SINGAPORE – Visitors to VivoCity shopping mall can experience a taste of life on the seas as a Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) sailor at the annual Navy @ Vivo event that kicked off on Wednesday (Nov 13).

The public outreach event is expected to draw around 150,000 visitors over six days, with traditional crowd favourites such as warship visits, fast craft rides, and boat physical training demonstrations by the RSN’s elite naval divers.

Chief of Navy, Rear-Admiral Lew Chuen Hong, launched the event, now in its eighth edition, at the VivoCity Atrium on Wednesday.

Navy @ Vivo’s chairman, Colonel Saw Shi Tat, said that the event aims to bring the navy directly to Singaporeans. This year’s theme is Connecting Singaporeans to the Sea.

“I hope everyone who visits the exhibition will leave with a deeper appreciation of how our lives are intertwined with the sea, and also gain a better understanding of how our navy defends our way of life, and safeguards Singapore’s waters, both near and afar,” he said.

Col Saw was speaking to reporters on board the Formidable-class stealth frigate RSS Supreme, which is docked at the VivoCity Promenade, with a Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk naval helicopter on board.

Other than the ship tours, visitors can also witness the ceremonial sunset, a long-standing naval tradition conducted every evening on the frigate’s flight deck.

At the VivoCity Atrium, the public can view exhibition panels, experience naval operations in an immersive theatre, and try handling the weapons and equipment used by the RSN, such as the Remington shotgun and the HK416 assault rifle.

Children can attend storytelling sessions by navy personnel at library @ harbourfront.

Only a small number of tickets are left for the fast craft rides and ship tours. The tickets for these two activities that had been earlier allocated for pre-event balloting were oversubscribed by 20 per cent, Col Saw said.

Lieutenant-Colonel Eileen Chua, commanding officer of RSS Supreme, said that the crew of the 14-year-old ship was eager to open up their “home away from home” to the public.

She said: “I think Singaporeans would want to know that the RSN is professional, we are sharp, and have the fighting capabilities to do the job that we need to do in terms of protecting our sea lines of communication and our people’s way of life.”

Ship visits are open to the public from 9am to 9pm, and exhibitions from 10am to 10pm from Wednesday to Nov 18.

For more information, go to www.mindef.sg/navyatvivo19

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