| By Nicholas Yong |
NEW features at this year's National Day Parade will bring the action closer to the audience.
For the first time ever, the 21-gun presidential salute will be held on a floating bridge in full view of the audience, with the ceremonial 25-pounder guns sailing into Marina Bay.
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Key people at the parade
Lt-Col Yeong rose to his current rank four years ago, having first joined the SAF in 1987. RELATED LINKS
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The entire NDP contingent will march through the city along a 3.2-km route.
For the first time in 14 years, all 23 marching contingents will parade past the President, instead of only the Guard of Honour and the Colours.
The presidential salute by three F16 jets will see the use of afterburners instead of the traditional smoke trails to create an aural and visual effect.
'We have participants from all walks of life coming together on parade. It is really about one united people, a united Singapore, marching forward together,' said the chairman of the parade and ceremony committee, Colonel Chee Wai Mun, in a statement yesterday.
He said this year's parade and ceremony segment - one of 10 chapters of a story called One Show - would be 'tighter, high impact and very fast paced', lasting approximately 38 minutes.
Familiar favourites, including the Red Lions freefall segment and the state flag flypast, will remain.
But the RSAF Black Knights will not be performing their aerial stunts. The organisers said the elite aerobatics team did not always perform at the NDP. They were specially recruited for last year's parade in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the RSAF.
Before that, the Black Knights last appeared at the NDP in 2000.
Organisers assured there would be no less excitement without the team.
'The flyboys are always an integral part of NDP, and this year we will bring the aircraft a little bit closer to the audience at the Bay,' said Lieutenant-Colonel Joachim Lee, chairman of the air participation committee.
Singapore marks its 50th year of self- rule this year. Organisers said some elements of the anniversary would be incorporated into this year's NDP.
