(Minghui.org) Practitioners in Singapore gathered at Hong Lim Park on July 9 for an event that commemorated the 25-year-long persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). With group exercises, posters, and a candlelight vigil, they exposed the brutality in China to passersby and called to end the persecution that started in July 1999.
Group exercises in Hong Lim Park on July 9, 2024
Practitioners told people how Falun Gong has been persecuted in China since July 1999.
Candlelight vigil in the evening
Many people stopped to read the posters and asked questions. They included local residents and tourists from Australia, Belgium, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Philippines, China, and other places. They said it is wrong for the CCP to persecute such a peaceful meditation system, and some were interested in learning the exercises. After learning how the CCP deceived the public with defamatory propaganda, several Chinese tourists decided to quit the CCP organizations.
A young couple from the United Kingdom were impressed by paintings from the The Art of Zhen Shan Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance) International Exhibition and talked with a practitioner for a long time. The practitioner explained how the practice improves one's mind and body. The husband was very interested and said he would read Zhuan Falun, the main teachings of Falun Dafa.
A woman read the materials and was shocked to hear that practitioners were killed in China for their organs. Some of the artworks showed healthy practitioners were forcibly given drugs and children were also detained. The woman took pictures of every artwork and said she would read more about it later.
A tourist from China took a picture of an artwork that showed the psychiatric abuse practitioners are subjected to. He said he knew practitioners are innocent and one of his relatives was also detained for her belief. When visiting Hong Kong, the man said he saw the practitioners’ activities. He agreed to quit the CCP organizations.
A young woman from Hong Kong said that many people she knew were aware of the CCP's viciousness and supportive of Falun Gong practitioners. She said freedom of belief should be respected everywhere.
A tourist from New York said that this was the first time she saw Falun Gong activities. She likes the peaceful exercises and was very interested. Because she would return to New York three days later, a practitioner told her how to look for group practice there and learn the exercises.
A group of young visitors from Thailand liked the materials and paper lotus flowers very much. A 13-year-old girl from Australia took materials for her family, who were taking a break nearby. After a Chinese boy of about 10 years old brought materials for his family, they began reading them.
Amy is a practitioner from northern China. Due to an injury at his workplace, her father was paralyzed at the age of 43 and was bedridden for 18 years. Her family sought medical treatment everywhere, but nothing helped.
After the family of six began to practice Falun Gong in 1996, a miracle happened. “Through studying the teachings and doing the exercises, my father was able to stand up within one month,” Amy recalled. “Many people in the community were shocked and quite a few of them began to practice Falun Gong as well.”
Due to medical malpractice, Amy’s mother walked with a limp. Three months after she began practicing Falun Gong, she regained her health and was able to walk normally. Because she had a small business for many years, lots of people knew how practicing benefited her and some also began practicing Falun Gong.
Because of vitreous opacity (also known as floaters), Amy’s mother also had problems with her eyesight in early 1996. “About one month into the practice, mother happily told me she could see me clearly now. Both my parents felt very fortunate to practice Falun Gong,” she said.
After the CCP started to suppress Falun Gong in 1999, the family was under huge pressure. Amy’s father was detained for over a year, and her mother and sister-in-law were detained, as well. Because her sister and husband-in-law were detained for over a year, their 10-year-old child had to stay with relatives. Amy also had to quit school and make money to support the family.
But the family never regretted their choice. “I have not seen Master Li (the founder of Falun Gong) or paid any money, but Falun Gong helped me recover from an 18-year-long paralysis,” her father said. “We have to tell the government the persecution is wrong. If we do not follow our conscience, we are not even human beings.”
Zhang, an accountant in Singapore, said she did not know much about Falun Gong in the past. After the CCP slandered the practice with the staged Self-Immolation at Tiananmen Square incident in 2001, she was misled like many other people.
After her father was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer in 2009, Zhang and her father began to read Zhuan Falun. The practice helped her father regain his health. Zhang also understood the purpose of life and how to be a good, responsible mother.
Wu is a physician and she went to Australia for study in 2008. After watching a Shen Yun performance, she was amazed and was interested in Falun Gong. The principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance have guided her these years and she hopes that more people can learn facts of Falun Gong.