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Leong (2001), in Consuming the Nation: National Day Parades in Singapore, explores the background, organisation and aim of the National Day parades of Singapore, discussing their impact on participants and members of the public:
The National Day parade is packaged and marketed for the largest possible number of Singaporeans. Although the costs of the parade run up to a hefty sum, the expected returns are obviously not economic, but socio-psychological. Given the accounting mentality of state élites, who expect monetary or tangible returns for every public expenditure and who take great pains to avoid any budgetary deficit, the commodification of National Day is calculated with intangible gains in mind: identification with the nation, pride and loyalty to the country, a sense of what it means to be ‘Singaporean’.
In sum, the militarization of National Day parades renders the parade a
ritual of power and hierarchy, dramatizes the state’s monopoly of force, personifies the nation by underscoring values of order, discipline and regimentation, and reassures the populace in the face of anxiety.
(More photos on FB and Flickr.)