NDP 2025 PROMISES BIGGER, BETTER BIRTHDAY BASH FOR SG60

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NDP 2025 PROMISES BIGGER, BETTER BIRTHDAY BASH FOR SG60 https://www.defencepioneer.sg/pioneer-articles/26may25_news1
26 May 2025 | COMMUNITY

NDP 2025 PROMISES BIGGER, BETTER BIRTHDAY BASH FOR SG60

This year’s National Day celebrations extend from the Padang to Marina Bay and the heartlands, with crowd favourites like the Mobile Column and new highlights like the Jump of Unity by the Red Lions and naval divers.
//STORY BY NICOLE YONG /PHOTOS BY PIONEER PHOTOGRAPHERS
This is how we roll: Singaporeans across the island will see the return of Mobile Column to the Heartlands, last seen in 2020. [File photo]

It’s gonna be the biggest party of the year as Singapore hits the big 60: National Day Parade (NDP) 2025 will be marking this milestone with a bang of activities for all to enjoy. 

The celebrations will take place from the Padang all the way to Marina Bay in the lead-up to National Day on 9 Aug, followed by heartland festivities on 10 Aug where Mobile Columns will be travelling across the island to say “Hi!” 

Here’s a peek at what you can look forward to!

Double treat: The Red Lions (pictured above) and naval divers (below) will take part in a Jump of Unity. The former will land at the Padang while the latter will jump into the waters of Marina Bay. [File photos]

An action-packed parade

Love the Red Lions? The beloved parachute team will be back to thrill audiences, this time together with the Naval Diving Unit’s combat divers, in the inaugural Jump of Unity. 

Spectators can catch the former at the Padang and the latter at Marina Bay. 

A similar feat was showcased back in NDP 2018 at the floating platform venue, where the Red Lions and naval divers jumped into the Bay together.

This year, for the first time, the jump is happening at both the Padang and the Bay, which are a distance apart and requires a different set of coordination.

Another crowd favourite, the Mobile Column showcase, will return to the Padang for the first time since 2019. Assets from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and Home Team will come together in a combined drive-past. 

For the very first time, this segment will be enhanced with an aerial flypast over the Padang and a maritime display at Marina Bay.

This year’s Parade and Ceremony segment will include the largest number of contingents and feature old favourites such as the State Flag Flypast and Presidential Gun Salute. A special aerial tribute commemorating SG60 will cap off the segment. [File photo]
Audiences can catch an impressive array of military and Home Team assets in the Mobile Column showcase, which will be integrated for the first time with an aerial flypast and maritime display. [File photo: Tedd Jong] 

Celebrations beyond the Padang

Water floats, performances on a new mobile floating stage, fireworks and light projections bringing the city skyline to life. 

With the live show expanded to Marina Bay for the first time, spectators at both sites are in for a synchronised visual treat. 

Those at the Bay can also catch live screenings of the Parade and try their hand at an array of activities over at the interactive booths. 

These additional celebrations will be held at five locations: The Promontory; Bayfront Event Space; The Meadow at Gardens by the Bay; Marina Barrage; and Singapore Sports Hub. 

To create a more immersive experience for viewers, the Show at the Bay – which includes water floats, performances on a new mobile floating stage, as well as fireworks and light projections – will be synchronised with the live show at the Padang. [File photo]

Fun in the heartlands

The party doesn’t stop on 9 Aug: Celebrations will continue the next day in the heartlands!

Join in the Heartland Celebrations at five community sites around the island, where you can get up close with SAF and Home Team vehicles and hardware, take pictures, and enjoy fireworks, drone shows, performances and family carnival activities.

Don’t forget to give our servicemen and women in the Mobile Column a friendly wave as man and machine journey along five routes to these Heartland Celebration sites!

Look forward to static displays of SAF and Home Team assets, drone shows and carnival games at the Heartland Celebrations! [File photo]

Majulah Singapura – Let’s GO!

Speaking to media on 26 May, Chairman of the NDP 2025 Executive Committee Colonel (COL) Chong Shi Hao said: “We are expanding our celebrations to reach as many Singaporeans as possible. Through our celebration, we want to reflect on how far we’ve come together.

“We want to use (the NDP celebrations) as a way to unite Singaporeans, to highlight the shared values that bind us together, and hope that it will inspire future generations of Singaporeans.” 

“We’ve chosen Majulah Singapura as our theme (this year) as it is something that is familiar to all of us… (and) it carries deep meaning for many of us. It is a rallying call that we are all in it together,” explains COL Chong.

To tie in with the theme of Majulah Singapura, this year’s logo includes five shooting stars, representing the nation’s ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality. 

The number “60” looks just like the word “Go”, a rallying call for Singaporeans to move forward together as the nation celebrates her 60th year.

Here We Are

And if you’re wondering what this year’s NDP theme song is? Here We Are. 

Performed by Charlie Lim, Kit Chan, and The Island Voices, it represents Singaporeans standing together to face the future and taking stock of how far they have come. 

The music video weaves together images of home, belonging and mutual care, drawn from the diverse experiences that have shaped Singapore over the past 60 years. 

“Here We Are”, which celebrates Singapore’s 60th anniversary, aims to strike a balance between simple but soulful, catchy yet heartfelt. “I wanted to write something that acknowledges our differences that make us who we are,” says singer Mr Lim.

“The title of the song was actually the first thing that came to my mind. Here We Are has a sense of arrival and identity, giving us a moment to reflect on how we can do better, as well as marking a new chapter as we face the future together,” said the 37-year-old singer, who’s also the theme song co-writer. 

“The final lines of the song – ‘Here we are, this is what home means to me’ – is both a reflection and declaration. It is my hope that it will get all of us to think about what home actually means to us.”

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