S’pore disability advocate’s ‘proudest moment’ during NDP: Fist-bumping the President and First Lady
What started with an unexpected email in March turned into a moment Singaporean Warren Sheldon Humphries will remember for a long time.
The long-time disability advocate was selected as one of three People’s Parade participants to meet President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and First Lady Jane Ittogi in late July.
The People’s Parade at this year’s National Day Parade (NDP) featured 18 floats celebrating everyday Singaporeans and championing different causes.
Warren told Stomp that his NDP journey began on March 10, when he received an email from the Deputy Chairman of the NDP 2026 Show Committee.
“At first, I genuinely wondered what an email from MINDEF regarding NDP was doing in my inbox,” Warren told Stomp.
He learnt that the NDP team had reached out to him because it was looking for Singaporeans whose stories reflected resilience, compassion and a spirit of contributing to the community and nation.
Warren said he was particularly moved by the way the team described his journey, including his work supporting persons with disabilities (PWDs) and caregivers, as well as advocating for inclusive employment.
They also highlighted his personal belief in seeing people not simply through their disabilities or limitations, but as “Persons with Determination”.
“My first reaction was probably a mixture of ‘Is this really happening?’, surprise and an enormous sense of gratitude,” he reflected.
“There wasn’t a moment where I thought, ‘I deserve this.’ Instead, I thought about how far the journey had come and, more importantly, about all the people who had walked parts of it with me.”
From that first email, the journey grew into rehearsals and preparations for the People’s Parade, along with an unexpected opportunity to share his story personally with the President and First Lady.
Warren was eventually selected as one of three members of the contingent to meet President Tharman and First Lady Jane — and he even got to give them a fist bump.
“That was surreal,” he said.
Throughout the process, Warren said he felt a mixture of excitement, nervousness, pride and, above all, responsibility.
“I wasn’t there simply as Warren Sheldon Humphries,” he said.
“I felt I was carrying with me the stories of PWDs, caregivers, the neurodivergent community, mental-health advocates, volunteers and people who have experienced setbacks but still choose to contribute.”
For Warren, that is what NDP 2026 ultimately came to represent.
“I went into it thinking I had been invited to participate in a parade,” he said.
“I came out of it realising that someone had seen value in a journey that began simply with wanting to help others.”
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