heroes in action. All the technicians and Signals dudes scurrying around, medics opposite our resting area, security personnel (that's us, no AETOS and civilian police in City Hall apparently, so our Command's solely in charge of VVIPs) and the 1PB reservist NSmen have put in their utmost on diets consisting of KFC/Pizza Hut boxes every week as well to make the whole event flow smoothly.

And we have no goody bags..

Furthermore no one popped champagne to celebrate with us (unlike for everyone involved in the show segment) yet we got to stand down and pack up early. Saw a group of chefs taking photos outside City Hall as we left. Chefs?

This all brings to mind the words of our CO which I strongly agree with. No one will ever recognise us if all goes well, be it during GOH, COG or just plain security duties. People will only notice you if we cock up or someone does something stupid. They are always just waiting for us to lose your confidence and screw up. Only then we'll be in the limelight, or better put it, 'STOMP'-ed.

Still, I still can't help relishing the attention we got when two of us walked over to UOB Plaza from City Hall to get some logistics stuff in the afternoon.

Our No. 3 uniforms, with lanyards et al stood out

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