Boxing Day in Ipoh, 1941

After bombing and machine-gunning Ipoh town for about ten days, the fascist army of Imperial Japan entered, occupied and brutalised Ipoh on 26 December 1941 with the 'co-operation' of quislings.

The underground resistance also began its 44-month just war and heroic struggles against the fascists, some in the name of God while many other under the three-star Red banner of the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA). My prayer today is offered to all those who sacrificed their lives to defend my hometown and the honour and dignity of my grandparents and parents.