Take a Big Walk through history

The last SG50 event for this year is going to be big - literally.

To coincide with the official launch of the Jubilee Walk trail on Nov 29 is the Jubilee Big Walk, a mass walking event organised by The New Paper (TNP) and the People's Association.

Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) Minister Lawrence Wong announced the official launch of the Jubilee Walk yesterday at an MCCY-Ministry of Communications and Information joint National Day Observance Ceremony.

Said Mr Wong : "The walk covers 25 historic and iconic sites which traces the milestones of our history and represents our aspirations for the future.

"(It) will end off in the venue where we'll be having an exhibition on Singapore's future... to show what life could be like in the coming decades, and highlight the hopes and aspirations of Singaporeans for our next 50 years... So I think this would be a fitting round-up to our SG50 celebrations."

The 5km-long SG50 Jubilee Big Walk will start from the National Museum of Singapore and end at the Gardens by the Bay, where the Singapore's future exhibition can be viewed from December to March.

Said TNP editor Dominic Nathan: "The New Paper is thrilled to share our Big Walk tradition with the SG50 celebrations. Keep November 29 free for the SG50 Jubilee Big Walk. It will be a fitting end to the anniversary with fun for all in the family."

Historically, TNP's Big Walk has always been a crowd-pleaser, attracting overwhelming participation.

In 2000, it won a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest walking event with a record 77,500 participants taking part to mark its 10th anniversary.

Last year's 2014 Big Walk, which was organised on a smaller scale, was no less of a success, with all 18,000 tickets snapped up in less than three weeks.

zaihan@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on August 7, 2015.
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