SINGAPORE - With a salute, a nationwide campaign hopes to rally Singaporeans to show their appreciation to past and present national servicemen for their contributions through this simple gesture.

This comes as Singapore marks 50 years of national service this year.

The "We Salute Our NSmen'" campaign, launched by Safra on Sunday (June 18), 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 with the hashtags #NS50salute and #safrasg.

The campaign aims to garner over 50,000 salutes from the community over the next few months.

To encourage the public to participate, interactive digital photo kiosks will be available at all Safra clubs and key Safra NS50 commemorative events till the end of October for them to contribute their photos.

Corporate partners such as CapitaLand Malls Asia and Frasers Centrepoint Malls have also shown their support, including having the campaign's interactive digital photo kiosks placed at selected malls and bus stops islandwide.

Senior Minister of State for Defence Maliki Osman, who officiated the launch during the Safra Jurong open house on Sunday, said Singapore should "never take our peace and stability for granted".

"NS has an important role in protecting our borders and keeping our streets safe for Singaporeans," he added.

"So I think it is timely for all of us to show the respect and recognition to 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 fun-filled activities that offer a glimpse at what some national servicemen have gone through. The activities range from packing field packs to trying out flight simulators.