WW2 ended 80 years ago

I came across these images on Facebook today, showing Penang’s Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cenotaph. It was a solemn gathering, attended by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow together with representatives from the country’s war veterans, the army, air force and navy, as well as officials from the British High Commission and the Embassy of Nepal.

Organised annually by the Penang Veterans’ Association, their 24th time actually, the ceremony honours those who gave their lives in World War I, World War II, the Malayan Emergency, the Indonesian Confrontation, and other conflicts that shaped our history.

Chow reminded those present that this year marks 80 years since the end of the Second World War and 36 years since the close of the Malaysian Communist Insurgency—two chapters defined by fear, hardship and profound upheaval. 

In those darkest years, he said, soldiers and countless civilians stepped forward with extraordinary courage to defend the nation’s peace and sovereignty. Many never returned; many returned changed forever; and many families carried burdens that time could never fully erase.

“We can never repay their sacrifice,” he said, “but we can pause our busy lives, come together as a community, and honour them. We remember their service, we cherish their sacrifices, and we thank them for what they continue to represent today.”

Also present were Bukit Bendera MP Syerleena Abdul Rashid, the Embassy of Nepal’s Charge d’Affaires Mudita Bajracharya, and the British High Commission’s director of trade and investment, Richard Colley