National Day Parade, 2011

National Day Parade 2011, also known as NDP 2011, was a military parade and accompanying creative show that was held on 9 August 2011 to commemorate Singapore's 46th year of independence. It was also the 12th and last National Day Parade for President S. R. Nathan who left office on 1 September 2011.

Social media participation
For the third time in NDP history, the EXCO used social media to advertise this year's parade. Events were being held to increase public participation, related to this year's theme, "Majulah! The Singapore Spirit".


 * November - December 2010: NDP 2011 Logo Design Competition
 * February - March 2011: NDP 2011 Official T-Shirt Design Competition
 * March 2011: Singapore Spirit Writing Competition co-organised by NDP 2011 EXCO, National Library Board and Reader's Digest
 * April–June 2011: NDP Video and Picture Competition

Third musical NDP
The 2011 NDP was the third parade presented in a full-time musical, just like in the 1996 and 1997 editions, but for the first time, it included the popular parade and ceremony segment. The entire show was written by Haresh Sharma. It revolves around on the history of Singapore through the eyes of a mother and her son who was born on the same year as Singapore gaining full independence, and later on through her grandson, who sees the Singapore of today as well as in the coming future.

The entire parade program was now composed of 6 segments. The first two center on the present day Singapore and its defense abilities and the other four revolved on the evolution of the Singaporean nation from the past to the future.

Parade
For the first time, the national flag was raised during the singing of the national anthem, while the state flag was flown past on a CH-47 Chinook at the same time, and parade contingents will execute a march into the spectators, another NDP first. The parade also featured the first female regimental sergeant major MWO Jennifer Tan Siang Lang, who was also the 2010 NDP reserve RSM.

The Singapore Armed Forces' new military acquisitions was part of the parade's opening segment, with its Sikorsky S-70B Seahawks and HIMARS being featured.

The presidential 21-gun salute was held on water in Marina Bay for the second time. The City March made another appearance this year, with the march starting off outside the floating platform grounds and ending off at Marina Bay Sands Singapore.

According to Lianhe Zaobao, 65 full-time National Service personnel voluntarily extended their service to take part in the parade, including 34 members of the presidential saluting battery.

Full order of NDP 2011
NDP 2011 Colour Guard Leaders NDP Massed Combined Bands Parade Contingent Commanders for NDP 2011
 * Parade Commander: LTC Fahmi Aliman (Branch Commander, HQ Singapore Guards; BDE 2IC, 7SIB)
 * Reserve Parade Commander: LTC (NS) Clarence Tan (BDE 2IC, 13 SIB)
 * Parade Regimental Sergeant Major: MWO Jennifer Tan Siang Lang (BDE SM, 4 SAB)
 * Reserve Parade Regimental Sergeant Major: MWO Tazmih Kannan
 * Parade Colors Sergeant Major: 1WO Chandra Mohan (CWO, 126 Squadron, Republic of Singapore Air Force)
 * Singapore Army State Colour Sergeant:
 * Republic of Singapore Navy State Colour Sergeant:
 * Republic of Singapore Air Force State Colour Sergeant:
 * Singapore Armed Forces Central Band
 * Singapore Police Force Central Band
 * Swiss Winds National Cadet Corps Command Band - Max Impact
 * NDP Guard of Honor Commanders
 * Singapore Army - 1st Commando Battalion :
 * Republic of Singapore Navy - Naval Diving Unit and Institute of Maritime Operations and Systems:
 * Republic of Singapore Air Force - Air Power Generation Command:
 * Singapore Police Force - Home Team Academy :
 * Supporting Contingents (Military and Civil Defense)
 * Representative Company of the Singapore Army :
 * Representative Company of the Republic of Singapore Navy:
 * Representative Company of the Republic of Singapore Air Force :
 * Representative Company of the Singapore Police Force :
 * Representative Company of the Singapore Civil Defense Force:
 * Supporting Contingents (Youth Uniformed)
 * National Cadet Corps (Singapore)
 * National Civil Defence Cadet Corps
 * National Police Cadet Corps
 * St. John Ambulance Brigade
 * Singapore Red Cross - Red Cross Youth
 * Boys' Brigade Singapore
 * Girls' Brigade Singapore
 * The Singapore Scout Association
 * Girl Guides Singapore
 * Supporting Contingents (Political and Civil)
 * People's Action Party
 * Great Eastern Holdings
 * Semcorp Marine Ltd.
 * Public Utilities Board
 * Keppel Corporation
 * Hyflux Ltd.
 * PropNex Realty Ltd.
 * United Overseas Bank
 * National Trades Union Congress

NDP Funpack
The NDP Funpack comes in four designs and was put together based on the themes of reusing, recycling and reflecting. The tote bags, featuring watercolour designs, are designed by graphic designer Jesline Teo, student Rebekah Lee and Creative designer Mas Shafreen.

Theme song
The official theme song of NDP 2011, entitled In a Heartbeat, was sung by a local singer, Sylvia Ratonel. The song was composed by music director Goh Kheng Long and the lyrics were written by playwright Haresh Sharma. Former Mediacorp actress, Sharon Au starred in the music video.

Broadcast
The 'live' telecast of the parade was in True High Definition and 5.1 Surround Sound on MediaCorp HD5.

TV channels
As a national event, the parade was broadcast 'live' from 6.10pm to 8.15pm (SST) across MediaCorp channels which include Channel 5, HD5, Channel 8, Channel U, Suria, Vasantham, okto and Channel NewsAsia International. The commentary on Channel 5, HD5, Channel NewsAsia and okto was in English, Channels 8 and U in Mandarin, Suria in Malay and Vasantham in Tamil.

Radio
MediaCorp Radio stations covered the parade 'live' over 938LIVE, Capital 95.8FM, Warna 94.2FM and Oli 96.8FM in English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil respectively.

Online
'Live' webcast was also available on the official NDP website, xinmsn NDP webpage and Channel NewsAsia Live.

Outdoor Digital Media
'Live' screenings of the parade was available on the outdoor digital screens managed by MediaCorp at ION Orchard and Orchard Central malls. Digital media screens managed by SPH MediaBoxOffice in 313@Somerset and HDB Hub also screened the parade 'live'.

Others
'Live' telecast of the parade and celebrations were also available at selected heartland venues, SAFRA clubhouses and Resorts World Sentosa.

Flags
The People's Association and its grassroots organisations have organised the Promotion of Wider Display of National Flag campaign yearly to encourage Singaporeans to show their patriotism and Singapore Spirit by displaying the national flag throughout the National Day celebration period from July to September. Singaporeans are also encouraged to fly mini flags or put stickers or decals featuring the nation's flag on their vehicles during the celebration period.

In 2011, the promotion takes the theme of Show the Spirit, Fly Our Flag, and presents itself as an integrated campaign carried out across virtual and physical platforms. There is an online campaign which will be centred on getting 46,000 images showing Singaporeans with the state flag with an added aim to set a record in the Singapore Book of Records for the largest number of digital images to form the state flag.

'Fun Pack Song' controversy
A YouTube video featuring the 'Fun Pack Song' in one of the parade rehearsals gathered much attention and criticism for its unoriginal and poorly modified lyrics soon after it was uploaded. The song, which was meant to be performed in the preparade segment, was edited from Lady Gaga's song, Bad Romance. The organisers appeared to have flouted copyrights laws as the public performance permit did not include rights to change the lyrics. They expressed intentions to secure copyrights approval for it but later announced that the song would be taken off the show. Sony/ATV Music Publishing Singapore has announced that it is unlikely for them to pursue the copyrights matter as the organisers have set things right by covering up or removing the modified lyrics from the NDP booklets.

Dr Edmund Lam, CEO and Director of the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS), said that the organisers' modification did not infringe copyrights as they had secured a public performance permit for the song. However it becomes a copyright infringement for the uploader of the video if he/she records the performance and uploads the video onto YouTube "making it a permanent material form on a public platform".