THIS Red Lion has 1,100 jumps from a helicopter under his belt, but he says the fear never totally goes away.

But, said SecondWarrant Officer Tan Lee Khoon, 39, who is a 10-year veteran of the parachuting Red Lions team: "You learn to get it under control."

He is part of the team of 12 Red Lions from the Singapore Armed Forces that will be parachuting into the Marina Promenade in this year's National Day Parade.

These daredevils will leap from a helicopter from a height of more than 3,000m and will freefall for 40 seconds before deploying their parachutes and landing on the promenade, mere metres in front of the audience.

Aside from the Red Lions, other performances in this year's pre-parade segment include a Bay Show that will showcase wakeboarders, jet-skis, stunt kites and powerboats.

Highlights of the four-part show include this year's theme song performance, Shine For Singapore, by homegrown singers Hady Mirza and Joi Chua and, of course, a fireworks finale.

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