National Day Parade of Singapore
Glittering parade floats and acrobat warriors, what causes more people to take to the streets is nothing other then the National Day Parade and celebration. This event boasts more than seven hundred performers. Showcases by various theater companies and universities trek down the streets provided a show rich and vibrant. The best Singapore restaurants serve food, the dancers dance and the singers sing. People from different international organizations and realms of the art world witness and partake in what is come to be known as a party of the grandest scale. Dragons and crouching tigers, and Miss Thailand 2009 make appearances that leave the crowd wanting and needing more. The first parade occurred in 1966, in celebration of Singapore’s gained independence from Malaysia. Illusions of magic, street dancing, food feasts and drinking are all part of the fun and joyous atmosphere. Members of high government attended the first ‘show’, with the prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew and others present there that day on the steps of city hall. Fireworks ring in the climax creating a night sky ‘Aurora Borealis’ in the Southern China night. Various people from various countries come together and may discover that not only to they not have such differences, but that the commonalities between races are something beautiful to behold and should forever continue to be-holden to the heart, of individuals and of societies as well.
Tickets are sometimes hard to come across, and people wander the streets looking for them. Not to know, perhaps, that the event is free of charge. Overcrowding may be a bit of a problem for some, the government mainly I suspect, but with the amazing talent performing at the event and the meaning behind it, one may conclude that this would be and could be a very good aspect of the parade. Singapore is a strict place to live, and I suspect…to travel to as well. And comfort of those in the ‘care’ of a controlling relationship is perhaps an issue worth resolving for those with their grand ideas of control, i.e. the leaders themselves. What started out as a simple neighborhood parade has come to mean much more to the people involved and has come to carry much more international weight. This grand event which sets Singaporeans onto the streets decked out in the most glamorous of style, dancing to the most exciting music pumped out by the famous DJ’s is about to bring forth the question that this island needs to ask, freedom or oppression. Perhaps next January, the prime minister will see life in a different, and more brightly colored and festive light.