February 15th is Singapore’s “Total Defense Day”. On this day in 1942, Japan captured Singapore and began to rule Singapore for more than three years. Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong posted on social media that this day "opened a dark page in our history." This historical lesson is of great significance to Singapore.
Lawrence Wong wrote that the suffering during those years of Japanese occupation left a heavy but lasting lesson to Singapore, that is, we must always control our own destiny, and no one will protect Singapore for Singapore. In today's divided and dangerous world, this lesson is even more profound.
"We may be a small country, but our strength has never been just in our population, but in our will and determination to protect our homeland and way of life." Lawrence Wong called on the people to firmly unite and work together to protect Singapore's safety and tranquility and benefit future generations.
Information map of Lawrence Wong. Source: Visual China
According to China News Service, about 500 people including Singaporean political, military and business figures, Chinese Ambassador to Singapore Cao Zhongming and other envoys to Singapore, retired members of the Singapore Armed Forces, as well as family members of the victims and student representatives attended the event in front of the Memorial to the People who died during the Japanese Occupation in the center of Singapore that morning.
Source: Chinese Embassy in Singapore
Singapore's Minister of Education Lee Chi Seng said in his speech that "it was an extremely difficult and painful period." Tens of thousands of Singaporeans were killed by Japanese machine gun fire, thousands of people were forcibly recruited to build military facilities, and many families lost their loved ones. "We should never, and will never forget, this painful history."
According to incomplete statistics, at least 50,000 Singaporean Chinese were killed by the Japanese army during the Japanese rule. Japan avoided the incident for a long time after the war. The Japanese media mostly reported it in vague terms and even denied the existence of mass shootings.
On February 15, 1967, Singapore built the "Monument to the Victims of the Japanese Occupation" and designated this day as "Total Defense Day". Since then, Singapore has held a public memorial service in front of the monument on February 15 every year.
