NDP is finally over, and i must say, i sort of enjoyed myself yesterday. for one, i got a view of the parade few would have a chance to see. the behind the scenes of it all...

i was attached to the head of the quick reaction force, Major Ng yesterday. fancy name, and that's about it. well the day started with us being assigned gas masks, and the initial plan was for all to get masks. then, they decided to cut down the number down to 12, then to 8, then up again to 10...army, the decisive force. well...they finally decided on 8...i think they were too lazy to pull anymore out of the box, and so came the selection on our side as to who would get them. fortunately for me, i was skipped, though i was originally considered, cuz of my spectacles. saved a major hassle. from then on, i pretty much had nothing to do till the parade so i observed the parade from just behind the announcer...so now i know where that voice comes from.

after that, was a short break till the work started...till now, i have no idea why i was chosen, but...it was a good experience. ran around with the major, and rubbed shoulders with the upper echelon of the SAF. i must have met so many Majors, Leftenant Colonels and Colonels on that day than i have in my entire army life. and, i must say they are pretty friendly people. but, more than that, being semi-invisible and probably just intentionally ignored, i got to hear their casual conversations, and that's where you learn more about them. pretty strange, but they actually do believe in the military. a product of brain-washing or pure patriotic belief, i have no idea. and yeah, they compare and collect badges for the fun of it. well...it's a military thing i guess...sort of like marking your acheivements, quite literal in the sense of wear it like a badge.

also, from walkin around the whole place, you get to see the crowd, and they come in awfully early...kiasu singaporeans...plus, some of them show the ugly side, having full tickets but just comin to collect the funpacks and the leavin. i'm quite pleased that they do appreciate the funpacks, after all the hard work the guys put in, but hey, there are plenty of people who want that ticket to get that spot to watch the parade. so you got it, the least you could do is to stay and watch the product of all the sweat, toil and at times, tears of the participants. some people just can't be understood. just what is it with them? it's difficult for cases such as these, as they are so selfish that if they weren't spotted, there goes one ticket down the drain. fortunately though, major ng spotted quite a few...and so was able to let some people who desperately wanted to come in, do so. we were left with a few empty tickets, and so left them in the care of one of the charlie PCs'. hopefully, a few people more deserving of the seats actually got in.

with that settled, we had to rush over to the other end of the padang, all the way to the anderson bridge to let some people in. they had sponsored the NDP, and wanted to bring in a few more family members, kids actually. well, we had one of those empty tickets, and so tried to let them in, because all they needed was one more ticket. turns out, the delta 2nd left there simpky refused to let them in, and wanted to play things by the book. now, he was severely out-ranked, but the major didn't pull rank on this one, rather surprising to me at that moment. the major actually told him to explain the situation to his OC, the one in-charge of it all, and let the OC decide if he wanted to let them in with the empty ticket. fortunately for them, a group of 4 boys came with 5 tickets, and so had one ticket free, so the usher simply used that completely un-used ticket to let them all in. unfortunately, the major got reported as pulling rank to let people in. who reported him, i have no idea, but i have a niggling feeling that it is my worthless sonofabitch csm who reported him. i caught that mf staring at the major in what can only be described as a very black face. plus he has a reputation for making mountains out of molehills. whether or not it is him, i doubt i'll know, but if it turns out to be him, i will hardly be surprised.

anw, after that incident, and before we knew that he got reported(we knew of that only after the parade had ended, as the dust was settling), the major was telling me that it's quite rubbish to go by the book all the time. this comin from a regular senior officer. he was saying that if you were so strict and without compassion, it does come back to you. "you have to leave the SAF someday and face other's, so why be so stiff?" those were his exact words. indeed i feel many junior officers and specialist think that they will have that kind of power over us all the time, but they failed to recognise that they may have to work UNDER us in the future. this life is unpredictable, with plenty of twits and turns to warrant it being called a roller-coaster. the fewer toes you step on, the better. obviously, while this major probably knows it, the rest of the majority of punk officers and specs haven't heard of this saying; the toes you step on today may be linked to the legs that hold up the ass that you need to kiss tomorrow.

leaving all this behind us though, i went to watch the parade in the green sector with the major, and another leftenant colonel. by now, seeing LTCs and MAJs was so common that they might as well be full lefts and 2nd lefts. i must say, it was my first and possibly last time watching the NDP live from the stands, and i certainly felt the atmosphere. cute thing was also when they were doing the wave, before the wave approached my sector, the spectators took to stomping their feet to create noise. the major pulled me aside and pointed to a sign, "no stomping of feet", so much for safety i guess. i was just worried that the grandstand wouldn't hold as i knew who built it, but fortunately it did. didn't feel very nice when it was swaying left and right like a minor earthquake though. somewhere through the parade, Ruth and i decided to look for each other, keyword here being look as i didn't feel like walking to her sector, which was blue, and she naturally couldn't come over to mine. i must say though, i gave up the search pretty quickly when it became apparent that i didn't have telescopic eyes built-in, sorry Ruth... she on the other had just had to look for me. good luck i felt, as i was wearin the green among other men in green. easy to spot in the sea of red, but difficult to identify.

upon the president's arrival though, i realised one thing. for 2 years of my NS life, i've been working on National Day. in these 2 years, my love for the nation and my confidence in it has hit rock bottom. and yet, on the National Day of both years, i stand saluting the flag when the anthem is played. funny how life works out eh? and i thought i could escape it this year by viewing the parade from city hall. a thought ran through my head as i held my salute though. this is probably the last time i ever salute the flag. fitting too. like my final goodbye salute. in time to come, i may not even remain a citizen of this country, the way i'm driving my life.

as usual, the only thing worth waiting for in this show is always the fireworks. i'd seen the who itself a few times before, so nothing to surprise me there...so sad...but the fireworks were really something. sure, they may not have the kick of explosives, but they are a visual spectacle to behold. they are truly something different, especially considering how boring they are on paper. got to learn a few names of the fireworks from the major too. the long lasting, waterfall like one is called gold dust. the spiral ones are called crazy ivy. then, there's one where by it looks like it's bees flying all around, needless to say, it's called...bees... but being army guys, i couldn't help but wonder what would happen if the fireworks went blind. a blind, to the unintiated is an explosive that is primed and fired, but it just doesn't explode. major headache for engineers, what with the amount of explosives we do. and, according to the major, blinds simply fall to the ground after being blasted up. while we didn't spot any complete blinds, out trained eyes allowed us to spot some half-blinds. but, if you're completely unaware of it, it would seem the most natural thing in the world.

when all was over though, i collected a rare momento of it all for myself. i have no idea where they come from, but hey, i got one of those little plastic parachutes with this white tag behind that says "Happy Birthday Singapore" guess i do have something to keep for old times sake. pretty good quality too, those things.

plenty of people left immediately after the National Anthem was played for the last time that night, and that's not to be unexpected. this is, after all, Singapore. the show hadn't ended, but they didn't care...all they wanted was to beat the crowd.

as the crowd was clearing though, we headed back to city hall, where all the command and control of the whole event happened. we went up to the vip area and stayed there, watching it all. never in my life would i have imagined i would get to see the view from where the ministers sat. now if know how it looks like. and hey, those chairs, they come with special cushions, very very comfortable. the funpacks are different too, they pack them sepcially for vips. oh, and there are TVs, placed strategically to allow them to view the parade and show, and probably to flash messages of protocol. also, standing there with yet more LTCs, and...well..being severly out ranked, you could some feel their joy at comepleting the whole project. how they congratulate each other on a job well done. you could see the true joy through the smiles. and, like the major said, its the sense of relief that everything went well, a sense of acheivement that you pulled it off after all the hard work, and when it mattered. it's simply the joy of the whole huge project coming to an end, and you know that you've done a good job. that period of joy, however short, is not a moment to forget. i can still remember that feeling, having been part of the parade last year. yeah, its true that you live for moments like those, however short. in that period, everything fades to grey, and you simply revel in it. will i ever get to feel that again? i'll never know.

but for now, it's safe to say that the Big Day went very well, almost perfect. This has been an NDP fraught with disaster, people collasping during the parade, especially that poor chap, that ensign during the preview. also, the fireworks were a problem, with complaints of them being fired too low at times before the Big Day. Let's not forget that commando who slammed into the ground too. But, even though we had a recipie for disaster, here we are, having pulled off one great show. this goes out to all the praticipants and backroom staff, me included. we've pulled it off, making everything seem natural when it's actually all rehearsed. making things run as smoothly as possible. well done guys. i guess for me, it's 2 NDPs that i will find it hard to forget.