It's that time of the year again, its the NDP!

And how can a forum like Military Nuts forget to start a topic on this day where our country used to display the military that we have!

First, here's a link to the NDP 2004 Website.

Followed by extracts of the Parade & Ceremony Segment, all for your easy reading!



The Parade

The parade will continue to showcase the precision and discipline of a military-style parade. The parade will comprise the traditional Guards-of-Honour, Colours Party and Supporting Contingents formed by the SAF, Home Team and civilian organisations, representing all 5 elements of Total Defence. Traditional items such as the State Flag Fly-past, Aerial Salute, Presidential Inspection, 21 Guns Salute, Presidential Drive-past and Feu-de-Joie (Fire of Joy) will continue to be featured in the P&C segment.

What's New?

New this year is the inclusion of banners to make the parade more lively and distinctive and the seamless transition from the pomp and pageantry of the Parade and Ceremonies Segment to the Show. This is achieved by having the military and civil defence contingents transform into ‘TD 20’ signifying the 20th anniversary of Total Defence in Singapore as the Grand Finale of this segment.


Layout of NDP 04 Marching Contingent



Parade March-in

The parade will begin with the introduction of two NDP 04 banners; followed by the entry of the Parade Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) accompanied by SAF Precision Drill Squad (SPDS), Bag-pipers and Corp of Drums (CoDs).

The latter will then transform to a ‘STAR’ formation. The Supporting Contingents (SCs) on command, will march into the parade ground from different directions through the three gates of the stadium, while the SPDS, Bag-pipers and CoDs will form an archway to usher in the Parade Commander.



1WO Ramasamy is NDP 04's Parade Regimental Sergeant Major. He will be start off the parade in a grand fashion by leading in the all time favourites, the SAF Precision Drill Squad, Bag-pipers and the Corp of Drums.



Guard-of-Honour March-in

The precision of the parade march-in will be reinforced with the simultaneous entry of the *Colours Party through the central aisle and the GOH contingents from 2 separate entrances, Gate 1 and 2. This converging effect will showcase the entry of a key ceremonial component of the parade in grand military precision.

*(The flags - or Colours - are symbol of pride of the units and must be protected at all times.

The custom goes back to the Middle Ages. Military Colours were originally banners of the lords and barons in Europe, when it was customary for the fighting men to rally around the banner of their chief.

It was on July 8, 1954, that the Singapore Volunteer Corps received the Republic's first Colours at the Padang. That year, Sir John Nicoll, the Governor of Singapore, presented the corps with the Queen's Colours and the Singapore Volunteer Corps Colours.)



Arrival of the President, National Anthem, Fly-past of State Flag

The president will, upon arrival, be ushered to the Reviewing Dais to receive a salute. This will be followed by the singing of the National Anthem. A National Flag carried by a CH-47 Chinook helicopter escorted another two Chinook helicopters will stage a *flypast over the stadium during the National Anthem. A display by the RSAF aircraft executing a ‘bomb-burst’ will also be performed as a salute to the Reviewing Officer.

*(Did you know the squadron leader of the flypast is traditionally (and still is) known as "Mothergoose"?

This is because the air formations typically look like a flock of well aligned flying geese, and the leader of the pack is thus referred to fondly as the "Mothergoose".)

Presidential Inspection and Presidential Gun Salute

Following the National Anthem, the President will inspect the GOH. Integrated with the GOH inspection is the *Presidential Gun Salute, which will be provided by the ceremonial 25-pounders.

*(This tradition dates back to the 14th century. Apart from being a mark of respect, gun salutes were also a way for soldiers in the Middle Ages to declare their friendly intentions. The 21-gun salute, which signifies the highest respect, was inherited from the British. The 25-punder guns used at the NDPs also came from the British. These guns have been around since before our independence, and were handed down from the British Army.)



Presidential Drive-past

After inspecting the GOH, the President will be driven round the stadium on the ceremonial landrover, providing an opportunity for the audience to be closer to our President.



Feu-de-Joie

At the end of the Presidential Drive-past, the GOH will execute the *Feu-de-Joie to symbolically portray the sense of joy and festivity of the occasion

*(Feu-de-Joie, or Fire of Joy, is a tradition that originated from France. It is traditionally executed with 3 rounds of consecutive fires.)

Preparation for March-past

Following the Feu-de-Joie, the Parade Commander will seek the President’s permission to march-past the parade. The GOH and Colours Party will, on command, take up their positions to prepare for the march-past.



Guard-of-Honour and Supporting Contingents’ March-Past

On the command of the No. 1 GOH contingent commander, the GOH contingents will march past the President, led by the Parade Commander.

Transition to Show

The parade finale involves the military and civil defence contingents transforming into ‘TD 20’ signifying the 20th anniversary of Total Defence in Singapore. The military will be performing synchronised drills, followed by the unfurling of the giant banner depicting the concept icon for NDP 04. The grand finale will be marked with the firing of pyrotechnics on the stage and on the formation ‘TD 20’. This will mark the end of the P&C segment and the transition to the Show Segment.

Kopio, you know whether they chinooks are D or SD versions? You also know the registration numbers?

i have no idea... i don't even know the numbers!

i can answer about SP only...

disappointing parade, march cannot march properly. flag party cannot hold flag properly

Heh, saw the SAFTI colour guard garbra during the ruhsso after the first hormat. Not a pretty sight.

but end of day, they did put in alot of sweat and effort for the parade. I salute them.

True. They deserve it.

F-5s just airborne on national day, definitely not an exercise.

there are always 2 national flags airborne during NDP, only one will make it to the parade. so for today the whole chinook fleet is flying.

Ah, must be some A$$holes doing some probing and think is funny.

nope... there are 3 national flags in the air...

total there are 5 chinook... 3 carrying a national flag each...

all will approache the national stadium in a straight line coming in from the padang.....

but only one flag chinook will eventually be doing the flypast over the national stadium with 2 other chinook at its flanks...

the other 2 chinook with flags... will fly alone separately away from the stadium... in a straight line slighty deviated towards the south of the stadium

the escorted chinook would make a U turn above the stadium and head back the way it originated from.

we are damn kiasu one you know? :P

hope they shoot down those braindead morsels... and make it a national day present.... :lol: :lol:

last year its them... this year them again... and i tot for once we could have a perfect parade.

not forgetting the amount of spare flags we have to roll up.

Last year I believe the issue was the SAFTI Colour bearer trying to grab the Colours from flying around. If I am not wrong, that is not a cock-up, it is not wrong to try and hold the Colours.

If you noticed, during the marchpast, when the command pandang kekenan is given for the Colours party, the party does not do the eyes right, instead the Colour Bearers acknowledge the command by doing a quick down-up motion with their right hands. This is to "let fly the Colours" as a salute. The Colours are not meant to be flying in the first place.

As for this year... Well... Its lucky he didn't drop the Colours, and grabbed it in time. His IA drills are outstanding... If anything, he acted very quickly and professionally to cover up the error.

yeah its not wrong to try n hold the colours... but it just doesn't look nice eh? especially on camera...

they always tell us, no matter what... people will pick on the slightest mistake in a parade.

considering the standards we set for ourselves... i'm disappointed it happened :(

Yes... Very true. Like what the RSM this year said, you never know when the camera might be pointing at you.

In the aerial salute, there was only a-4 skyhawks doing bomb burst and 3 f-16s following up right?
Yesterday on gold 90 fm there was this harvey norman game on radio..the dj set the game on NDP saying there were f-5s.

he was wrong, lol~ :lol:

Yup, 5 A-4SUs did the bomb burst with 3 F-16s following in formation.