best ndp ever

Since I seem to have a tradition of blogging about NDP every year, it seems fitting to end a long silence with another NDP post. I would never voluntarily attend NDP, but this year I was compelled to go, and fortunately I was lucky enough to get one of the best seats in the house.
I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Perhaps it may be because I've avoided NDP for the last few years, so I don't have NDP fatigue. The Black Knights were spectacularly, especially when they dived down on the crowd, and it was really cool how the entire stage backdrop became a huge psychedelic screen. I particularly liked the shadow Silat performance, and the singers were all really good. I liked the dancing as well, probably because they chose to showcase some individual performances rather than relying purely on the standard mass dance routines. Even the parade was great, especially hearing the gun salute in stereo for the first time. And of course, the fireworks were probably the most beautiful even, set against a lovely combination of the city skyline and the water.
It was only when it came to the singing of the national anthem that I realised, with a twinge of guilt, that I did not feel particularly proud to be Singaporean, or on some patriotic high. I felt bad, because I figured it was just cynical me.
But talking to many other people since, the main comment seems to be "no feeling". Some people attributed it to the jaded Singaporeans around them who refused to participate. Another said it was too artsy and the common person couldn't appreciate it. "They even took everybody's favourite song 'Home' and translated it into Tamil, how to sing along?? Why they do that??" So I guess it's not just cynical me then.
But despite all that, this was still the best NDP ever!