Family of five land NDP tickets after 20 years of balloting
A Singaporean family finally secured National Day Parade tickets after twenty years of balloting. The 2026 event at the National Stadium offers increased capacity, though some traditional highlights like the Red Lions are excluded due to the venue's indoor nature.
Maryam Munshi and Justine Ong
Published
SINGAPORE – After nearly two decades of unsuccessful attempts, 38-year-old warehouse assistant Ang Red See felt “extremely lucky” when his family finally secured tickets for the National Day Parade (NDP).
Ang’s father and two sisters received tickets for the show to be held on National Day, while he and his mother got tickets for the second preview show on Aug 1.
As each of them applied for two tickets, they will each be able to bring a guest. This means the family of five can attend the main show together if they choose to.
For the three siblings, it will be their first time watching NDP live since they started balloting in 2007, when applications were made through AXS machines, Ang said.
This year’s NDP is set to take place at the National Stadium, with a capacity of about 42,000, larger than the Padang, which can accommodate only 27,000 spectators. This will allow around 15,000 more people to attend the parade.
However, due to safety and operational concerns, the 2026 parade will not be able to feature some NDP mainstays such as the mobile column, Red Lions and aerial display.
Instead, the enclosed, covered arena will have an indoor drone show, aerial performers and special effects, along with the largest and most diverse civilian participation in more than a decade.
Ang attributed his family’s success in the ballot to the increased capacity, but felt disappointed that they would not see those NDP elements – the Red Lions and mobile column – that are crowd favourites.
Warehouse assistant Ang Red See attributed his family’s success in the NDP ticket ballot to the larger capacity of the National Stadium.
ST PHOTO: MARYAM MUNSHI
Other first-time attendees are less bothered about the changes made to NDP this year.
Diana, who does not want to give her full name for privacy reasons, received two tickets for the Preview 2 show after more than 20 years of trying.
The 41-year-old said she is “super excited” to attend the preview with her husband. Her nephew will get to see the actual show with her sister.
Some Singaporeans, however, continue to be unlucky.
Nurul Syafiqa, a 29-year-old creative freelancer, posted an Instagram reel expressing her hope of attending the parade. It garnered more than 12,000 likes from fellow applicants who shared her disappointment.
She hopes to experience the “kindred spirit” of NDP again after attending the events at the Padang in 2017 and 2019 with tickets gifted by her company.
She had assumed that the bigger seating capacity would make it easier to secure tickets, but her ballot for four tickets for Preview 2 was unsuccessful.
Mohamed Hadi, a 41-year-old facilities executive, and his wife applied for tickets for the main show and a preview respectively, but were unsuccessful.
“You... miss out part of your identity as a Singaporean,” said Hadi, who has been chasing NDP tickets for more than 10 years.
He suggested that a quota system, such as setting aside 70 per cent of tickets for long-time applicants, could make the system fairer.
source: The Straits Times https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/family-of-five-lands-ndp-tickets-after-20-years-of-balloting
