Total Defence Day is marked annually on February 15 in Singapore to commemorate the anniversary of the surrender of the British to the Japanese on February 15, 1942, precursoring 3 years and 8 months of Japanese Occupation.
Introduced in 1984, the concept of Total Defence (TD) was adapted from the experiences of countries like Switzerland and Sweden. As a young nation with a small population and a conscript armed forces, we needed to draw on the different strengths and abilities of our community to augment our defence capability.
Total Defence has five aspects - Military Defence, Civil Defence, Economic Defence, Social Defence and Psychological Defence. These five aspects represent the key sectors of society.
The school had a drama performance tilted Me, Myself & My Country on 10 February 2012. The 45 minutes drama is about 4 friends and how they juggle their own personal problems with the challenges that Singapore faces. Issues like home ownership, immigration and further education are explored. Through their ordeals we learn about the 5 pillars of Total Defence and how it shapes the Singaporean identity. The 2010 Total Defence Message “I Will…” is also explored in the play. What WILL you do for Singapore?NE Lesson Package for the various levels and streams were also crafted and implemented as a post-event reflection. For lower secondary, the focus will be on Social and Civil Defence. For upper secondary, the focus will be on all pillars of Defence (With more focus on Economic, Psychological and Military Defence)
The importance of Total Defence is communicated to the students through the wide variety of programs, In addition, the programs serves as a reminder to students that Singapore is defensible and is worth defending, and only Singaporeans would have the will to defend Singapore.
