| Happy 36th
Birthday, Singapore!
August 10, 2001
With pride and screams, Singaporeans celebrated the
nation's birthday.
By Yap Geok Hui
(Click on pictures for larger image)
Every year, without fail, I would be sitting by the TV set,
waiting to watch NDP together with my family. But this year, I was at the NDP
itself!
After leaving the stadium theatrette where some 72 MediaCorp
artistes were rehearsing, I stepped into the stadium and was visually bombarded
by a sea of spectators wearing red and white.
The atmosphere was simply electrifying. Cute cheerleaders
in red accompanied by voices of the school choir and 6 energetic emcees running
all over the stadium, the eager crowd was whipped to a frenzy with the Kallang
wave and roar.
Both the decibel and excitement levels were further upped
when the planes flew overhead. The crowds cheered. And they cheered even louder
when the parachuters landed.
Prime Minister Goh Cheok Tong, his Cabinet of Ministers
and the President arrived in quick succession and the spectators showed their
welcome by thunderous claps.
As the contingents cleared the ground, bright and vibrant
colours flooded the stadium grounds as the mass display items took over.
Impressed by the impressive and richness of colours, cameras
(including our own) could not stop clicking.
What is special this year is the heliosphere performance
by MediaCorp artistes Vincent Ng, Lilin and 2 other British aerialists.
Moving gracefully to the surreal-like song My Dream, Vincent
and Lilin exhibited fluidity and great synchrony in their somersaults - no simple
feat for the stars who only underwent a few weeks training with the 2 experts.
Coupled with bright sparkles from the coloured light bulbs,
their spellbinding performance was greeted with rapturous applause from the spectators.
Another first is the appearance of MediaCorp's 72 artistes
in full force for the song item, Singapore Town. Their presence added much glitter
to the parade.
Besides the heliosphere performance, another highlight of
the evening was the finale item performed by SOKA. The clever choreography, the
bright lights of their item, together with the breathtakingly beautiful fireworks
brought NDP 2001 to a buoyant end.
But wait, that was not the end of the celebration. Spectators
were invited to a post parade party where revelers continued their celebration.
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