With a simple salute, a new campaign hopes to rally Singaporeans to show their appreciation to past and present national servicemen for their contributions as Singapore marks 50 years of national service (NS) this year.
The We Salute Our NSmen campaign, launched by Safra yesterday, encourages the public to salute national servicemen they know or meet in their daily lives.
They are also encouraged to post a photo or video of their salute on social media with words of appreciation, as well as the hashtags #NS50salute and #safrasg. The nationwide campaign aims to garner over 50,000 salutes from the community over the next few months.
To encourage participation, interactive digital photo kiosks will be available at all Safra clubs and key Safra NS50 commemorative events till the end of October for the public to contribute their photos.
Corporate partners such as CapitaLand Mall Asia and Frasers Centrepoint Malls have shown their support, including having the campaign's interactive digital photo kiosks placed at selected shopping malls and bus stops islandwide.
Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman, who officiated the launch at the Safra Jurong open house yesterday, said Singapore should "never take our peace and stability for granted". "NS has always been playing a very important role in protecting our borders and keeping our streets safe," he added.
"So, I think it is timely for all of us to show that respect and recognition to all our servicemen by this very simple gesture of saluting them whenever we meet them."
Dr Maliki was joined by more than 300 national servicemen and their families at the open house, which featured a host of activities.
Mr Francis Ng, who took his family there yesterday, hopes that his four kids aged 12, 10, eight and three, got a glimpse of what some national servicemen go through.
The civil servant, 42, added that the new campaign encourages the public to step forward and recognise the sacrifices of national servicemen.
"We should show our appreciation to those who make sure our country is safe," he said.
