Our National Day Celebration

Our National Day Celebration 2008

The theme of celebration for this year’s National Day is ‘Celebrating the Spirit of Singapore’. What then is the Singapore Spirit? How do we tell others of this spirit that we have? We tell them that in Singapore, we recognize different cultures, but never let that divide us. This year besides the usual fanfare of the parade, National Anthem, National Pledge, reading of National Day Message and Re-collections, Nanyang JC celebrated our nation’s birthday with a rich taste of culture through the dance, Roots, by Sri Warisan. The dance focused on the historical places of Singapore, giving NYJCians a better understanding of places such as Tanjong Pagar and Telok Blangah. The dance brought NYJCians back into the history of Singapore, a very apt occasion for us to be reminded of our roots and ethnic culture. The enactment drew to a climax when NYJCians were invited to experience traditional Malay dance on stage. Sportingly NYJCians participated in the activity; never mind about the dance but truly it was a rare opportunity for them to be immersed in the rich Singapore culture. Then there was Poetry in Motion by Ch!ll! Padi for the next segment and our students were enthralled by the rhythm and the enjoyment of how rhyming couplets transcends to hip hop. The programme gave NYJCians a lesson in appreciating modern poetry and in understanding the importance of rhythm in poetry. What was interesting of the programme was the creative and clever mix of Chinese, Malay, Indian and English songs, showing that it is possible for us to keep our cultural roots while we stand together united as one, celebrating the Singapore Spirit, our country’s sovereignty, our history and our achievement. This is our Singapore!