Photo Gallery: National Day Parade 2013

SINGAPORE – Singapore turns 48 today and the nation will celebrate with the traditional National Day Parade (NDP) at the Marina bay Floating Platform. This year’s NDP will be nearly half an hour longer as it will take on a variety show format, featuring highlights such as BMX bikers and a human LED display. According to NDP creative director Selena Tan, the show will be made up of nine segments that highlight diversity and uniqueness of Singapore. These include a “Play” segment, re-telling traditional tales of Bukit Merah and Sang Nila Utama, an “Aspire” segment featuring a mime performed by a hearing-impaired Singaporean. The NDP song will be heard in the “Embrace” segment by a 68-member choir called Sing A Nation, and it will be the first time the theme song will be sung by Singaporeans from all walks of life. Television viewers in Singapore can watch the parade proceedings on Channel 5, HD 5, Channel 8, Channel U, okto, Suria, and Vasantham from 5:45pm to 8:35pm. Viewers in Asia will also be able to catch the NDP on Channel NewsAsia International from 5:35pm to 8:35pm Singapore time, as well as on its website at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/live, and http://www.channelnewsasia.com/nd2013. In our National Day Special this year, TODAY profiles 10 youths who have never known life without the Internet (the true-blue digital natives, if you will) and are harnessing the power of the Web and social media to make a difference — not your typical “keyboard warriors”. To read our National Special, visit: http://tdy.sg/ndpspecial2013