Four years have passed. Dafa practitioners all over the world, including those in Singapore, have met with success. We have walked our path with steadfastness and dignity. Master said, "The path a Dafa disciple takes is a glorious history, and this history has to be created by his own enlightening." ("Path" Essentials for Further Advancement II) Now it is July 20 again. Let's recall the past 1,640 days and nights that formed the Fa-rectification path of Dafa disciples in the Fa-rectification period.
Part One
In 1994, Falun Gong, was introduced to Singapore from China. The bright light of Dafa shone on the beautiful City of the Lion. "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" has guided the Dafa practitioners along a path filled with great hope.
In July 1996, Falun Gong practitioners in Singapore applied for registration of the Falun Dafa Association of Singapore, which later helped promote Dafa practitioners' cultivation and experience sharing activities. At the opening ceremony, our great Master came and gave a speech. Master himself wrote the words "Falun Dafa Association of Singapore" for the association. This is Master's kindness and encouragement for us.
Because Falun Gong has prominent effects in healing illness, keeping fit, and purifying the heart, practitioners in Singapore enthusiastically introduced their relatives, friends, and the public to Falun Gong. From 1997 to 1999, the association conducted more than ten free seminars at local contact offices and communities. Every seminar attracted dozens to hundreds of people. Meanwhile, Falun Gong practitioners often demonstrated the exercises in public places on holidays, hoping more predestined people would discover Falun Gong.
On August 22 to 23, 1998, the Singapore Falun Dafa Association held "The Southeast Asia Fa Conference." More than 2,000 Falun Gong practitioners from all over the world participated in the conference. Master was there and lectured on and explained the Fa [principles and teachings of Falun Gong contained in the book Zhuan Falun] for practitioners. Over the past several years, Falun Gong practitioners from Singapore traveled to Fa conferences in Beijing, Dalian, and Changchun. They also went to the United States and Switzerland to listen to Master lecture on the Fa.
Part Two
While Falun Dafa was spreading fast in Singapore, an evil, giant tribulation began.
On April 25, 1999, about ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners made a peaceful appeal in Beijing, China. Falun Gong practitioners in Singapore went to Lianhe Zaobao (a Chinese newspaper) and The Straits Times to clarify the facts to editors and journalists on April 26. Later on, news about the unfair treatment toward Falun Gong practitioners in Mainland China streamed in continuously. Consequently, many practitioners went to the Chinese Embassy to let the Chinese officials know the facts about Falun Gong by sharing their own experiences. In addition, the association and individual practitioners wrote letters to the leaders of the Chinese government and ambassadors in Singapore. We sent faxes and made phone calls, informing them of the truth and repairing the damage done by the lies, and asked them to treat Falun Gong practitioners fairly.
On July 10, 1999, the police in Mainland China suddenly began to arrest many Falun Gong volunteer instructors in several provinces. On July 22, the Chinese government openly declared its intention to suppress Falun Gong. For a while, the media in Mainland China was filled with lies intended to fan hatred of Falun Gong. The concocted stories and slanderous lies filled the air in China and then spread overseas. Under such urgent circumstances and after sharing experiences, the local practitioners decided to have a press conference sponsored by the Falun Dafa Association of Singapore in order to clarify the facts to society. It took less than twenty hours to prepare for the press conference because of the practitioners' efforts. A solemn press conference was held successfully on July 23rd at the Westin hotel. More than ten media institutions, both English and Chinese, attended the conference, interviewing us and asking questions. The Falun Dafa Association put forth a statement concerning the false news about Falun Gong being broadcast on CCTV. This had the effect of exposing the lies by the Chinese government about Falun Gong and Master Li Hongzhi. Many Falun Gong practitioners told the journalists the facts of how they benefited from the practise.
The evil lies and persecution extended overseas, including Singapore. Various forms of interference restricted Falun Gong activities in Singapore.
Part Three
In November 1999, the Falun Dafa Association of Singapore held an exhibition of truth-clarifying posters in the Ritz Carlton hotel for the first time and showed the documentary film, "The True Story of Falun Gong".
Since the end of 1999, practitioners have produced truth clarification materials in different languages continuously, distributing them to the public at the exercise sites or other places. The Association also registered a hotline introducing Falun Gong and the volunteer contact people of each exercise site. Quite a few people found the exercise sites via this hotline number.
In August 2000, the local newspapers in English, Chinese, and some other languages published the Dafa posters, showing thousands and thousands of Singapore residents the grand truth about Falun Dafa around the world. At the same time, the media team has never stopped clarifying the truth to the government and media. Whenever there was an important event, they would hold a press conference immediately, sending out a call for justice.
The activities at Bange exercise site were the most popular. Practitioners actively participated in the activities, speaking openly and offering good ideas about Dafa activities. Previous conflicts in work dissolved gradually after the studying the Fa and experience sharing increased.
In November 2001, the Chinese Embassy held a slanderous poster exhibition. It was a battle between the righteous and the evil. Upon hearing the news, the practitioners began to send forth righteous thoughts intensively. After studying the Fa and sharing experiences, all of us realised that we should not passively endure and should not accept it silently. That night, some practitioners drafted a letter with many signatures on it, reporting the facts to the relevant government departments. The Falun Dafa Association made a declaration to both local and foreign media, stating our resolute opposition to the Chinese Embassy's slandering Falun Gong and practitioners in Singapore.
Two hours before the opening ceremony of the embassy's exhibition, the Falun Dafa Association held a press conference declaring that we were against this exhibition. We described the support for Falun Gong from different governments and organisations around the world, as well as the world's condemnation of the Chinese government's suppression of Falun Gong. On the day of the exhibition, dozens of Dafa practitioners approached the audience to clarify the truth.
In order to clarify the truth to the Singapore government and people more deeply and widely, and let them know that Falun Dafa is righteous and that the persecution in China must stop immediately, Dafa practitioners in Singapore actively participated in various community activities, making use of every opportunity to bring the beauty of Dafa to more people.
Over the past four years, Dafa practitioners had participated in the World Book Exhibition three times, the New Year Commodity Exhibition, local products fairs and so forth. During these activities, Dafa practitioners openly and uprightly promoted Dafa and gave truth clarification materials to the public.
In August 2002, for the first time since July 20, 1999, Dafa practitioners demonstrated the exercises on a stage facing an audience of thousands at the Singapore Exhibition Centre. The music of Dafa exercises was circulating in the hall, and Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance shone brightly.
In May 2003, Dafa practitioners held a reception called "The Path to Health". The more than ten short TV programs shown at the reception discussed health issues from various perspectives and the wide spread of Dafa around the world.
In 2002, when the head of the evil went overseas several times, Dafa practitioners in Singapore, overcoming all sorts of difficulties, went to Iceland, Russia, Hong Kong and the United States to send forth pure righteous thoughts together and appeal with Dafa practitioners from other countries.
Precious Chinese People
The statue of a lion with a fish tail on the riverbank of Singapore is a famous tourist attraction. Hundreds of tourists come to visit it from various countries around the world every day. Among them, many tourists are from China. As Dafa practitioners became clearer about the importance of cultivation and truth clarification, we changed our irregular and spontaneous practise times. We began to practise the exercises there on a regular basis. We would practise the exercises and clarify the truth there every day, regardless of the weather conditions. Dafa practitioners displayed posters in English, Chinese and many other languages proactively. We patiently informed the tourists that Falun Dafa is righteous and cleared out the bad thoughts in their minds from the lies. Many tourists discovered the truth here.
Besides the regular Fa-promotion activities, Dafa practitioners also used other ways to validate Dafa. Some practitioners kept sending truth-clarifying materials to China by sending faxes and making phone calls. Others clarified the truth on-line via the Internet to friends in Mainland China. One group of practitioners visited almost all of the construction sites in Singapore in their spare time, sending Dafa truth materials to ten thousand Chinese construction workers. Dafa practitioners used different ways to promote Dafa and to validate Dafa.
Some practitioners kept on distributing truth-clarifying materials in apartment buildings and residential areas several times a week. They carried the heavy materials, walking in the streets between groups of buildings under the hot sun. With their efforts, Dafa practitioners brought the truth to thousands and thousands of Singapore residents.
Dafa practitioners attended the Fa promotion and validation activities overseas many times every year after attending the Fa conference in China in 1996. In the past several years, we left our footprints in Malaysia, Thailand, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Russia, Iceland, Australia, South Africa, Canada, the United States, and Mexico. We left the image of Singapore Dafa practitioners at the solemn Fa conferences, in exercise groups, in parades, in front of Chinese Embassies, and in international airports.
Over the last four years, while resisting various forms of pressure, we studied the Fa, sent forth righteous thoughts, and clarified the truth. We have become more mature, clear-headed, rational and steadfast through overcoming the difficulties. Now, Dafa practitioners are able to clarify the truth in various ways and forms, and more actively. We can coordinate and understand each other better, and work hard together.
Master says, "Dafa disciples are magnificent, because what you are cultivating is the ultimate Great Fa of the cosmos, because you have validated Dafa with righteous thoughts, and because you have not fallen during the massive tribulation." ("The Disciples' Magnificence" in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
The Fa principles of the cosmos have given us wisdom and made us steadfast in our righteous thoughts. The dignity of Dafa has been displayed in front of the public in Singapore. Facing the evil's last gasp, we will clarify the truth as we normally do. We again make our appeal: This persecution of Falun Gong must stop! History will witness the choice made by each individual being over the last four years. While recalling the past, let's walk well our future path.
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