SPEECH BY PRESIDENT THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM AT THE NATIONAL DAY PARADE 2025 THANK YOU RECEPTION HELD ON 29 AUGUST 2025 AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE
Vice Admiral Aaron Beng, Chief of Defence Force
Members and participants of NDP 2025
Good afternoon.
1. It is a pleasure to be here today to thank all of you: Singaporeans who put a huge amount of time, effort and talent into creating our diamond jubilee NDP.
2. We know that NDP 2025 – like so many before it – was much deeper than a celebration.
a. Whether on stage, behind the scenes, or volunteering in any capacity, each of you is strengthening the sense of who we are together, and what we aspire to be together.
3. So, to the more than 16,000 participants, volunteers and organisers involved in our SG60 NDP this year: a heartfelt thank you.
4. We saw several firsts in this 60th NDP:
a. The inaugural participation of the Singapore Civil Defence Force as our sixth Guard of Honour contingent.
b. The tri-service integration of our Singapore Armed Forces’ assets during the Mobile Column.
c. The expansion of the show canvas to include the wider Marina Bay as part of the Show.
d. The projection onto buildings during the Show – including the world’s tallest such projection.
5. NDP 60 was also meaningful in a more emotional way. The performers, the Singaporeans who were profiled in the show, and the team producing it - they exemplify our Singapore Story in all its diversity and vibrancy.
a. Ramli Sarip’s spoken rendition of our National Anthem helped us focus on the meaning behind its words. And to have a quiet moment of reflection on our journey over 60 years.
b. Creative director Boo Junfeng’s weaving of the show’s four acts around lines from the National Anthem, and blend of inclusive performances, intergenerational stories, and familiar songs, struck a deep chord among Singaporeans.
c. And the Singaporeans profiled in the film clips – from Singapore’s first Olympian Lloyd Valberg to social entrepreneur Nuryanee Anisah, drummer Aldrich Jai Kishen, and the families who started life anew after relocating from kampongs to housing estates – all tell a story of our hopes, and the way we draw strength from each other.
An Inclusive and Sustainable NDP
6. This SG60 NDP was also notable for the effort that went into it to make it an inclusive celebration.
a. Thanks to the NDP 2025 EXCO for partnering SG Enable for the sixth year.
b. To ART:DIS Singapore, featuring for the first time, who brought together artists with disabilities as well as their parents and caregivers.
c. And to Temenggong’s Artists-in-Residence who also collaborated with SGEnable on three pack designs.
7. This year’s Show also featured performers from the Diverse Abilities Dance Collective of Maya Dance Theatre, Extraordinary People and Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (Minds).
Majulah Singapura
8. Finally, the theme of this year’s NDP, “Majulah Singapura”, is simple yet timeless – a fitting theme for our Diamond Jubilee.
a. It is not simply a slogan for this year’s parade.
b. It is more than that moment
c. More than the feeling when we recite the pledge and sing the National Anthem together.
10. It is the enduring spirit of adventure, resilience and togetherness, starting from the days of our pioneers, and recreated in their own ways by each new generation.
11. Thank you for living out that spirit of Singapore.