Boat, buggy to take singer Benjamin Kheng from Marina Bay to Padang in 10min

Just before 8pm on Aug 9, singer Benjamin Kheng will have just finished performing the National Day Parade (NDP) 2024 theme song Not Alone on a floating stage in Marina Bay, near Merlion Park.

- Ng Keng Gene

About 10 minutes later, he will enter the Padang for the 2025 show's finale, after traversing 800m over water, and then by foot and on wheels.

Lieutenant-Colonel Shahreel Rajaratnam, 36, bay show management chairman, said that after Kheng performs a duet with singer Rahimah Rahim, who will be at the Padang, he will hop onto a small navy sea boat that will whisk him off to Queen Elizabeth Walk.

From there, Kheng — who has a manually activated flotation device incorporated into his costume for the bay performance — will board a buggy that is a short jog away, and appear at the Padang in time for NDP 2025's finale.

Bringing Kheng to the Padang shows that he's "not alone", LTC Shahreel said, and this closes the narrative arc of the show, where the singer "returns home" to be with other performers at the Padang.

Among them will be Kit Chan, who will sing Home — NDP 1998's theme song — in the 2025 show's fourth and final act.

While there is much to coordinate in the bay for NDP 2025, said LTC Shahreel, getting Kheng back to the Padang is the most exciting task, because there are many moving parts.