I don’t envy the folks in charge of this year’s National Day Parade (NDP) because this will probably be the strangest and hardest year to plan a parade around.

While last year’s edition saw 27,000 Singaporeans turn up at the Padang for the show, COVID-19 restrictions mean that this year’s parade will only have 150 spectators and 300 participants. 

Numbers like these don’t make for a lot of excitement, and I was certainly tempted to feel underwhelmed.

After all, what is there to celebrate when there’s been so much suffering since the pandemic broke out?

A TIME FOR GRATITUDE

I don’t remember much from the year 2003, but I do remember just how down Singapore felt to me deep in the throes of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) crisis.

But the NDP carried on anyway at the old National Stadium that year, as participants paid tribute to the healthcare workers.

Some 17 years on, and we’re about to do the same thing again. But while I’m right to say that there’s so much suffering around right now, I think the flip side also means there’s a lot to be grateful for.

From healthcare professionals to essential workers, the coronavirus crisis has revealed that there are so many everyday heroes living among us in Singapore, striving alongside us as we navigate our way out of these choppy waters.

Certainly, with how heavily things like unemployment and the threat of the coronavirus can weigh on the heart, it really helps the soul to count one’s blessings. 

As I was thinking about NDP this year, I realised there are precedents in the Bible for people celebrating despite bad circumstances.

For instance, think of the feasts like the Passover (Exodus 12) and celebrations that the Israelites were commanded to keep right from difficult and dangerous times.  

And even when you really read the rest of the Bible for yourself, you realise there’s just so much celebration.

• God’s many feasts and festivals throughout the Old Testament
• Jesus’ birth was met with songs (Luke 1:46-55, 2:13-14)
• Baby Jesus was given gifts (Matthew 2:11)
• Before fireworks, there were divine lights in the sky at Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:8-9, Matthew 2:9-10)
• Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey

I mean, I really could go on and on about this. Joy is something God loves and wants to see in us.

CHOOSING JOY AND CELEBRATION

I was reminded of a book I read last year while doing some research for this article you’re reading right now – Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.

Here’s a paragraph from it which I found apt for our times:

“The carefree spirit of joyous festivity is absent in contemporary society. Apathy, even melancholy, dominates the times. Harvey Cox says that the modern man has been pressed ‘so hard towards useful work and rational calculation he has all but forgotten the joy of ecstatic celebration…'” 

How right is that? My mother told me NDP was a huge thing for her way back in the day. The tradition was to buy buckets of KFC, tuck in while celebrating the parade and head out to catch the fireworks after.

Doesn’t that sound awesome? Though I wasn’t as into the NDP as my mother was in my growing up years, it was still certainly memorable and something to look forward to. 

But somewhere down the line – I can’t pin when – something in me simply stopped enjoying celebrating National Day.

Especially since I started working, I only ever keep an eye on National Day when it rolls around to see if it falls on a weekend so that I can take a long trip out of the country. 

I don’t know how it got that way. Maybe it was as Foster and Cox wrote, we just got so busy we forgot how to celebrate.

You might say “it’s just a parade”, but I think it’s worth examining if our hearts could use more joy.

Looking at this season and society, I think the answer to that question is yes.

Besides, a fundamental reason why Singapore (or most other countries) would celebrate her National Day is this – the country has made it another year.

We kinda take it for granted, and it’s pretty strange to think about, but there actually will come an NDP that would be Singapore’s last parade. 

It’s not an exaggeration to say our country has been fighting against all odds since independence, and each year we get is precious and should be celebrated sincerely. 

THE LAST PARADE

So let’s treasure National Day as it comes this year, celebrating it with gratitude to God. 

Let us rejoice today, holding on to the knowledge that eternity for believers will be an everlasting celebration of God and all He is. After all, our desire to celebrate is rooted in this eternal celebration, where we would be able to enjoy His presence forever. 

The end of time will see the ultimate parade and celebration, when Christ the bridegroom and the Church as His bride come together for the wedding banquet.

Thankfully, you won’t need to ballot for tickets like NDP – but you will need to know the bridegroom personally. That’s really all it takes!

So, happy birthday Singapore. I hope to see all of us there.