On Monday August 9 Singapore celebrated its 45th anniversary as an independent nation. The national holiday was marked by a gala of celebration events, including a parade, air show, and fireworks. This was a significant event, and practice sessions have been occurring for weeks.
Rather than face the large crowds of people in the downtown Marina Bay corridor, where most of the festivities were being held, we decided to view the events from atop Mount Faber, at our backdoor. Our friends Lubka and Stephan joined us, and we had a small picnic at the top of the hill. We opened a bottle of champagne to congratulate Singapore on 45 successful years.
NOTE: As part of the National Day celebration, Prime Minister Lee presented a 15 minute TV message to the people of Singapore, which had some similarities in content to our own State of The Union Address. However, it was recorded, and did not have the posturing, ceremony, and non-sensical showmanship of our S.O.T.U.
It was noted that Singapore predicts a 13 to 15% growth rate in the coming year, and has successfully managed through the economic "crisis" of the past year. (Crisis is a relative term here). Singapore has its own real estate bubble, or so some analysts believe. Hopefully Minister Lee is correct with his numbers-- an enviable position to be in, in comparison with the economic outlook for Europe and the USA.
My thanks to Lubka Elser for the wonderful pictures, shared here.
Waiting for National Day Fireworks-- Our friends Stephan and Lubka joined us for a picnic and viewing of the fireworks for Singapore National Day 2010 atop Mount Faber. Stephan is from Germany, and Lubka is from Slovakia. They are in Singapore on an expat arrangement for Shell Oil Company. We toasted the 45th birthday of independence for Singapore with champagne!
Here's to you Singapore-- Happy 45!
The celebration included an air show featuring many of the aircraft of the Singapore military. An extremely large Singapore flag was flown in, suspended from a helicopter, and the show also included seven paratroop parachutists who dropped into the Padang celebration area.
An aerial display of the Singapore's RSAF F-15SG jets over the Padang, the downtown area of Singapore where the National Day celebration was held. Idaho has a connection to the Singapore squadron-- the planes were recently acquired, and the pilots received training last summer at Mountain Home AFB. Although this wasn't it, the RSAF has a precision flying team-- the Black Knights.
Nighttime and the fireworks show for National Day 2010 at the Padang-- The fireworks were launched from five separate high-rise buildings for a surround effect. Of course we were distant, but the fireworks were visible, and a spectacular view against the standard night skyline of the city.
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