Large crowds spotted during NDP 2021 rehearsal at Marina Bay, sparks safe distancing concerns

Singapore — Large crowds were spotted at several spots in Marina Bay to witness the National Day Parade (NDP) 2021 rehearsals, sparking safe distancing concerns from the public.

The NDP rehearsals are in full swing, with the third round taking place on Saturday (Jul 17) at the Marina Bay area.

As a result, large crowds were spotted in the vicinity to catch a glimpse of the parade.

Singaporean singer-songwriter and composer Dick Lee took to Instagram on Saturday to highlight the situation at the Esplanade Bridge during the day and night events.

One YK Chia also took to Facebook to share photos of the crowd situation.

Other sources showed similar foot traffic at Merlion Park and outside Marina Bay Sands. Many of the onlookers were photographers with cameras.

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Crowd situation near Merlion Park for 2nd NDP rehearsal #merlionpark #ndp2021 #ndp #tiktoksg

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During the aerial show, large groups of people were spotted on the Esplanade and Jubilee bridges.

“As much as I believe NDP to be an important event, everyone should act responsibly, especially in the absence of social distancing crowd control. Let’s not start another cluster!”, wrote Mr Lee.

Members from the online community shared similar concerns regarding the lack of social distancing practised during the incident.

“These pictures are so worrying,” said a netizen.

“Too bad no social distancing at all. Hope there will be no new cluster of Covid-19 resulting from this mass event in Singapore,” noted another.

The next NDP rehearsal is scheduled for Jul 24, while the NDP preview will happen on Jul 31.

The actual NDP celebration will be a physical event at The Float @ Marina Bay.

Attendees must be above the age of 12, eligible for the national vaccination programme and fully vaccinated before the event.

The audience must also partake in pre-event Covid-19 testing.

Meanwhile, all NDP 2021 participants have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and undergo routine testing before rehearsals. /TISG

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