Source: The Star
Date: 24.8.2009
Honoured: Wong (right) paying his respects to fallen Malayan heroes during the Japanese Occupation at a memorial ceremony in Nilai Memorial Park Sunday. |
NILAI: Schools should organise trips to war memorials so that pupils can learn about the sacrifices made by those who fought for the country, said MCA secretary-general Senator Datuk Wong Foon Meng.
"What is most important is that we learn from the past and instil the spirit of peace among the young generation," he said, in encouraging schools to conduct out-of-class learning activities at such memorials.
He said this yesterday at a ceremony at the Monument in Memory of Malayan Heroes in the resistance movement against the Japanese invasion and the Monument in Memory of 9-1 War Martyrs at the Nilai Memorial Park here yesterday.
"We are not inciting hatred for the Japanese or seeking revenge."
"We want the people to know the sacrifices and struggles of our ancestors in bringing peace and stability to the country," he said.
The ceremony was held to pay tribute to the fallen war heroes who had fought to their last bullet to protect the country during the Japanese invasion.
The annual event was attended by hundreds of families and friends of these heroes, as well as representatives from various Chinese societies.
The 9-1 memorial is the grave of 18 leaders of the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army who died in an ambush in Batu Caves, Selangor, on Sept 1, 1942.
They were initially buried in a mass grave nearby before being relocated to the memorial park in 2002.
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