Celebrating Our Shared Birthday

In the picture, the National Day Parade is taking place, with performers in colourful costumes filling the field and a large crowd waving Singapore flags in the stands. I can see red and white decorations everywhere and what appears to be a display of marching contingents. What I also noticed is that the audience includes people of all races and ages, and everyone is waving the same flag, which is really the point of the celebration.

My family usually watches the parade on television at home, because getting tickets is very difficult. We prepare snacks and my grandmother insists that we watch from the beginning, including the parts my brother finds boring. When the pledge is recited, my parents stand up in the living room, and although it felt strange to me when I was younger, I now stand up too. Afterwards we go downstairs to watch the fireworks from the void deck with our neighbours.

I feel it is important because Singapore is a young country made up of people from many different backgrounds. Celebrating together reminds us that whatever our race or religion, we share the same country and the same future, and that this unity was built deliberately rather than by accident. It is also a moment to remember how much has changed in sixty years, from a country with few resources to the city we live in now. That is why I believe National Day is not just a holiday but a reminder of something we should not take for granted.