The Importance Of National Day Parades

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National Day Parades – How Does Singapore Attempt to Unite the Nation Using Such Cultural Performance?

National Day Parades – are they just a joyous occasion for us to celebrate our Nation’s independence, or is there something deeper than that? The highly sophisticated sociocultural background of Singapore has often been mentioned in reports, both nation-wide and globally. Leaders of other countries, for example Barack Obama, who was the President of the United States, has often commended Singapore for its economic success, attributing it to the efforts made in sustaining racial integration. (Raymond, 2015) With the ongoing reports of racial tensions that gave rise to incidences of social unrests, stampedes and other devastating events like the infamous 2013 Little India riots and 2014-2015 Battle of Ferguson that have led to the death of many, these serves as a firm reminder for all Singaporeans not to take the peace, stability and harmony that we get to enjoy for granted. This is especially apparent, ever since the racial riots in the 1960s that have often tried to threaten the social fabric of post-independence Singapore. In this essay, I will be analysing how National Day Parades, which are a form cultural performance, are attempts made to unite the Nation. I will be analysing the past Parades, while paying particular attention to the 2017 National Day Parade as well. Through the course of this discussion, I will mainly be focusing on the locations were the Parades were

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