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Straits Times

First SCDF guard of honour contingent at NDP 2025

SINGAPORE – For the first time in National Day Parade (NDP) history, the 2025 parade and ceremony will feature a Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) guard of honour contingent on Aug 9. NDP 2025, which marks Singapore's 60th year of independence, will also see the Singapore Armed Forces Volunteer Corps (SAFVC) field its first full contingent to mark its 10th anniversary. Speaking at National Gallery Singapore on June 12, NDP 2025 parade and ceremony chairman, Colonel Lim Yu Sing, said that the parade will feature 40 marching contingents – the largest number at the Padang since 1990, when 70 took part. While participants still train over about 14 weekends – similar to previous years – the higher number of Guard of Honour contingents has added complexity to their movements, said parade chairman Col Lim. Meticulous planning has gone into technicalities such as where the contingents turn, their spacing, marching speed and where they stop, said Col Lim, who was also parade and ceremony chairman for NDP 2023. In total, the parade at NDP 2025 involves about 2,100 participants . They include members from six Guard of Honour contingents, the SAF colours party, several SAF and Home Team supporting contingents, uniformed youth organisations, numerous civilian contingents, a combined band, and a live choir. In addition, 142 soldiers are involved in the presidential gun salute. The parade will be led by parade commander Lieutenant Colonel Firdaus Ghazali and parade regimental sergeant major Master Warrant Officer Lim Jie Hui. LTC Firdaus said being a parade commander was his childhood dream. In 2002, he participated in the NDP as a performer for the closing act in the show segment. 'In that year, I had a glimpse of the parade and ceremony segment during one of the trainings from the stands of the (old) national stadium,' he said. 'I developed a deep appreciation for parades and its significance as the heart and core of our NDPs.' In total, the parade at NDP 2025 will involve about 2,100 participants. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI NDP 2025 will be the second time in three years that the number of guard of honour contingents at a NDP has increased. In 2023, the SAF's Digital and Intelligence Service – inaugurated in 2022 – joined the NDP for the first time, fielding a guard of honour contingent along with the army, navy and air force contingents, as well as the Singapore Police Force. As for the SAFVC, it was first represented at the NDP in 2019, as part of a combined contingent that also featured members of the police's Volunteer Special Constabulary and the SCDF's Civil Defence Auxiliary Unit. The combined volunteer contingent did not feature again until NDP 2024. This year, the public can get up close with the SAF colours at an uncasing ceremony in Marina Square before the parade and ceremony begins. During the parade and ceremony segment, spectators at the Padang will also be near the live choir, who will perform on 'island stages' positioned near the seating galleries. The 127-member choir, formed by Greendale Secondary School students and singers from arts group Voices of Singapore, will perform NDP 2021's theme song, The Road Ahead. Accompanying them is a 100-piece band, with members from the SAF Band, SPF Band, Singapore National Cadet Corps Command Band, and National Police Cadet Corps Band. As the national anthem plays during the state flag flypast – just after the President arrives at the Padang – members of the 10 uniformed youth organisations at the parade will stand in a formation 'Majulah 60' – a nod to NDP 2025's theme Majulah Singapura, and the country's 60th birthday. Those without tickets to the parade at the Padang can still get in on the action at Marina Bay, where four 25-pounder guns will sail around the bay on the SAF's Mobility 3rd Generation rafts, coming near those gathered at The Promontory @ Marina Bay. Drawing the parade and ceremony to a close will be the onward march, where contingents from the SAF, the Home Team and the uniformed youth organisations will march through the spectator stands as they exit the Padang. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.