50 attend scaled-down World War II memorial ceremony

World War II veterans, families of those who died during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore and religious leaders yesterday attended a scaled-down memorial ceremony, as a free electronic book was launched to detail the sacrifices of people during the tumultuous years.

At War Memorial Park in Beach Road, about 50 attendees split into two zones observed a minute of silence and laid wreaths in a small ceremony. In previous years, up to 1,000 participants attended.

Yesterday marked the 79th anniversary of the British surrender to the Japanese in 1942 and was also Total Defence Day. The event was the 54th commemoration service since 1967, when the memorial was unveiled by founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

The hour-long ceremony was co-organised by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) and Nexus, the department responsible for total defence and national education in the Ministry of Defence.

The organisers focused heavily on keeping alive the memories of the war that were essential to Singapore's national narrative.

SCCCI president Roland Ng said at the ceremony: "We hope our future generations can fully understand the importance of freedom and peace because of the lessons learnt from the Japanese Occupation, reiterating the importance of staying united, defending our country and being prepared for danger in times of peace.

"Although the circuit breaker measures had been gradually eased and there have been slight changes to how the war memorial service is held this year, what remains unchanged are the lessons we learn from history and the importance of strengthening Singapore's national defence framework."

The SCCCI launched its 36-page e-book, The Story Of The Civilian War Memorial, yesterday. It contains brief information on how the memorial was erected and some stories of the war.

It is written in English and Chinese, and is aimed particularly at the younger generation, who are more distant from a war which the pioneer generation lived through and to this day are unable to forget.

One of the key events listed was Sook Ching, the anti-Chinese operation by the Japanese military police to break the spirit of an ethnic community it saw as particularly resistant to its colonial enterprise, and which killed 50,000 people.

Education Minister Lawrence Wong, the guest of honour, said: "As time passes, the generation that endured the occupation... will gradually fade away. It is important that we keep these memories alive.

"(The e-book) will help new generations growing up to understand how we got here, why it could have easily turned out very differently, and why Singapore is worth defending."

Among the attendees was Madam Shen Pin Pin, 82, whose father and uncle - both journalists - were taken away by the Japanese in the middle of the night during Chinese New Year in 1942.

"I make it a point to come every year. We waited till the end of the war but he (my father) never returned... We also had no more information about him. We heard that like other men arrested, he was shot in the public courtyard," she said.

Her husband Ang Eng Chong, 88, said: "What we thought were firecrackers at the time were actually gunshots. I remember the bursts of sound to this day."