Balloting of National Day Parade Tickets

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Defence (a) how many National Day Parade (NDP) tickets are up for balloting each year; (b) whether the Ministry will consider disallowing those who successfully balloted in one year from balloting the following year; and (c) whether there is any other measure explored so that more Singaporeans can watch NDP live at least once in their lifetime.

The total number of tickets put up each year for balloting by the public to attend the previews and the National Day Parade (NDP) show range from 50,000 to 165,000. The Padang and Marina Bay sites for NDP have lower seating capacity while the new National Stadium has the largest capacity, especially since an additional preview show has been added to increase the pool of balloted tickets. The two National Education Shows also provide opportunities to tens of thousands of school children to watch the NDP live as part of their national education. In addition, a small proportion of tickets are set aside to be given to sponsors, grassroots organisations, and families of participants and Ministries, in recognition of their support and hard work and effort in organising the NDP.

Since 2013, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) has already excluded applicants who were successful in the preceding year from the current year's e-balloting. This should improve the chance of success for ballots by those who have never seen the NDP live. MINDEF is gratified with the strong interest shown by Singaporeans to celebrate the NDP shows but the overall success of ballots would still be dependent on the total number of applicants, which can be many times the number of balloted tickets each year. Live telecasts of the NDP will continue to ensure that as many Singaporeans as possible get to watch the NDP show and celebrate National Day together.