This year's National Day Parade (NDP) fun packs may come in Singapore's red and white, but they are green at heart.
Designed with sustainability in mind, they include reusable items such as bamboo straws that double as clappers and a 750ml water bottle.
The bag features a water-resistant lining and adjustable straps, allowing it to be carried as a backpack, sling bag or tote bag.
Organisers hope Singaporeans will keep and use it as an "emergency-ready" bag to hold essential items for use in the event they are needed.
Designed in partnership with Temasek Foundation, the bag comes with a list of recommended essentials pasted on its inner flap.
These include QR codes that lead bag owners to the Singapore Civil Defence Force website as well as a Singapore Red Cross Society webpage for details about a free course on cardiopulmonary resuscitation and on how to use automated external defibrillators.
Military Expert (ME) 6 Ignatius Tham, chairman of the NDP 2019 logistics and finance committee, said the inclusion of reusable items and the versatile design of the bag are in line with the campaign towards a zero-waste Singapore.
"We want to make sure we bring (the items) to the national platform to encourage reusability, and we hope that by giving a quality product to NDP attendees, they can reuse the fun packs," he said.
Other items in this year's fun pack include snacks and mineral water, a souvenir magazine, a discount booklet, tissues, a sun visor or fan, mosquito patches and a luggage tag.
Parade-goers looking for NDP staples such as face tattoos and a miniature flag will not be disappointed either.
As part of the parade's sustainability efforts, unused ponchos will be collected at the end of each rehearsal or preview to be given out at the next one.
"This year's NDP theme is Our Singapore, and we want to do something for the future. We want to be the pioneers for our future generation," said ME6 Tham. "We hope these initiatives, these little steps that we take... can help us to be the pioneers of the next generation."
The fun packs will be distributed to parade-goers at distribution points around the Padang, the location of this year's NDP on Aug 9.
