GRAB THAT NDP FUNPACK!

While it's socially acceptable for birthday boys and girls to expect gifts on their big day, it's slightly different when Singapore celebrates her birthday. The National Day Parade (NDP) funpack that Singaporeans have come to know and love is given to everyone who attends the NDP rehearsal and parade proper, and this year's bag was unveiled by the NDP 2011 organisers on 22 Jun.

And just like how one would spend time to decide on a gift for a close friend, the organisers of this year's NDP have spent the past few months carefully deliberating over each aspect of the funpack, poring over details such as the bag designs, its contents and even the interior compartments of the bag. To help them along, the organisers called on the public for ideas and designs to create something that is for Singaporeans and by Singaporeans

Added Major (MAJ) Chan Ming Hoe, Chairman Logistics and Finance Committee for NDP 2011: "We want the audience to not just come and watch the show, but also interact with NDP and reflect on what the theme - Majulah! The Singapore Spirit - means to them." For example, each funpack contains a collection of short stories entitled Stories of the Singapore Spirit and a reflections card on which people can pen down their thoughts on the Singapore Spirit.

There will be four designs to choose from this year, and they were designed by 21-year-old Jesline Teo. Shortlisted from a pool of entries, her use of water-colour effects and pastel lines to create a warm and soothing interpretation of Singapore impressed the committee. Thereafter, she worked with the committee to refine the four main designs of the NDP 2011 funpack.

Featuring iconic and familiar images representative of Singapore, the four designs depict the Merlion, blocks of public housing flats and a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) train, the control tower at Changi Airport and the national flower - the Vanda Miss Joaquim.

"We chose these designs because they are things which we easily identify with," said Ms Teo, who graduated with a Diploma in Visual Communications from Nanyang Polytechnic. In coming up with her designs, Ms Teo sought comments from many of her friends and family members.

"I wanted to portray how I feel about Singapore and I wanted to show how beautiful the city is, how colourful the country and her people are. I wanted to inject my own positive emotions into the designs," said Ms Teo.

On the back of all the funpacks is a playful cartoon of the Singapore island made up of various words by 16-year-old student Rebekah Lee from St Margaret's Secondary School. "Singaporeans young and old, share some experiences together, such as taking taxis and the MRT together," explained Ms Lee when asked why certain words featured in her design.

Keeping it all together is the bag tag's design by Mr Mas Shafreen who came up with the wire-stitch depiction of the Marina Bay city skyline.

Within the bags, many of the items can be reused such as the mini Singapore Flag which can be used as a table decoration and name-card holder, and the NDP light stick comes with a customised base which allows it to be reused as a table lamp. Other items such as the NDP 2011 sun-visor and mini hand fan are made of recycled materials.

The water-resistant bag is constructed out of lightweight polyester and is biodegradable. Inside, the bag has compartments to hold items such as laptops and books, to encourage their use after NDP 2011.

The organisers also took the opportunity to give an update on the new media initiatives surrounding NDP 2011. From 16 Jun, a series of five NDP 2011 posters - each featuring a Quick Response or QR Code - has been on display at various public transport nodes across the country. Using the Augmented Reality feature in the NDPOnTheGo mobile application, Singaporeans can scan the embedded codes with their smartphones and watch the posters come alive literally with videos of the Singapore Spirit. To date, the application has seen about 40,000 downloads since its launch.

For more information on NDP 2011, please visit the official website at www.ndp.org.sg