A SIX-YEAR-OLD without a ticket to the parade cried his heart out upon being refused entry, moving a soldier into giving up his ticket for the child.
This was how little Noel Goh got to see the Parade yesterday, and what a blast he had.
He said of his favourite part of the show, tears long forgotten: "The fireworks were crazy. I loved the gold ones!"
His thrill nearly didn't come to pass. His schoolteacher mother Nina Lim, 36, said she has balloted for Parade tickets for four years without success.
This year, she landed just one ticket from her father's friend, and decided to bring him, although everyone - even infants - needed tickets.
The pair were barred from entering, which was when Noel burst into tears. Ms Lim said: "I prepped him beforehand, that if they didn't let us in, we'd find somewhere else to catch the show. But to be so close, and yet not able to get in, was hard to manage for a six-year-old."
Then a kind man in fatigues, with the name "R. H. Soon", gave her his pair of tickets, and took her single one so mother and son could sit together.
Other people in the Parade had their own issues to deal with. Member of Parliament Patrick Tay, for example, led the People's Action Party (PAP) contingent with only three weeks to get ready for the role. He slipped into the role after the original contingent leader, fellow MP Alex Yam, hurt his arm earlier this year and was declared unfit to march.
Yesterday, Mr Tay led the PAP contingent on cue.
Second Warrant Officer Chong Wee Keong, who helped train the contingent, praised him for being a quick study.
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