KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — The British High Commission hosted a service of Remembrance at Tugu Negara in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, the first after calling off the event in 2020 due to the necessary restrictions surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.

The annual ceremony to recognise and remember the contribution of British, Malaysian, Commonwealth and other international military servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts was held at a reduced scale and by adhering to the COVID SOPs.

A statement from the British High Commission said High Commissioners, Ambassadors and Defence Advisers and Attaches from a number of nations stood in respectful silence alongside representatives from the Malaysian Armed Forces and Malaysian Veterans’ Associations.

After observing two minutes of silence in respect of the fallen heroes, the ceremony ended with the traditional laying of wreaths at the base of the Cenotaph, a solemn tribute to those who gave their lives in the name of peace. 

British High Commissioner to Malaysia, His Excellency Charles Hay in his welcoming address at the service said in the same statement that this year marked the 76th year since the end of the Second World War.

"As we remember those who died – you will find in Malaysia alone over 7,000 headstones in 35 separate locations. Those who lie beneath them were from the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, Nepal and elsewhere. They fought shoulder to shoulder and now lie side by side.  Many of them remain unidentified,” he said. 

Hay also paid respects to civilians who lost their lives saying all those involved in, and those who lost their lives in the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) and the Konfrontasi in the 1960s were also remembered.

The service continued with readings by, among others, Captain Antony Stockbridge of the Royal Navy, his first remembrance service in Kuala Lumpur after being appointed as the Defence Advisor at the British High Commission three months ago. — Bernama