Ordinary Singers

This year's National Day Parade (NDP) will not have any celebrity singing its theme song. Instead,  a choir which consists of 68 individuals will take over the likes of Stephanie Sun, who is busy selling milk powder at the moment, and Taufik Batisah, who sang the National Anthem wrongly on more than one occasion.

So, why did the organizing committee choose commoners like you and I this time? The reason given at yesterday's press conference was that the parade wanted ordinary Singaporeans to be in the spotlight in conjunction with its theme "Many Stories...One Singapore". Sounds a little clichéd?

By deciding on using ordinary individuals with the excuse of giving them an opportunity to take centre stage, what message is the NDP Exco Committee trying to send? All those years before 2013, we wanted singers to dominate the event but now we are giving you a chance after neglecting you guys for a long time?

I view this decision in a totally different way. It's more like the price of re-hiring established singers like the ang moh-like Corrine May or Olivia Ong is too costly. On the other hand, investing in celebs with less popularity like Sylvia Ratonel or Electrico (who, you may ask) have been proven to be a risky move.

Somebody within the committee must have came up with a plan to utilize ordinary citizens who aspire to perform on stage. Since it is morally justified and economically correct, most if not all of the members would agree with that genius.

Perhaps the schedules of all the Singapore singers that the committee had in mind clashed with date of 9 August, leaving it with little choice but to "mobilize" the commoners. But will these commoners make an impact? Will they be a Kit Chan multiplied 68 times or will they be another Electrico? I dare not comment in case one of them reading this finds it offensive.