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A group of Singapore Armed Forces (BMT) recruits on their 24km-long route march brought early festive cheer to parkgoers at East Coast Park (ECP).<\/p>\n
On Thursday (Dec 4), TikTok user iwchickenwings shared a video of her wholesome encounter with the recruits during a Christmas gathering.<\/p>\n
In the video, the user and her group were singing along to “Jingle Bells” when the passing recruits joined them for a singalong, instead of the usual SAF route march songs.<\/p>\n
A second platoon following them later took it a notch higher by joining in to sing “Happy Birthday”.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the wholesome exchanges did not end there.<\/p>\n
After the video was posted, one soldier came across the post and asked if this was where they “started a happy chain (of songs)”.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Soon after, others from the route march that night also joined the comment wall to identify themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We were marching yesterday when you guys were celebrating. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed [it]”, one of the recruits said.<\/p>\n
Another added: “Our sergeants encouraged us to join in.”<\/p>\n
Other TikTok users also left encouraging comments with one saying the soldiers were “sporting” to sing a birthday song for them even when they must have been tired.<\/p>\n
At the time of this article’s publication, the video has received over 200,000 views.<\/p>\n
\n\n @iwchickenwings<\/a> btw we were celebrating christmas but this was too wholesome \ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d #ns<\/a> #sgtiktok<\/a> #sg<\/a> #christmas<\/a> #fyp<\/a> \u266c original sound – banana<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The 24km-long route march, also known as the victory march, is a rite of passage for all recruits in the SAF.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is considered a capstone of recruits’ training – symbolising their completion of basic military training.<\/p>\n
The SAF have been conducting the 24km route march for recruits on mainland Singapore since 2010.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They have become a familiar sight marching at East Coast Park (ECP), along Nicoll Highway, and even the heartlands such as Our Tampines Hub.<\/p>\n
Before the Marina Bay floating platform was closed for construction works for the upcoming NS Square<\/a>, these recruits marched from Changi to Marina Bay<\/a>.<\/p>\n
This is the reverse of the march of defeat by prisoners of war during World War Two, when they walked from Nicoll Highway to Changi, according to SAF magazine Pioneer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is a stark reminder for recruits of why they need to defend Singapore.<\/p>\n
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