For Singapore’s 54th birthday, Mahathir, Jokowi are welcome. Raffles’ ghost, not so much
- The leaders of Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei join an estimated 250,000 people celebrating the Lion City’s National Day
- The spectre of British colonialism makes an appearance too, but as an unwanted guest
Singapore on Friday staged a grander-than-usual National Day parade as the Lion City marked its 54th birthday alongside a “commemoration” of the 200th anniversary of the landing of the British colonialist Sir Stamford Raffles.
Joining an estimated 250,000 spectators who flocked to the celebrations in the evening in the city state’s historic Padang area were the leaders of its three closest neighbours: Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
The Singapore government said Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Indonesia’s President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo and Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah were invited to the one-of-a-kind celebration to showcase the city state’s “deep historical ties with these countries”.
The procession featured some 2,700 performers and military personnel, and the Singapore Armed Forces, the region’s best equipped fighting force, rolled out 171 armoured battle vehicles that later traversed the island republic in a “mobile armoured column” after an inspection by President Halimah Yacob.
Among the highlights of the two-hour parade was a fly-past by F-15 fighter jets and a fireworks display at the end.
Also a crowd favourite was the heartfelt rendition of the multiracial country’s Malay language national anthem Majulah Singapura [Onward Singapore] performed by veteran local rocker Ramli Sarip.