NDP 2025 celebrated Singapore’s diversity, vibrancy and inclusivity: President Tharman
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President Tharman Shanmugaratnam thanked the more than 16,000 participants, volunteers and organisers involved in NDP 2025 at a reception on Aug 29.
ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
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- President Tharman hailed NDP 2025's focus on diversity and inclusivity, showcasing Singapore's vibrant stories and collective spirit, with over 16,000 participants.
- NDP 2025 featured inaugural elements like the SCDF Guard of Honour and integrated SAF assets, alongside inclusive collaborations with SG Enable and ART:DIS Singapore.
- Singer Shye highlighted the parade's intergenerational and multiracial representation, emphasising its importance as Singapore looks ahead, calling it a "love letter".
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SINGAPORE – This year’s National Day Parade (NDP) was especially meaningful for the way it highlighted the nation’s diversity and vibrancy, and for the effort to make it an inclusive celebration, said President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
NDP 2025
“The performers, the Singaporeans who were profiled in the show, and the team producing it – they exemplify our Singapore story in all its diversity and vibrancy,” President Tharman said.
These traits were showcased through veteran singer Ramli Sarip’s spoken rendition of the National Anthem, creative director Boo Junfeng’s weaving of intergenerational stories, and film clips showcasing Singaporeans past and present.
“From Singapore’s first Olympian Lloyd Valberg to social entrepreneur Nuryanee Anisah, drummer Aldrich Jai Kishen, and the families who started life anew after relocating from kampungs to housing estates – all tell a story of our hopes, and the way we draw strength from each other,” Mr Tharman said.
This year’s parade, like many before it, was much deeper than a celebration, the President said. “Whether on stage, behind the scenes, or volunteering in any capacity, each of you is strengthening the sense of who we are together, and what we aspire to be together.”
He also thanked the more than 16,000 participants, volunteers and organisers involved in the parade this year, and noted several firsts during the nation’s 60th birthday
There was the participation of the Singapore Civil Defence Force as the sixth guard-of-honour contingent, and the integration of the Singapore Armed Forces’ assets during the mobile column, he said. The show was also expanded to include the wider Marina Bay, and there were projections onto buildings, one of which was the world’s tallest such projection.
Mr Tharman also recognised the effort to make NDP 2025 an inclusive celebration, noting the partnership between the NDP 2025 organising committee and SG Enable for the sixth year, the debut of ART:DIS Singapore, which brought together artists with disabilities and their families, and the collaboration between non-profit art company Temenggong Artists-in-Residence and SG Enable on three pack designs.
The show also featured performers from the Diverse Abilities Dance Collective of Maya Dance Theatre, Extraordinary People, and Minds, he added.
“The theme of this year’s NDP, ‘Majulah Singapura’, is simple yet timeless – a fitting theme for our diamond jubilee.”
Mr Tharman added: “It is the enduring spirit of adventure, resilience and togetherness, starting from the days of our pioneers, and recreated in their own ways by each new generation.”
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam with NDP 2025 participants at a thank-you reception held at National Gallery Singapore on Aug 29.
ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
Singaporean songwriter and music producer Shye told The Straits Times that the show embodied inclusivity in terms of the large age range of the performers.
The 23-year-old, who performed in various segments of NDP 2025, said: “(The parade) was nice because so many ages were represented. We have the slightly older and then the slightly younger, and we all got along very well.”
Among other contributions, she had written a new spoken-word segment for the song Jinkli Nona. “The music directors trusted me, which I was very grateful for,” Shye said, adding that it felt good to contribute on such a large scale.
Reflecting on her favourite behind-the-scenes moments, she said they were the snippets of time between acts when performers took their breaks. “It’s those moments when you see that everyone’s tired, but there is joy on people’s faces before going back out to perform.”
But it was the representation of races and ages that stuck with her, and she noted its importance as Singapore looks to the future.
“There’s so much history that has led us to where we are now, but there’s also so much ahead,” she said. “(The representation) was like a love letter to Singapore, to what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen.”
