PUBLISHED ONAugust 07, 2026 5:15 AMBYSean LerAhead of the National Day on Sunday (Aug 9), various Government agencies, including the President's Office, Ministry of Defence (Mindef) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) held their national day observance ceremonies on Friday morning.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam was joined by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong at the Istana, where they sang the national anthem and recited the national pledge.
They also watched a Malay choral singing (dikir barat) performance by the Attorney-General's Chambers.
At the Ministry of Defence's (Mindef) headquarters in Bukit Gombak, Coordinating Minister for Public Services and Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing led about 1,000 personnel from Mindef and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in reciting the national pledge and singing the national anthem.
Performers from the SAF's Music and Drama Company put up a performance themed "The Singapore Show", which traces the SAF's role in Singapore's journey from independence to the present day.
Singapore will commemorate 60 years of national service (NS) next year.
This follows the passing of the National Service (Amendment) Bill in Parliament on March 14, 1967, and the first pioneer batch of full-time national servicemen enlisting on Aug 17, 1967.
All SAF units, including overseas training detachments, will also hold their respective observance ceremonies to celebrate National Day, a Mindef spokesperson said.
Singapore celebrates its 61st birthday on Sunday.
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