A virtual first for Sandakan Memorial Day
KOTA KINABALU: The annual Sandakan Memorial Day service to commemorate fallen Australian and British prisoners of war (POWs) and the Sandakan-Ranau death marches was a moving one despite being held on a smaller scale due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The even, held every Aug 15, is usually attended by hundreds who fly in from overseas
This year’s event at the Sandakan Memorial Park had an attendance limit of 50 people.
The service was live-streamed via the Sabah Tourism Board’s Facebook page from 7.30am to 8.15am.
In a video message aired during the ceremony, Governor-General of Australia David Hurley said the pandemic had not stopped the annual gathering between the communities of Australia, Malaysia and Britain.
Speaking in fluent Bahasa Malaysia, he said: “Today we come together to remember more than 2,400 Australian and British POWs who lost their lives while incarcerated at the Sandakan POW camp and during the infamous death marches to Ranau in 1945.
“Seventy five years ago, the Second World War came to an end.
“In the years since, our communities have continued to come together to pay our respects for the service and sacrifice of the fallen and to honour the local Sabahans who came to their aid.
“Not even this unprecedented global health pandemic has prevented us from doing so again, albeit in new and innovative ways, ” he said.
Hurley said the courage and humanity shown by Sabah’s men and women back then to help those in captivity and shelter those who managed to escape, laid the foundation for the strong and respectful relationship between Malaysia and Australia today.
“It is a cooperative partnership that is built on history as well as shared values.
Today we are the custodians of a legacy that started in Sandakan, ” he said.
Also present were British High Commissioner to Malaysia Charles Hay, Australian High Commissioner Andrew Goledzinowski, Sabah Tourism Board chairman Ken Pan and Stella Lagan who represented the Sandakan Municipal Council.
Hay, who was making his second appearance at the ceremony, said it was extremely important to remember the shared history and to educate the young of the sacrifices made in the past.
Among the highlights was a wreath-laying ceremony.
The other officials at the ceremony included Australian High Commission Defence Adviser Group Captain Gretchen Fryer and British Defence Attache Group Captain Simon Hindmarsh.
The service proceeded with an ode of remembrance with the British and Australian national anthems played, and ended with a video of Sandakan POW, the late Robert Gordon Ellice-Flint singing Going Home.