Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, this year's National Day Parade will scale down on the ceremonial aspects and focus on celebrating the contributions of ordinary Singaporeans. The Sunday Times speaks with some whose stories have inspired others to do more as well as a number of participants.
Housewife cooks for elderly residents
After befriending elderly residents living alone in her Yio Chu Kang neighbourhood, housewife Diljan Shaik Arif Ali found that many of them prefer home-cooked fare to that sold at food stalls.
She started cooking simple dishes such as rice, mixed vegetables and non-spicy curry chicken for about 10 of them almost daily, with the expenses coming from her own pocket. She had been doing this for about two years, before the two-month circuit breaker.
When she has cooked enough food to go around, she gives some to needy families, especially larger ones with young children, those with one breadwinner, or with parents who have medical conditions.
Marching in mum's footsteps 47 years later
In 1973, his mother, then a Secondary 3 student, marched past the historic Padang as part of the Girl Guides contingent for that year's National Day Parade (NDP).
Nearly 50 years on, Deputy Superintendent of Police Lee Ting Wei will do the same today, but as commander of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) guard-of-honour contingent.
The 29-year-old says he is honoured to - quite literally - follow in the footsteps of his mother, who wants to be known only as Madam Soon, 62.
Navy man takes his sea vessel into heartland
Navy man Vaengadis Waran is taking his seafaring vessel into unusual territory today - dry land.
As the vehicle commander of a remotely piloted inflatable boat - officially, the Republic of Singapore Navy's Protector Unmanned Surface Vessel - he will take it to neighbourhoods such as Bukit Batok and Choa Chu Kang.
The vessel will join tanks, military trucks, fire engines and police cars in today's National Day Parade (NDP). A total of 66 vehicles, vessels and other types of equipment are being showcased in this year's mobile column segment, which is returning to the heartland for the second year in a row.
FairPrice manager tells of team effort
Supermarket branch manager Mohamed Amin is unable to forget how items flew off the shelves in a wave of panic buying after the Dorscon (Disease Outbreak Response System Condition) level was raised to orange in February.
Mr Amin, who has been managing the FairPrice outlet at Block 135 Jurong Gateway Road for three years, says: "Even from midnight to 3am, in the early stages of Covid, there were still a lot of customers trying to avoid the crowd."
In the past few months, Mr Amin, 59, has helped to keep the store running smoothly, overseeing tasks ranging from safe management measures to the organisation of inventory and staff's work schedules.
Dancer guarantees a show to remember
Having performed in more National Day Parades (NDPs) than she can remember, dancer Jacqueline Theresa Pereira will be returning to the NDP stage to perform in a character role as well as a modern dance in two acts of the evening show.
She received formal training for all forms of dance at London Studio Centre, where she graduated from performing arts, and has taken part in more than 10 parades.
However, this year will mark her return after a 12-year break from the NDP stage, and she guarantees this will be an NDP like no other before.
Stepping up to help at screening centre National Day 2020
When Covid-19 struck, 46-year-old Maryann Sheila - a front-line registration worker at an orthopaedic clinic in Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) - rose to the occasion.
She volunteered to switch jobs and register people who had to be swabbed for Covid-19 at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) screening centre.
This meant irregular working hours and more hectic shifts, but Ms Sheila, who took up the stint in February, remained unfazed.
Solemnising couples' marriages over Zoom
Since May, 71-year-old Mr Koh Kok Weng has solemnised 109 weddings through video conferencing platform Zoom, amid the health precautions required by Covid-19.
Many of these involved couples who had initially scheduled their weddings during that time but agreed to have them online instead.
Mr Koh says: "It's heart-warming to see these families united, especially for those who have relatives staying overseas, who would otherwise not have been able to attend a physical wedding. So it's nice to see them all in one Zoom 'room' witnessing a happy occasion."
Helping others find jobs amid downturn
For dedicated career adviser Fauzyah Johari, work does not end when a client lands a job.
She often checks in with them on how they are coping with work and offers advice on upgrading their skills to remain relevant.
Relationship building is important for Ms Fauzyah, 35, who has been in this role - officially, a "senior career ambassador" - for three years and who is the first point of contact for job seekers. She works at the Workforce Singapore's (WSG) Careers Connect centre at Our Tampines Hub.
Ferrying healthcare staff to and from work
Mr Aloysius Lee used to only transport passengers for Grab, but with more people staying at home because of the coronavirus, he joined the firm's food and parcel delivery services in April.
The 33-year-old is also a driver for GrabCare, a service dedicated to ferrying healthcare professionals to and from hospitals.
Congenitally deaf, Mr Lee communicates with passengers by typing on a screen or through simple gestures. This has led to heart-warming moments, such as when he ferried a nurse from near Singapore General Hospital to Woodlands.
Creating an isolation facility in four days
Healthcare director Jessie Ho, 54, had just four days' notice to create a community isolation facility at the Singapore Expo. The number of Covid-19 cases had hit 1,000 in Singapore on April 1 and cases in migrant worker dorms were rising.
To manage the surge in demand for hospital spaces, the Government decided to convert the Expo into a space for those needing less medical attention.
The fast pace of events piled the pressure on Ms Ho - director of the healthcare enablement office of Integrated Health Information Systems (IHiS) - and her team to get things under way before patients started streaming in. "We had four days to institute a new model of care," she says of the facility, which has ended up housing nearly a thousand patients at a time.
Family-run Ponggol Seafood keeping afloat
Times are tough amid the Covid-19 pandemic for Ponggol Seafood, a family-run restaurant famous for its chilli crab and mee goreng that has been around since 1969.
Mr Ting Cheng Ping, 57, the restaurant's manager and son of its late founder, Mr Ting Choon Teng, describes the last few months as "disastrous".
The restaurant at The Punggol Settlement near Punggol Point Jetty has been struggling to break even since March, when the coronavirus widened its spread here.
Barber aims to give old shop a cutting edge
As a teenager following around his grandfather - the man who started the Sri Dewana barber shop chain - Mr Muhamad Syuhadak knew this was his calling, too.
"I loved the feeling in the shop, talking to the barbers and customers. It was like a home away from home," says Mr Syuhadak, 38.
After learning the ropes from his grandfather, he managed to find his own space to set up shop in Marine Terrace, where he grew up.
