National Stadium

I ordered one National Stadium Commemorative Mug some weeks ago. It arrived this morning.

The touch and feel of the Mug are quite bad - very coarse material and make. Not worth at all for the $12 paid. In fact, some of my colleagues' are chipped, and will have to be replaced.

I cannot wait to go home to try out the Mug. According to its advertisement, the dull-brown 'wallpaper' on one side of the Mug will transform into a colourful picure of the National Day Parade when hot water is poured into the Mug. (Heeheheee, I cheekily asked my colleague who had helped to place the order for us, whether there would be sparks of fireworks?! Hahahahaa.....)

Personally, that view of the NDP is not how I remember our National Stadium. That is more like a spectator's view of the Stadium, I guess. Perhaps to the majority of the public (who got to the inside of the Stadium only for NDP), it is representative enough.

For myself, I remember other perspectives of the Stadium. My experience with the Stadium is more associated with my participation in the NDP/SYF as a member of the school band during my Secondary School days. We really shedded sweat and tears (and even some blood because some of us fell during practices) there during those years of marching and blasting away on our instruments.

It is really such a pity that I have no personal photographs to show of this soon-to-be-gone grand old dame. But I chanced upon this website 'Club Snap Photography Community', and in it, there are beautiful pictures of the Stadium! Here, I borrow some purely for reminiscence (rights of the various owners of these photographs are fully acknowledged):

1) This was one of those spots where participants of NDP/SYF Band Outdoor Competitions would gather and wait for their turns. Over here, band members would sit and sip on our packet drinks before and after our items:

2) This was that awesome view which we would be greeted with as we assembled and 'fall-in' to the command of our drum majors, for our band competitions. It was from that grandstand that our band instructress would shout at us during our rehearsals for the band displays. Same for the army commanders who would yell at us participants during NDP Rehearsals. This was also the view which we would be facing when the results of the band competitions were announced:



3) The 1st time I stepped onto these tracks at the Stadium, the soles of my school shoes were stained red! And because I had never been a sportsperson, I had never known how the tracks felt, until then. I was in Sec 1 and a 'pong-pong girl' participating in the band display for the Opening Ceremony for 12th SEA Games. The white lines of the tracks came in really handy for our 'dressing' (alignment) during our NDP march-pasts:



Someone in the office asked if any part of the Stadium would be put up for sale when the bulldozers roll in. I have no idea. I am not sure even if it is necessary to 'own' some physical part of the Stadium in order to remember this grand old dame?

But I suppose if there is anything of/from the Stadium that I would like to have, it will be one of those gigantic gate-signs. My preference would be Gate 1 (because the Guards-of-Honour would always march in from Gate 1!).