PUBLISHED ONAugust 09, 2024 5:25 AMByBhavya RawatOne Singaporean man decided to showcase his burning love for the nation to win tickets to this year's National Day Parade (NDP).
In an Instagram video on Wednesday (Aug 7), content creator Michael Collins and his friend Ng Yi Hui, both Singaporeans, addressed local singer Benjamin Kheng who had announced that he was giving away five pairs of NDP tickets.
"We really want one [pair of tickets], because nobody loves Singapore more than us," said the pair of 25-year-olds.
Kheng had asked the public to "write a letter to Singapore in the comments" to stand a chance to win the tickets, adding that he would pick the best responses from there.
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The Singaporean duo, however, decided to catch the singer's attention with their unique expression of love for Singapore instead of leaving a comment.
In the video, Collins is seen sticking stencils of a crescent moon and five stars onto his chest before getting a suntan at the beach.
This left him with a sunburn that had the shape of the national flag, a dazzling display of his patriotism.
Ng also revealed his freshly dyed red and white hair, with the same crescent and stars pattern.
The upbeat duo ended the video with a request for netizens to tag Kheng so that they could win the giveaway and go to celebrate Singapore's birthday at the NDP.
Collins and Ng's creative ideas tickled netizens, who gave their well-wishes for the patriotic duo and tagged Kheng in their comments.
One netizen commented: "Come on man... if not them, then who?" Another commenter wrote: "Absolutely criminal if these guys don't get the tickets."
"The craziest, most patriotic Singaporeans I know," said a commentor.
Speaking to AsiaOne on Friday, Collins explained that the idea of creating the Singapore flag on his chest came about when parts of his body got sunburnt after playing football.
"I looked a bit like that half-white, half-pink lollipop," he said.
"This made me wonder if I could make a stencil to outline our flag on my chest so only the red portion would be burned onto my skin. So we decided to give it a go."
Over the past year, Collins decided that he wanted to "celebrate each holiday like it's the last". This led to him wishing to experience NDP live and show off his creative tan on the big screen when the cameras panned to the audience.
However, he had not been able to secure tickets to the parade until this opportunity came by.
"When Benjamin Kheng said he was doing a giveaway... I knew it was going to be my last chance," he said.
Despite the time crunch (the giveaway only lasted three days) and disruptions due to inclement weather, Collins rushed to get the suntan done on Tuesday and recorded the process.
His hard work paid off when the singer saw and commented under the video on the same day it was uploaded.
This prompted an excited response from Collins, who wrote: "OMG we did it bois! We are heading to NDP!"
"Both of us were just so happy that our plan worked out as it was such a mad rush and really long shot of an idea," he told AsiaOne.
"It was such a relief and joy to know we were now going to have a chance to live out our dreams...[and] celebrate National Day in our own unique and fun way."
"We're really looking forward to the parade and making the best of our time there," he added.
Collins is no stranger to creative celebrations of festivals and events. This February, he and a few of his friends paraded around Chinatown and Gardens by the Bay with a homemade cardboard dragon in celebration of Chinese New Year.
He also brought a redesigned "Malay Merlion" or "Melayun" around Singapore in celebration of Hari Raya.
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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com
