What Makes Us Singaporeans

“We the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion, …”

Every August, Singaporeans come together to reaffirm their love for the country. From picnics by the beach to quaint gatherings at homes, celebrations are seen and felt everywhere. Yes, it’s the National Day Parade (NDP)!

An event not to be missed on our social calendar, NDP is a truly a unique, shared Singaporean experience. Aptly themed ‘We are Singapore’, this year’s parade celebrated the strength and unity of our people.

The grand celebrations at NS Square involved over 14,000 participants, volunteers, and personnel behind the scenes and on stage. Every year since 2000, Heartware Network has been playing our part in contributing to the spectator experience by contributing to the hospitality management of the parade.

Each year, our volunteers have been deployed from the MRT stations to the seating galleries to ensure spectators have a great experience at the parades. Our volunteers have been trained and deployed to perform the following roles:

• Way-finding for spectators coming from all across the island to NS Square;
• Directing spectators to the respective entrance nearest to their seats;
• Distributing fun-packs when spectators enter the parade venue;
• Ensuring spectators are comfortably seated at their designated areas;
• Assisting spectators with special needs throughout the parades;
• Ensuring the safety of Primary 5 students attending the NE shows.

All in all, it is a process that demanded hard work and selflessness, stretched seven times over: one combined rehearsal, two previews, three National Education (NE) Shows and the actual parade.

This year, over 400 youth volunteers were deployed. Our youth volunteers were selected and trained since March 2018 before their deployment from end June 2018. Youths from across the various secondary schools, post-secondary and tertiary institutions applied to be part of the volunteer force with Heartware Network. They were carefully selected by our Youth Planning Committee©, equipped with the necessary skill sets in crowd management and communications before being deployed, rain or shine, to serve alongside uniformed personnel across the seven parades.

The uniqueness of Heartware’s NDP Hospitality Management Programme is its leadership tiers. Our youth volunteers assumed various leadership roles such as Youth Planning Committee (YPC), Sector Overall In-Charge (SOICs), Volunteer Leaders and General Volunteers. They built up their leadership & interpersonal skills, developed a knack for public speaking, and forged new friendships with fellow volunteers from diverse backgrounds.

This volunteering opportunity allowed our youths from all walks of lives to come together in support of a national celebration. The sense of shared endeavour, of nationhood and of active citizenry, provided an invaluable opportunity for our youth volunteers to live the national pledge ““We the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion, …”.

“You are not a drop in the ocean; you are the entire ocean in a drop.” – Rumi

In other words, in each of us is the whole Singapore. Each of us represents an ocean-deep collective of identities, experiences and histories.

To all our youth volunteers that contributed in making this year’s National Day Parade Hospitality Management a blazing success, thank YOU.

Enjoy this video put together by the Heartware Media volunteers. Do look out for the recruitment on Youthbank for Heartware – NDP Hospitality Management Programme 2019!