Civilian War Memorial

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Our feelings of exhaustion and thirst soon evaporated as we slowly reached our nextdestination. The Civilian War Memorial. We approached the structure with silence. Even the surroundings seemed to reflect the solemn mood of the memoria There was no roads, no zooming cars, no flowers in various vegetation around us.  It was all trees and grey pavement.

The Entrance 

Standing at an impressive 70 Metres, the Civilian War memorial was constructed in memory of the many civilians that died during the Japanese occupation. While the Japanese reported “only” 6000 for this, officials estimates that 25,000-50,000 civilians lost their life during the brutal Japanese occupation.  It was first unveiled to the public in 15 February 1967 by - at that time – Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.  It must be noted that it is now a national monument, showing how significant it is to the Singapore Public 

The design of the monument also has significance to Singapore. Affectionately known to us as the four giant Chopsticks, the four identical pillars represents the shared experiences and unity of the 4 major races of Singapore. Namely the Chinese, Indians, Malays and Eurasians.  This landmark not only is the architects – Leong Swee Lim – most famous contribution but also stands as an landmark and a reminder to all Singaporeans that our racial unity is a key reason to our success today. An annual service is held here for this very purpose

The Solemn Walk 

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We realised just how much our forefathers had to suffer much to ensure the success of this little red dot and their sacrifice would be in vain if we do not strive to take our little country to further heights. 

We hope as future teachers that we will able to do our part and spread this message to our students next time. So we carried on...