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Straits Times

NDP 2025: Show at Padang to feature largest mobile stage in parade history

The National Day Parade 2025 features creative director Boo Junfeng (centre) and performers such as (from left) Matthew S.T. Sunil, Jennifer Thevajenner, Rahimah Rahim and Benjamin Kheng. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI SINGAPORE – The 2025 National Day Parade (NDP) will feature a 360-degree moving stage that will bring the performances close to the audience at the Padang, the largest mobile stage in NDP history. Measuring 15m in diameter, the three-tiered 20,000kg stage can rise up to 7m high and includes 270 LED screens. There will also be eight additional island stages around the Padang. The facades of buildings in the area, including the Fullerton Hotel and the UOB Plaza One, will also come alive with projections of SG60-themed artworks by local artists such as Sam Lo. Land and water floats designed by artists with disabilities will be featured. NDP 2025, which marks Singapore's 60th year of independence, marks the return of acclaimed home-grown film-maker Boo Junfeng as its creative director. The 41-year-old was also creative director of the 2018 and 2021 editions of the NDP. Audiences can expect to be entertained by 39 home-grown artistes from different generations and genres, as well as over 3,000 performers. These include seasoned names such as Dick Lee, Kit Chan, Rahimah Rahim and Ramli Sarip, as well as contemporary acts ranging from singer-songwriters Charlie Lim and Benjamin Kheng to actor-musician Tosh Zhang and rapper Yung Raja. To reach as many Singaporeans as possible, the live show will extend from the Padang to Marina Bay, another first for the NDP. Another first for the NDP is having performances on a mobile floating stage in Marina Bay mounted on a Republic of Singapore Navy's (RSN) Fast Craft Utility. Kheng will sing on the 9m-long stage with 12 dancers from the Music and Drama Company. A pre-parade segment will open with a musical film, also a first for the NDP, with an original song, Makin' Our Way, directed, written and composed by Kheng. This is followed by the inaugural Jump of Unity, featuring the Red Lions parachutists from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and naval divers from the RSN. A segment called Our Singapore Wish will air videos of Singaporeans sharing their aspirations, with music from the Combined Schools Band. The show is itself is divided into four acts, each inspired by words and lines from the national anthem, Majulah Singapura. Act One will celebrate Singapore's diverse society and features Chan and Lim performing this year's NDP theme song, Here We Are, and a spoken rendition of the national anthem by Ramli and other artistes such as Zhang. Singer-songwriter Charlie Lim performing the NDP 2025 theme song Here We Are during a preview on June 26. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI Act Two, with performances by singer-songwriter Linying and rising singer Heema Izzati, focuses on Singaporeans' personal dreams and collective aspirations. There will also be performances by groups and schools such as Soka Gakkai Singapore and Greendale Secondary, as well as Diverse Abilities Dance Collective of Maya Dance Theatre, who are performing at the NDP for the first time. The performances in the third act, about resilience through family bonds and the community spirit, includes Lee singing NDP 2002 theme song We Will Get There in a floating balloon at the Padang. Act Four shapes the dreams and aspirations of different Singaporeans into a collective national destiny, and includes a synchronised performance of NDP 2021 theme song The Road Ahead by SMU Samba Masala Drummers at the Padang, Extraordinary People at the NTUC building and Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (Minds) at Marina Bay Sands Singapore. The final act culminates in a sing-along of classic NDP anthems such as Stand Up for Singapore (1984), Count On Me Singapore (1986), We Are Singapore (1987) and One People, One Nation, One Singapore (1990), in sync with a fireworks display lighting up the Padang and the Marina Bay. The fireworks show is specially designed to commemorate SG60. Audiences at the Padang and Bay Celebration sites will also get to write their wishes for themselves and for their community on a double-sided placard found in their NDP Packs. These will then be featured at various points throughout the show. There will also be a series of interconnected short films depicting the challenges the nation overcame over the past 60 years, shown throughout the four acts. All 27,000 spectators at the show will wear LED wristbands that will emit a light show in sync with the performances. Water floats on display at Esplanade's Singtel Waterfront Theatre on June 26. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI Boo tells The Straits Times that he hopes that the audience, whether they are watching at the Padang, in the surrounding areas or on television, will reflect on what makes Singapore a home. 'Beyond just being a celebration, I think it's also a point of reflection so that we can contemplate why we love our home, and what we wish for Singapore to become.' Veteran singer Rahimah says that she is proud to do a duet in Act Three with Kheng on his 2024 NDP theme song Not Alone. 'I'm so honoured to be able to do this inter-generational collaboration,' she tells ST. Kheng, who also co-wrote the tune, says Rahimah's singing adds a new layer to the song. 'She's unabashedly herself and (with) that kind of energy she brings, and the warmth, she really grounds everyone in a room, and that shines through so well.' The pair will be physically apart during the duet, as Rahimah will be at the Padang, and Kheng on the floating stage in Marina Bay. Singers Rahimah Rahim and Benjamin Kheng performing 2024 NDP theme song Not Alone during a media preview on June 26. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI Among the many performers are dancers Jennifer Thevajenner and Matthew S.T. Sunil, a married couple who are returning for their seventh NDP performance. The pair of amateur dancers, who have been married for two decades, said that the 2025 performance is special. 'Our segment is under People's Association, and the theme is our resilience and our spirit. So the two songs we are doing are flowing with emotions. We feel very touched when we dance,' said Mr Sunil, 49. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.