TOTAL DEFENCE TURNS 25

Shoppers stopped in their tracks. Children were carried on the shoulders of parents to catch a glimpse of the action, while adults congregated around the stage. What held the crowd at Suntec City Tropics Atrium in rapt attention was a heart-warming musical revue, one of the main highlights at the Total Defence commemorative event, TD 25, held on 15 Feb.

Organised by Nexus - the central coordinating agency for National Education in Singapore - the event marked 25 years since Singapore adopted Total Defence as its defence strategy in 1984. The central theme of this year's event was "What will you defend?".

With the aim of rallying the entire nation to defend Singapore, the five pillars of Total Defence - military, civil, economic, social and psychological - have, over the past 25 years, helped Singapore build a strong defence force, develop emergency response and business continuity measures, forge racial harmony and national resilience. With this framework, Singapore can overcome any challenge, shared Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean at TD 25.

"I am confident that, with everybody pulling together, we will ride out this economic storm", he added, as he cited examples of the Republic's resilience in dealing with past crises such as SARS, terrorist threats and economic downturns.

Mr Teo went on to conclude his message with a rallying call for everyone to commit to the nation's defence as they search their hearts for their reasons to defend Singapore.

Through familiar local songs and a heart-warming script, the musical revue Five Pillars, One Roof, presented an understanding of what it means to be Singaporean, why Singaporeans should value it and what they have to do to defend it.

For businessman Barry Chua, it was the revue which moved him deeply.

He shared with cyberpioneer: "Not only did it bring out snippets of life in Singapore, it also struck a chord in me as I could identify with what went on in the revue, such as recollections of my National Service days, and conversations with my family and neighbours about the current economic crisis."

TD 25 also included a prize presentation of the nationwide animation competition N.E.mation! III, where Mr Teo presented the top prize of a fully sponsored trip to the DreamWorks Animation Studio in the United States to the winning team VA Club 01 from Yishun Junior College.

Total Defence outreach efforts this year were aimed at encouraging Singaporeans to express what they would defend and the various booths set up at TD 25 allowed just that. One of them displayed a montage of postcards which had Singaporeans answering the question "What will you defend?".

In another booth, five short films by students under a Singapore 2034 film project were featured, with each film relating to one of the pillars of Total Defence.

Said artist Mohammad Faizal who visited the booth: "It's a good way to promote awareness about Total Defence. The fact that kids have their own point of view about Total Defence is good."

Ms Rachel Lim, a Nanyang Technological University student who was one of the participants of Singapore 2034, added: "It's very good that Total Defence has involved students And as students execute something for the general public to see, they feel like they're part of the making of Total Defence."

Impressed by the multi-platform approach in engaging citizens, retired teacher Navaratnasingam commented on how TD 25 was informative and had managed to create awareness of the need to defend Singapore personally.

"It tells the young people that while opportunities may look greener overseas, eventually, the best parts of their lives are experienced here in their home Singapore," she said.

Besides the host of activities listed above, TD 25 also featured interactive booths such as one where the public could take pictures of themselves holding up drawings of what they will defend.