National Day in Singapore

I was lucky enough to be in Singapore as the country celebrated 46 years of independence. It's still quite a young country, and that youthful enthusiasm showed on August 9th.
I started the day off watching the culmination of a week-long NUS "Rag and Flag" event, which saw each faculty put together floats and performances. Now, when I say performance, I mean they had choreographed dances and show gymnastics. People were being thrown into the air and flipping. Human pyramids were being assembled. Everyone seems to know hip-hop.

When the Rag and Flag was finished, the National Day Parade began, and was streamed live to our screen across the bay. It started with an extremely corny, scripted demonstration of Singapore's military, and slowly became a military parade, and then, well, I'm not sure what it became next.
"Parade" might be the wrong word to describe the events that happened that night. The only thing I can compare it to is the opening ceremonies of any Olympic games. They had actors and actresses, sing alongs, performers, costumes, and a story line with set acts!

Of course, at the finish of the parade/performance/whatever there was a massive fireworks display and light show. It was like nothing I have ever seen before, as the fireworks are set off in the bay among all the towering glass buildings as well as from the tops of the buildings themselves. Factor in the reflection from the water and the glass and you've got quite the rad display.
All in all, a very different form of celebration than I partook in for Canada Day.

first and third photos by Randy-Tan, second photo by Shutter wide shut