THE National Day Parade made its return to the historic Padang for Singapore’s 58th birthday on Wednesday (Aug 9). A total of 27,000 spectators attended the celebrations, most of them decked out in the red-and-white national colours. Families waved their flags and cheered from the stands, braving the sweltering heat in the early part of the evening.

Wednesday also marked President Halimah Yacob’s last parade as Singapore’s eighth president. Singaporeans watched as the head-of-state inspected the parade and received the presidential gun salute for the final time.

Member of Parliament Seah Kian Peng, on the other hand, was attending his first parade as the newly minted Speaker of Parliament. He was there with other Members of Parliament and the ministerial cabinet.

After the ceremonial part of the parade featuring the marching contingents and crowd favourites the Red Lions, local filmmaker Royston Tan, creative director for the parade’s show segment, presented an energetic, colourful show on the theme, Onward as One. Students and performance groups sang and danced, taking the crowd through familiar National Day and traditional songs.

As has become traditional, the audience said the pledge and sang the national anthem. A burst of fireworks closed the event.