Captain Jane Tan comes from a family with front-line workers.
But while her mother and sister are nurses, the 28-year-old spends most of her time at sea as a navigation officer with the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).
Come Aug 9, she will get to shine a spotlight on front-line agencies that keep the waters around Singapore safe, through the National Day Parade maritime sail-past that is returning after a 20-year hiatus.
As a navigation officer, Capt Tan helps to ensure that a ship is able to move safely amid various weather conditions and proximity to other vessels. She will help navigate the navy's Independence-class Littoral Mission Vessel RSS Fearless during the sail-past.
She views the event as "one front-line thanking the other".
"Singapore is a maritime nation, and it is also made of people. While the healthcare workers protect people, we protect the maritime side of Singapore - it is where food supply and global connectivity come in."
She is among 300 people from the navy and various public agencies who will take part in the sail-past at 10.50am on National Day. The event will be broadcast live on television as part of the day's celebration.
Thirteen vessels will set sail at Marina South Pier and glide across waters spanning a distance that includes a 4km stretch of the Marina Bay skyline. The vessels will sound their ship horns for 15 seconds towards the end of the sail-past, in an expression of maritime unity and a call for Singaporeans to stand together in solidarity.
During the sail-past, the vessels will form two columns sailing in formation - a main column with nine vessels, and a "speedster" column with four vessels travelling up to about 30 knots.
The vessels are from the navy, Police Coast Guard (PCG), Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
The ships in the main column include the RSS Fearless and Endurance-class Landing Ship Tank RSS Endeavour.
Other vessels in the column include the PCG's PH-class coastal patrol craft, the SCDF's heavy fire vessel Red Sailfish and the MPA's patrol craft MPA 1.
The boats in the "speedster" column comprise, among others, the navy's specialised marine craft and combatant craft medium.
There will be safe management measures to protect sail-past participants. These include segregating cohorts of crew members and regular wipe-downs, especially of the vessels' common spaces.
Asked why the sail-past is returning after 20 years, Lieutenant-Colonel Goh Tan, who is the navy's commander of the maritime sail-past task group, said the event is timely to remind Singaporeans of the importance of maritime agencies amid the pandemic.
"We operate in the sea, away from the heartland areas, and most Singaporeans are not sensitised to what we do at sea," he said.
"The global pandemic gives us a good opportunity to remind Singaporeans what the whole-of-government maritime agencies are doing behind the scenes."
