Remembrance day honour for World War II fallen heroes

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LABUAN: Hundreds of people, local and foreign, gathered at Malaysia’s largest World War II Memorial here yesterday to honour 3,908 soldiers from the Allied Forces and the local defence units who lost their lives in Borneo during World War Two from 1941-45.

Senator Datuk Yunus Kurus led local and foreign dignitaries at the Remembrance Day ceremony to lay wreaths at the war memorial in Jalan Tanjung Batu here.

The foreign dignitaries were British High Commissioner to Brunei David Campbell; Australian High Commissioner to Brunei Todd Mercer; Canadian High Commissioner to Brunei Marina B. Laker; Bangladesh High Commissioner to Brunei Mohammed Abdul Hye; British Deputy High Commissioner to Malaysia Paul Rennie and Defence Advisor at the Australian High Commission in Malaysia Group Captain Wendy Horder.

The Australian government officiated the World War II Memorial grounds in June, 1953, and Remembrance Day is held each year in November.

In accordance with tradition, red poppies were worn to symbolise human sacrifice during the event and a two-minute silence was observed.

After the respective Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Hindu religious rites were conducted, wreaths were laid at the War Memorial Monument and the Indian Memorial. A total of 10 wreaths were laid, five of them at the Indian memorial.

The event was organised and hosted by Labuan Corporation with the co-operation of the private and public sectors.

Remembrance Day has been celebrated for a number of years officially after it was incorporated in the Calendar of Events of the Labuan Tourism Action Council.

Labuan Member of Parliament and Labuan Corporation chairman Datuk Rozman Haji Isli, who was the guest of honour, said more war-related memorial and educational programmes must be held to instil the spirit of patriotism in the young generation.

“We are planning to set up a club consisting of local historians and researchers to document and compile the island’s history for future reference,” he said at the Remembrance Day appreciation luncheon. —Bernama