NDP 2020 mobile column will reach more heartland areas; to pay tribute to frontline and essential workers

SINGAPORE: The National Day Parade (NDP) mobile column this year will travel along five routes across Singapore to cover more heartland estates.

The north and northeast routes cover areas like Yishun, Sengkang and Tampines, the south and southeast routes include Bishan, Queenstown, Paya Lebar and Marine Parade, while the western route covers places like Jurong West and Bukit Batok.

The mobile column will travel about 200km in total – the longest distance for this event in the heartlands, said organisers on Saturday (Aug 1).

From 10am to 1pm on Aug 9, residents can get up close to the display of hardware and other vehicles from the Singapore Armed Forces, the Singapore Police Force and the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

A total of 66 assets will be featured – spread across the five routes – including the Singapore Army’s Hunter Armoured Fighting Vehicle, which will join the mobile column for the first time, along the southern route.

Its Leopard 2SG Main Battle Tank and Bionix Infantry Vehicle will also be featured, as well as the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s Mounted-Portable Search and Target Acquisition Radar and the Navy’s Harpoon Anti-ship Missile.

The Singapore Police Force’s next-generation Fast Response Car and the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s 6th Generation Ambulance will also make an appearance.

HONOURING FRONTLINE WORKERS

As Singapore marks 55 years of independence amid COVID-19, this year’s mobile column will pay tribute to frontline and essential workers involved in the fight against pandemic.

About 100 of these workers from various groups such as healthcare, essential industries and the social services sector will be onboard the mobile column’s vehicles as they make their way across Singapore.

“The mobile column will also travel past Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Sengkang General Hospital, Ng Teng Fong General Hopsital and Singapore Expo, where it will perform a salute to all healthcare workers for their spirit and resilience as they battle against COVID-19,” said the organising committee.

For CPT Eastina Tan from the 2nd Singapore Infantry Regiment, one of the people she will be saluting is her mother, who is a palliative care nurse.

“During circuit breaker, she continued to take care of her patients,” said CPT Tan.

“She constantly went to her patients’ house to do house visits, care for them, dispense medicine and monitor them,” said the Formation Liaison Officer for the Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicle.

“So this is a way of honoring frontline workers, especially their perseverance and dedication during such a pandemic. We are very honoured to be able to do something like that for them.”

During a training session for the frontline workers who will join CPT Tan and her team onboard their Terrex vehicles, the 29-year-old also realised that it wasn’t just healthcare workers who are involved in the fight against COVID-19.

“We encountered one frontline worker who was actually doing cleaning and sewage disposal in the foreign worker dormitories where they were plagued with COVID-19.

“It showed the rest of my crew that frontline workers are not just doctors and nurses – it’s also people behind the scenes who work tirelessly in this effort to fight the pandemic,” she said.

Organisers said residents are encouraged to watch the mobile column display from their homes, and to wear a mask and practice safe distancing where necessary.

A portion of the mobile column will be broadcast live on Mediacorp’s free-to-air television channels on the NDPeeps YouTube channel after the end of the morning parade at the Padang.