Singapore's first and only woman member of the Red Lions, Second Warrant Officer Shirley Ng, will be part of this year's crew of parachutists landing in the heartland.

Two teams of the Red Lions - a crowd favourite at every National Day Parade (NDP) - will be making a 1,524m free-fall from a Republic of Singapore Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft onto grass fields near Sengkang General Hospital and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.

2WO Ng, 42, a regular, has more than 530 jumps under her belt. She made her first parade appearance as a Red Lion in 2014 when the NDP was held at The Float@Marina Bay, and was also part of the 2013 team whose performance was thwarted by poor weather.

But while she is the only rose among the thorns in the Red Lions team, there are other women in her unit who are actively doing parachute jumps, she said. "I really hope to see them become part of the team in the next few years."

In the six years since her last NDP involvement, 2WO Ng has been focusing on her other commitments as a rigger in supporting the commando formation. She is glad to have been chosen to be part of the team this year, and will make the landing near Sengkang General Hospital in a tribute to the front-line workers in Singapore's fight against Covid-19.

This year's performance comes with a different set of challenges, with the landing set at heartland grass fields instead of the floating platform at Marina Bay or the Padang. With high-rise buildings and expressways in the vicinity, the Red Lions need to be very precise about where they drop.

The free-fall height is half that of the usual NDP jump, which means that unlike other parade performances, the Red Lions will not get into their iconic ring formation and will deploy their parachutes as soon as three seconds after they jump from the aircraft, 2WO Ng said.

Preparations for this year's NDP were also slightly delayed, with jump rehearsals on-site starting only last month, a month later than usual. But the Red Lions used the parachute flight simulator to hone their techniques, and conducted rehearsals at the airbase, she added.

While this year's landing will not be surrounded by thousands of spectators, it is no less spectacular than the jumps at Marina Bay or the Padang, 2WO Ng said, thanks to the support of residents in the area. The Sengkang neighbourhood is a familiar one for her, as she lives with her mother in Hougang.

"As we land, they are cheering for us; we can see them waving from their windows and balconies, and it is very heart-warming."