He studied architecture to chase childhood dream of designing an NDP stage

SINGAPORE – Much like how people have the names of their favourite sports idols, movie stars or music artistes at their fingertips, Mr Kenneth Chiang can rattle off the names of National Day Parade (NDP) show segment creative directors by the year.

As he does so, the architectural assistant offers short and at times unprompted commentaries on their shows, underscoring his fixation with Singapore’s biggest annual production.

It is unsurprising, then, that Mr Chiang – who has a 3D-printed scale model of the Padang complete with NDP bleachers and self-designed performance stage in his bedroom – dreams of one day being an NDP creative director.

Since 2009, the self-professed NDP die-hard fan has watched the parade live on site at least once every year – including National Education shows and previews – missing just two editions during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

Mr Chiang, 30, has already caught NDP 2025 at the Padang thrice, thanks to tickets from friends who know of his fascination with the parade.

He has never been successful in the NDP ticket ballot, despite taking part every year.

He said that since the early 2000s, when NDP creative directors were selected from the local arts scene, the storytelling of NDP shows has been much stronger, with a coherent narrative across the acts of each year’s show segment.

To say Singapore’s annual birthday bash has had an impact on Mr Chiang’s life is an understatement.

In 2012, he chose to study architecture to fulfil a childhood dream of one day designing the NDP show stage – a step he hopes will eventually lead to him becoming the parade’s creative director.

Mr Chiang recalls a meeting with veteran show stage designer Randy Chan in 2011 that changed his life.

While watching an NDP National Education show at the now-demolished The Float @ Marina Bay in July that year, Mr Chiang – then 15 – saw Mr Chan in the stands out of the corner of his eye.

Mr Chiang, spurred on by his friends, tapped Mr Chan on the shoulder.

“I love your work. I think what you do is damn cool,” Mr Chiang recalled saying to Mr Chan, the principal of architectural practice Zarch Collaboratives.

That night, Mr Chiang left Marina Bay with Mr Chan’s name card – which he got him to autograph – and an invitation to chat in Mr Chan’s office.

At Zarch’s former office in Selegie, Mr Chan had an employee show Mr Chiang a model of the NDP 2011 stage that he had designed.

“It was the coolest thing ever,” said Mr Chiang. “He told me, if you want to do the NDP stage, you need to study architecture. That is the condensed story of how I got into architecture – through the ‘NDP route’.”

If recent design competition results are anything to go by, Mr Chiang’s goal of at least designing the NDP stage one day is no pipe dream.

In the past year, he topped two ideas competitions organised by the authorities – one

for Tanjong Pagar Railway Station

and the

other for Jurong Bird Park and Jurong Hill

– proving his design chops.

Mr Chan, 55, said the chance encounter with Mr Chiang in Marina Bay is etched in his memory.

“It lasted no more than 10 minutes, but it was magical. My family were seated nearby and they were surprised I had a fan,” said Mr Chan, who has designed five NDP stages since 2004.

“I told him to keep up the dream and to enjoy chasing it,” he said.

By the time he enrolled in Singapore Polytechnic to study architecture in 2012, Mr Chiang had made models of about 10 stages – some of them replicas of NDP and other performance stages, others self-designed.

The first of these was made in 2006, said Mr Chiang, who was then a Primary 5 pupil and was inspired by platforms that rose out of the NDP 2005 stage.

It was on one of these platforms that singer Taufik Batisah and actress-singer Rui En stood as they performed Reach Out For The Skies in that year’s finale.

“As a young kid watching, I wondered, ‘How on earth did they make that happen?’, so I spent months at home experimenting,” he said.

He eventually found some success with a cake tin and a toilet paper cardboard roll, and used McDonald’s Happy Meal figurines as props.

It was also around that time that video-sharing site YouTube was launched, allowing Mr Chiang to return home from school and rewatch NDP 2005 on demand daily, which ultimately cultivated his love for the spectacle.

Chuffed by his success in re-creating the NDP 2005 stage, Mr Chiang started making more model stages, and at one point started projecting lights onto them.

“Every night I would return from school, hide in a dark room and project images on the fake stages, with figurines as props. I’d play with it for hours,” he said, adding that he took models to school to show his classmates.

Mr Chiang’s interest meant that his mother Judy, 65, often found him working on crafts instead of studying. “Paper, scissors and colour pencils – those were his childhood toys,” she said.

Almost two decades after making his first stage model, Mr Chiang is working at a local architectural firm and clocking requirements to be a registered architect in Singapore.

He continues to dream of being an NDP show creative director, and his passion for the annual extravaganza shines through.

On drives, he listens to NDP soundtracks of yesteryear, and in one look, he knows which year an NDP pack item, such as clappers or torchlights, came from.

“The NDP marries a few of my interests – a love for Singapore, theatre and live shows,” he said. “The ultimate goal is to direct an NDP show, but stage design is something more relatable to me at the moment – from there, maybe I can make the step up.”

He added: “A good NDP stage has to fulfil the needs of the performance of that year – whether it requires a large screen or multiple levels. But I think what makes a good stage great is if it can offer something more than what the audience expects from your typical NDP stage.”

As he awaits the chance to work on an NDP, Mr Chiang is happy to relive his childhood by designing and creating more stage models, including a scale model of the Padang he made in 2025.

“This is my second Padang model.

“The first was made of tissue paper boxes, and I wanted to also see how far I could push it this time, from making something rudimentary in primary school to 3D-printing something incredibly detailed now,” he said of his model, which includes details such as staircases for spectators to enter and leave the stands.

For this model, Mr Chiang has also designed a projection mapping sequence that brings his model to life with motifs that represent various races in Singapore and includes tunes from the NDP 2013 soundtrack.

Mr Chan said he is proud to see Mr Chiang grow from the “little boy” who approached him at the float in 2011 to become an accomplished designer.

“Our meetings have been serendipitous. Winning competitions is a result of his own resilience and resourcefulness. The 2011 meeting was a moment in time and I was glad to be a part of it,” he said.

“Kenneth is doing great work, has the energy, and I am happy that he still has that idealism in him and is pursuing his passion.”