From frontliners to families, NDP 2022 to celebrate all Singaporeans who helped the country weather COVID-19

SINGAPORE: Transforming suffering into stories of survival, the National Day Parade (NDP) 2022 will celebrate all Singaporeans who have weathered the COVID-19 storm.

Titled The Story of Us, the show will see a return to live performances on a grand scale after two years. The live show will be complemented by a film and pre-recorded satellite performances, the NDP executive committee announced on Wednesday (Jun 29).

And tasked to tell the story of us is a familiar face on TV and on stage. Adrian Pang, who is also the artistic director of local theatre company Pangdemonium, marks his debut NDP behind the scenes as creative director. 

Mr Pang, 56, previously hosted NDP in 2013. 

LIVE SHOW TO CELEBRATE “THE ADAPTABILITY OF SINGAPOREANS” 

Hosted by Joakim Gomez, Sonia Chew, Siti Khalijah and Rishi Budhrani, this year’s show also marks the large-scale return of students and youth to NDP after two years.

Around 1,300 young people, from secondary school to tertiary institution students, will be involved in the show. These include on-stage performers, make-up artists and audience motivators.

In total, the show will comprise more than 2,000 performers. 

Across five chapters, the show will pay tribute to various sectors of society that have helped Singaporeans get through the pandemic, including frontliners, social and community groups, and our families. 

“It will also celebrate the adaptability of Singaporeans who showed their resilience and pivoted to contribute in different ways when their industries were adversely affected,” said the committee.

And those watching the parade from home are in for a surprise. At the end of the show, home audiences will get to experience “a special effect”. 

There were three considerations for the show, said the chairman of the show committee, Colonel (COL) Mikail Kalimuddin on Wednesday.

“The first one was, what is the purpose of this year’s show? … We had a very clear, shared experience (during the pandemic). We needed to reflect on that,” he said.

“The second consideration is that we needed to take what we had experienced … that reflection and move forward with confidence. We want to lift up the mood of the country and make them feel like, you know, we’ve done it and anything’s possible.”

The third consideration was a “very practical one”, added COL Mikail.

“(The) show had to be COVID resilient. Whatever the situation come the 9th of August, the show still needed to be pertinent, still relevant, and still executable.”