| By Jermyn Chow & Jessica Lim | ||
 |
 |
Costume designer Frederick Lee with a 'warrior'. He has drawn 1,000 sketches for 30 costumes and has held at least 20 meetings, attended every rehearsal and mingled with participants to make sure that his designs are both beautiful and practical. -- ST PHOTO: SAMUEL HE |
NO VOICE is too small to be heard and no detail too minor to be fixed at NDP 2009.
|
RELATED LINKS
|
This year, more than ever, the National Day Parade is a collaborative effort involving an army of planners, participants and even critics, to make sure it all runs without a hitch, said the organisers.
For example, costumer Frederick Lee has held at least 20 meetings, attended every rehearsal and mingled with participants to make sure that his designs are both beautiful and practical.
It is no mean feat to dress 4,000 performers and Mr Lee, 36, is creating a range of outfits, from metal armour to lightweight red dots.
He has been able to do it because of the collaboration, he said.
'Every costume has to be discussed and justified,' said Mr Lee, who drew 1,000 sketches for the 30 costumes. 'Everyone's voice matters and everyone chips in to make improvements.'
There has been at least six revisions. A warrior's armour is now 10kg lighter, with a foam lining to prevent the sharp metal edges from cutting into the skin of the wearer.
A colourful arm band for drummers has been added for vibrancy as well as to support their wrists.
'We are here to help bring art to life, not snuff it out,' the designer said. 'What's the point of a beautiful costume that is a pain to wear and hinders a performance?'
Many others have put their heads together to solve other questions.
For example, said Marshall Loh Chin Boon, how do you make the 23 marching contingents stay in tidy rows and formations as they move from one point to another?
The answer: Lots of dots on the stage to mark out the route for the contingents.
He and his team of 70 have met once a week since April to 'talk about problems and come up with improvements'.
They devised a simple solution to keep the contingents together as they turned corners. 'After much discussion, we found a way,' said Marshall Loh. 'Curved dots!'
Even the public has been consulted on the staging.
About 100 individuals were randomly selected on Facebook to fill survey forms on how to improve the show.
Such feedback has led to changes. For example, the position of the Total Defence Display on the Floating Platform will be moved so that the entire audience will have a view of it, said chairman of the show, Colonel Desmond Tan.
It has been a massive joint effort, said the NDP's 'One Show' creative director, Mr Ivan Heng.
The artistic director of theatre company W!ld Rice said he was roped in in May last year, and since then has had more than 50 meetings with all the stakeholders - from Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean and Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant-General Desmond Kuek to the more than 300 sponsors of the parade.
He also watched the crowd's reaction to the show last year.
It was six months later that the theme - Come Together, Reaching Out, Reaching Up - was nailed down.
Now, with the day itself drawing close, there are still countless meetings before and after the rehearsals.
The post-show meetings, dubbed 'hotwashes', can go on for up to two hours, during which about 40 men and women will pick the show apart.
Mr Heng said: 'We will just listen to the problems first and think about how to solve them in the subsequent meetings.'
The democratic process of making decisions was set by the top.
Brigadier-General Tan Chuan-Jin, chairman of the NDP organising committee, said he wanted the Aug 9 party to represent as many voices in Singapore as possible.
'More importantly, we want people to share their perspectives on the importance of National Day,' he said.
Since February, feedback has been sought from Singaporeans through new media platforms like Facebook.
The organisers are using the popular social networking site and other platforms such as Flickr, Twitter and YouTube to get Singaporeans to express themselves through text, videos and photos - a first in the NDP's 44-year history.
They are hoping that Singaporeans will also post their reflections on National Day and the pledge.
So far, more than 26,000 people have had their say on what makes them proud to be Singaporean and what the pledge means to them.
As for 'One Show', said Mr Heng, differing opinions aside, all the decisions taken so far have been agreed upon and backed by every one in the creative team and organising committee.
Mr Heng said he had asked organisers, when they first approached him, about who would get the 'last say' on the look and feel of the show.
The answer was that he would, though the buck stops with BG Tan on the overall organisation.
Said Mr Heng: 'The show is greater than the sum of all its parts... everyone must has a say in it.'
