ALL TOGETHER AGAIN

25,000 gather at floating platform for first full NDP since pandemic started

- Clement Yong

About 25,000 people gathered at the Marina Bay floating platform to mark Singapore’s 57th birthday yesterday, in a show that recognised the hardships inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic and celebrated a return to relative normalcy.

A human sea of red and white sat elbow to elbow, joining in the Kallang Wave and soaking in the rat-a-tat of rifle salutes at the first ticketed National Day Parade in three years.

About the only thing that signalled how the pandemic is not over was some spectators wearing face masks, which parade organisers had strongly encouraged but was not mandatory.

Still, this year’s parade was a world of difference from 2020 and last year, when Covid-19 restrictions reduced the NDP to symbolic affairs watched live by only small, safe-distanced audiences.

Amid the noise of yesterday’s celebrations, a moment of hushed silence was for many the most poignant of the night.

At the start of the second act of the show directed by theatre veteran Adrian Pang, a single source of light emerged from the pitch-black stage.

There, standing alone, was singer-songwriter Aisyah Aziz. In a velvety voice, she sang a song of compassion: “Have you ever felt like nobody was there? Have you ever felt forgotten in the middle of nowhere? Have you ever felt like you could disappear?... You can reach, reach out your hand.”

The song, You Will Be Found, from American musical Dear Evan Hansen, launched a section of the show about the price exacted by the pandemic.