Remembrance Day Service returns to Tugu Negara after 2 years
Members of the diplomatic and defence communities, as well as the public, gathered today at Tugu Negara for the annual Remembrance Service.
Remembrance Cenotaph David Wallace
Members of the diplomatic and defence communities, as well as the public, gathered today at the Tugu Negara for the annual Remembrance Service. The event had been held at the Taiping War Cemetery over the last two years as Tugu Negara was under renovation.
Ambassadors, High Commissioners and Defence Attachés and Advisors were joined by representatives from the Malaysian Armed Forces, Malaysian Veterans’ Associations, and representatives of local societies and schools, in honouring service personnel and civilians who served their countries in both World Wars and other armed conflicts.
The service began with a choir performance by The International School @ Park City.
Speaking at the Remembrance Service, Acting British High Commissioner David Wallace said that Remembrance is a moment to pause and honour others’ service and sacrifice rather than our own trials and tribulations:
I have been honoured to take part in Remembrance services in all of the countries I’ve served in: in South Korea, Germany, Poland. In each there was a local story about the battles fought, the lives lost, and the freedoms won. They all shared the common theme that we – the living – have a responsibility to remember those before us and their sacrifices, and to ensure we do not forget. A duty not to take peace for granted.
Over the last two years, Wallace has attended Remembrance events in Labuan, Batu Gajah and Taiping. He is pleased that Remembrance this year is once again held at Tugu Negara:
This is a special place for remembrance in Malaysia.
As it says on the main memorial, it is to remember those who fought heroically ‘in the cause of peace and freedom.
The service continued with a reading of ‘In Flanders Fields’, delivered by Maj Gen (Rtd) Dato’ Zulkifli bin Mazlan and ‘The Soldier by Rupert Brooke’ by Col (Rtd) Theodore Mohan Kumar Navaretnam RMAF. UK Defence Advisor at the British High Commission, Captain (Navy) Antony Stockbridge then did a reading of the ‘For the Fallen’ by Robert Laurence Binyon.
After observing two minutes of silence in respect of the fallen heroes, the ceremony ended with the traditional laying of wreaths at the base of the Cross, a solemn tribute to those who gave their lives in the name of peace.
Remembrance Day is held on the second Sunday of November.