British High Commissioner to Singapore, HE Nik Mehta. Remembrance Sunday Speech, delivered on 10 November 2024
[As delivered.]
Your Royal Highness, your Excellencies, Members of the Armed Forces of many nations, Ladies and Gentlemen, on behalf of the British High Commission and the Singapore Armed Forces Veterans' League, it is my honour to welcome you to Kranji War Cemetery for our annual Remembrance Sunday commemoration.
I am particularly pleased to welcome your Royal Highness and to acknowledge your Royal Highness's distinguished military career and role as Honorary Rear Admiral of the Royal Navy Reserve.
It is an honour for me to be joining all of you here today on what is my first Remembrance Sunday in Singapore as the British High Commissioner.
When walking up the hill to the memorial, I was profoundly moved by the thousands of tombstones on either side, each one a story of service, of selflessness, and of sacrifice.
We gather today on this hallowed ground at Kranji primarily to remember. To remember those buried and commemorated here who paid the ultimate sacrifice. To remember all those who served in the two world wars, particularly those from Southeast Asia and those who served in Southeast Asia. And to remember those who have served in conflicts since and those who serve today.
Kranji is one of the most diverse Commonwealth War Grave cemeteries in the world. In the graves surrounding us lie men and women from many different countries, of many diverse cultures, and of many different creeds. On the memorial behind me are the names of 24,000 personnel who served in the British and Commonwealth Armed Forces, and who were killed in the Second World War, but who have no known grave.
It is particularly poignant to me, as a British Asian, that over half of the names on this memorial are of young Indian men who served in the British Indian Army in Southeast Asia.
The place where we stand today witnessed heavy fighting during the invasion of Singapore. It was near here that the Japanese Imperial Army invaded after crossing the Straits of Johor. During the occupation of Singapore, a prisoner of war camp was established on this site. The prisoners established a small graveyard here to bury their dead and that was the humble beginnings of the stunning cemetery where we are gathered today. Once a place of imprisonment, brutality, and horror, Kranji is now a place of peace, tranquillity, and remembrance.
This year, we remember the selflessness of those who served in the two World Wars and conflicts since. I was very moved watching the events at Normandy this year commemorating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings that led to the liberation of Europe.
The current living link that we have to that generation will not be around for much longer. We owe them, and the service they gave, an immeasurable debt of gratitude. For all of them, they were ordinary people carrying out extraordinary acts of service.
This fact, of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, felt particularly close to home for me earlier this year when my son visited the Commonwealth War Graves in northern France. He found the grave of his great, great, great uncle, who served with the Australian forces and lost his life on the Somme in 1917.
Before his trip, we read through a series of letters written from the trenches, and from family back home in Australia. They capture the real impact of war on individuals, loved ones and family, and it's my honour, and my duty, to share here a few lines from these communications.
The letters from France are written in scratchy pencil, with small lettering to fit as much as possible onto the lightweight sheets. He writes with a typically chipper tone, perhaps trying to ward off his family's worries.
On February 4, 1917, he says: 'Time goes so quickly. It's frightfully cold here, everywhere covered deep in snow and each shell hole forms a miniature skating rink. The usual temperature is about 20 degrees of frost - but it seems to suit me well.'
Of course, though, it didn't suit anyone. Just weeks later a letter from his mother to his sister cries, 'He is gone. My beautiful, beloved… I don't know how to bear it. I must, and will be, a soldier in spirit, as he was in everything through and through.'
It was my son's privilege to remember the heroes like his great, great, great uncle, to tend to their memorials and to never let their stories fade or their sacrifices be untold.
Particularly in the 80th anniversary year of D-Day, we also remember Singaporean Wing Commander Tan Kay Hai who flew at D-Day and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Wing Commander Tan returned to Singapore after the war where he played a significant role in founding and training The Singapore Wing, the precursor to the Republic of Singapore Air Force.
We also remember Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi, who fought with bravery and distinction at Pasir Panjang in an attempt to halt the Japanese advance. Along with Wing Commander Tan, he is commemorated in this cemetery.
Wing Commander Tan and Lieutenant Saidi, in addition to all those commemorated in this cemetery had many things in common, but one of the most poignant was that they put service to their country and to their fellow citizens before themselves.
They were tested to the extremes of human endurance and spirt. They put themselves in harm's way to defend and to fight for their values and our freedom. We owe all of them a debt of gratitude that words alone cannot express.
Since that time, our former adversaries are now our close partners and friends.
This year also officially makes 10 years since UK forces ended major combat operations in Afghanistan. Some 150,000 British armed forces personnel served in Afghanistan alongside coalition partners. More than 350 Singapore Armed Forces personnel participated in the NATO-led peace support operations and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. We remain committed to honouring all of those who served and the 3,621 coalition men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.
In a year when there is so much conflict in the world, we must remember all those who continue to serve in our Armed Forces today. We remember those in Ukraine fighting to defend their homeland from Russian aggression. And we remember the people of Israel and the Palestinian territories and all those in the Middle East who have been killed, wounded, and displaced in the past year. We pray for an end to the fighting there and peace for the people of that region who have suffered so much.
The international order today is more fragile than it has been in a long time, and certainly in my career as a diplomat. As well as remembering, we must all also pledge ourselves to work harder towards a more peaceful future. I know that my fellow heads of mission share this important goal
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Singapore Armed Forces and their Veterans' League for helping to make today happen. I would, as always, like to pay special thanks to Mr Ben Lim and his gardeners here at Kranji - thank you for continuing to make this space so immaculate and tranquil. Thank you to our readers, and all the participants in today's commemoration.
My thanks also to the wonderful Defence Section at the High Commission who organised this event and all the volunteers who have assisted with the organisation of today's proceedings.
As you wander around the headstones and the memorial this morning, take a moment to pause, to reflect, and to acknowledge some of the names carved in stone around us. And as the sun rises above us on a new day in Singapore, let us renew our commitment to remembering and honouring all those who served and who continue to serve today.
Thank you.
