The Singapore Army Openhouse 55th Anniversary

Now that Singapore has slowly moved away from the pandemic, life in this beautiful country has, sort of, regained its normalcy before I left for New Zealand. And with that, large-scale public activities have returned.

I recently visited the Singapore Army’s Open House (AOH22) on one sweltering hot day and was surprised to see a huge crowd despite that day being a working Monday. These two things – suffocating warm weather and neverending crowds – sure do remind you about your current location after two years spent in a sparse and cool country.

According to what I heard and saw from friends of IG or via word-of-mouth, the AOH22 was fully subscribed. AOH is free, but booking has to be made online for the 90,000 tickets.

The event, which was last held five years ago, saw throngs of crowds in the F1 Pit Building from 28 – 30 May. The same event will be held in the heartlands from 3 – 5 June in Punggol and 10 – 12 June in Bishan. These two were fully redeemed as well, which was understandable considering it was the beginning of the school holidays – 28 May to 26 June.

My first thought upon learning this news? Wow, I can’t believe how lucky I am then, as I booked my 2 pm slot at the F1 pit less than a week ago.

Contents

Getting There

The nearest MRT station to the F1 pit is the Promenade, but you would have to take a 5 – 10 mins unsheltered walk to reach the pit. Upon leaving the station, smartly dressed officers at various locations guided us toward the entrance of the open house. Kudos to them in overalls and standing under the torturous heat.

Officers segregated the crowds into pram-pushers or the elderly and the civilians. The former bypassed the snaking long queue to have their vaccination cert and bookings checked. Everyone had to have their bags x-rayed before making their way down the official entrance, where they each received a goodie bag – a canvas tote bag. Within the nicely printed tote bag were a superabsorbent towel, some ‘SAF Volunteer Corps’ medallion and stickers. I was kinda hesitant about collecting the bag – why do I need this? – but its print and petite size changed my mind. Cute bag – yay!

Outdoors

We got to see many different kinds of artillery and vehicles on display along with the pit. Don’t ask the layman, aka me, about the specifics; all I do recognise were a chopper, several tanks, and a first-aid trailer. I happened to remember the trailer after listening to a young medic describe the incredible functions of a 6-figure dummy lying under his tent. He has lungs and his pupils can dilate!

The long stretch ended with an empty stage and hanging screens playing videos on loop. Several of the vehicles were opened for photo taking – you could climb up a tank, or pretend to drive an armoured truck – which was popular amongst young families and couples.

A handful of tents set up behind the artillery encouraged visitors to imagine and live the life of a soldier. One tent contained fitness machines, complete with heavy backpacks and obstacles for you to try out. Another had a dozen aisles for you to try your hands at shooting from a de-armed rifle. This was the first station I was keen on when I first reserved my ticket, but the long snaking queue deflated my interest. I competed as an air-weapon shooter back in my student days, but the guns were not air weapons nor had any recoils. Where’s the fun in that?

The best was saved for the last. The furthest tent was where you reserve for battle rides. Gleaned from the website: the mean-looking Terrex, Bionix, PRV, M3G land vehicles, and into the air with the Chinook. Aerial and land vehicles aside, I saw visitors riding on the float bridge, which I supposed is called the M3 Amphibious Rig. I didn’t manage to score any luck with the rides as arriving at 2 pm was considered a tad too late to snatch a place.

Indoors

Bliss is when you’re sheltered in an air-conditioned enclosure where the outdoor sun and heat can singe the skin.

I spent most of my time wandering across the different areas on level one and level two.

The NS55 Showcase on level one was all about the history of the Singapore Army. This sector was further segregated into three sections. Ditto for the difference between sections one and three, but section two was in a special dark enclosure with three wide screens playing videos of the stories behind five typical Singapore sons. At the end of section three were two cubicles for anyone who wanted to share their NS stories. The man overseeing the cubicles gave me an address which I forgot. But to those interested, you may check out this website on past stories.

Our Army Formations, also on level one, had booths for each division – kind of similar to the Co-Curricular Activities booth I used to look after while I was a student. Again, there were places for photo-taking and activities for children to try out, like abseiling down a slope, virtual geospatial mapping, manoeuvring small trucks, etc. I managed to, miraculously, grab a handful of photos with some of the members, including an incredibly smart military dog, without waiting for too long.

Nothing much can be said for the activities for level two as it was almost 4 pm by the time I was there. The crowd was growing!

I saw a room solely for kid’s activities, another for drones, one with more booths on technology by external agencies, and a room packed with people queuing for the ‘experience the night’ activity.

Home Time

My envisioned hour-long tour blew to become half a day. As I walked towards the exit, which was the same way as the entrance, I was but one of the few people trickling out of the area. Many more streamed in with their young children in tow, excited to see what was in store. I am just glad to have enjoyed my stay and cannot wait to dip back into the indoor aircon comfort of the metro station.