Happy National Day!

As many of you may not know, August 9 is Singapore's National Day, which commemorates Singapore's independence from Malaysia in 1965.  It's crazy to think that this country has only been around for 47 years - imagine if 4th of July celebrations were celebrating America's 47th birthday!

Most of my close friends have already left Singapore at this point, but I was lucky enough to spend the day with a native Singaporean - Marcus, an incoming TPP who will be starting at MIT in just a few weeks.  To begin the day, Marcus took me to High Tea at the Swisshotel Stamford, a very posh buffet on the 65th floor of one of Singapore's tallest buildings.  It was really nice to be in the AC (called "air con" here) and away from the crowds, and we could see everyone gathering at street level in preparation for the National Day Parade (NDP) from our table.

The view from high tea - crowds are starting to gather at the lower left to watch the parade.

After High Tea, we wandered out into the crowds, trying to place ourselves strategically to watch the festivities, especially the evening fireworks display.  We managed to cross the bridge in the above picture, eventually settling for a standing-room table at one of the bars on the Bay, which came at a steep cover charge (but with a "free" drink).  From our spot, we had a very clear view of the Bay and could roughly see what was happening at the Parade site.

Unlike what we consider to be a "parade" in the United States, the NDP is basically a big show which celebrates the history of Singapore, most notably its current armed forces (more on this later).  The venue in which it takes place only seats 10,000 people so it is extremely difficult to get tickets (especially for foreigners); most families watch the spectacle from home on TV.  The whole thing culminates in a large fireworks display from the center of the Bay, and many of the surrounding buildings participate in the light show as well (see below).

One of many sets of fireworks during the NDP.

As I mentioned, the Singaporean military is very present in these proceedings - we saw 3 flyovers, 6 parachute jumpers, a navy boat display, a 21-gun salute, and a massive flag flown by military helicopters in the course of a 3-hour show.  Like many other countries, Singapore has a mandatory national service requirement for all of its male citizens - interestingly enough, as Singapore was being formed in the late 1960s, the new government actually contacted the IDF in Israel so they could base their program off of Israel's system.  Singapore is located very strategically and has not always had the best political position in the region, and it really seemed as if the NDP festivities were the government flexing the muscles of its impressively large defense force.  Certainly interesting to an outside observer!

GIANT flag flown over the NDP coordinated to the President's entrance.

After National Day, I have three full days left in Singapore - today was spent at Sentosa (a resort island off the coast), tomorrow I'll be visiting the Botanic Gardens, and then Sunday I'll finally be making my way to the Jurong Bird Park.  It's crazy to think that I only have two nights left here, and that my next post will be written in Goreme, Turkey!

Happy August, and looking forward to seeing many of you soon!

Dara

PS: For a completely absurd look at National Day (as well as some strangely-placed commentary on Singapore's population issues), check out this YouTube video courtesy of a friend from MIT.  I warn you, it's pretty weird...