You might have already seen my sneak peak update on IG and Dayre (@ena_teo) after NDP 2016 media preview last week.
And here’s the full post of what we can expect for the upcoming NDP 2016! Isn’t it awesome how much lead time there is for our Nation’s birthday that’s coming up on 9 August? Preparations usually start about a year in advance, from idea creation to logistics preparations.
Will jump straight into the initiatives and engagements for this NDP and talk about the 3 highlights along the way in this post! 🙂
We (Nuffnang bloggers and managers) arrived about 20 minutes early for the preview and we had time to settle down, pick the colour of our Fun Pack and head outside for the breakfast items before heading back in. I haven’t attended NDP in a while, and forgot that a lot of Army/NSAF men are involved, so it was quite a culture shock to suddenly see so many men/guys at a media preview. Haha!
Col (NS) Fong Khai Seck, this year’s Chairman Engagement, sharing the NDP Committee’s intentions behind the engagement efforts of the NDP 2016, anchored by the idea of encouraging collective ownership and promoting inclusiveness.
The theme of this year’s NDP is:
Building Our Singapore of TomorrowHighlight 1:
Our Collective Dreams and Aspirations –
a large mosaic consisting of 50,000 individual paintings digitally stitched together.
Our Collective Dreams and Aspirations encourage students and youths to share their dreams and aspirations for Singapore’s future through painting. It aims to stretch the imagination of Singaporeans in dreaming of a better future for Singapore. This stitching of the individual paintings together symbolises the need for collective ownership in charting Singapore’s future. Renowned Singaporean artist, Mr Sun Yu-Li, will create abstract designs based on each of the 51 years of Singapore’s nation building and overlay them atop the mosaic. The resulting Our Collective Dreams and Aspirations thus represent the collective journey of our nation over 51 years.
I love how meaningful and layered this initiative and artwork is. I fondly recall the times when I was in primary school and we were encouraged to draw and paint our vision of a future Singapore. There is so much power in a child’s imagination and vision for the future as it will captivate and motivate them to realise these visions and goals. This reminds me to not give up that child-like wonderment, belief and vision for a better tomorrow, a better society and a better Singapore – even though so often we are touted to already be the city of the future – there is still much we can improve and progress on.
Another creative initiative this year is Our Pledge to Singapore card, a collaborative effort by former TV artiste, Mr Edmund Chen and children with special needs from Pathlight School as they co-design this year’s Pledge Card. The public can participate in this initiative by making our pledge to Singapore in two ways: 1. through the e-version of the Pledge Card which will be available on the NDPeeps App from 7 July 2016 onwards or 2. by completing a hardcopy Pledge Card which will be distributed to the general public at the National Stadium during Previews 1 and 2 and on National Day. Completed Pledge Cards can be shared on individual social media platforms as well as official platforms such as NDPeep FB, Instagram (@ndpeeps_2016) and Twitter (@NDPeeps) with hashtags #NDP2016, #NDP2016theme, #NDP16, #NDP and #NDP2015Pledgecard.
Highlight 2:
AR Technology in the NDP Souvenir Magazine
The souvenir magazine is embedded with digital content that aims to engage readers in an interactive way. With the use of augmented reality, readers can access additional content – images and videos – using the NDPeeps App on their mobile devices. Readers will be able to view a 3D time-lapse video of the National Stadium’s evolution by focusing the camera on the picture of the National Stadium in the magazine, users can even pan and zoom during the video to appreciate different perspectives of the transformation of the National Stadium.
Well, this technology certainly isn’t new as we’ve seen it on IKEA catalogues but to have this technology applied on our NDP souvenir magazine? I don’t know about you guys, but I’m feeling like we’re the cool kids on the block.
Highlight3:
LED Wristband in the Funpack
The LED wristband is programmable and can be wirelessly synchronized with the show’s lights and sounds. It is capable of emitting lights with varying intensity and in 16 (!) different colours and modes. In wearing this LED wristband, every spectator becomes an integral part of the show, collectively contributing to massive visual displays and enjoy a truly immersive experience.
This year’s Funpack comes in 2 colours, red and white which are the representative colours of Singapore, in our State flag and serves as a reminder to be rooted to the values that define our collective strength and harmony. It is lightweight, multifunctional, waterproof and durable.
I love how versatile this bag is, as it can be used as a sling bag, hand bag or haversack/bagpack. To ensure that it would be enjoyable bag, the NDP 2016 Logistics and Finance Committee even gathered and incorporated feedback from students from over 10 schools!
Check out this video to find out more about the Funpack!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iRai2RIroo
The bloggers and I caught a photos with Edmund Chen!
Before we headed to the National Stadium for a quick photo taking with our bags.
Thank you NDP 2016 and Nuffnang for the media preview invite!
x
Ena
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