I will be sharing my recent visit to Total Defence exhibition 2021 (at SDC).
Most of us should know about Total Defence. Singapore recently added a new pillar for Digital Defence. Singapore’s Defence cannot count on military efforts alone, but requires a whole of country approach.
How many of us know the significance of remembering Total Defence on every 15th Feb? That is the day Singapore fell to Japan during World War 2, during Chinese New Year!
Curiosity brought me back to Singapore Discovery Centre’ latest Total Defence exhibition.
Now that the kids have grown up, I might have more time to explore more museums 🙂 Hope they will join me more frequently too.
You can role-play as “agent” and travel back in time to discover more history too. Or you can scan for more details with SDC app.
Visitors can also participate in some photo-ops and stand to win attractive prizes.
Back to the exhibition… You will go through different period of Singapore’s crises and learn about how the nation pull through
(1) Today’s generation might remember Tokyo and Hokkaido as a must-visit during school holidays. But the Japanese imperial army was merciless during WW2.
The photos and artifacts are quite visual, but history is never kind. For three years, Singapore and many other countries suffered under Japanese rule.
And I heard that Japanese educational materials are still trying to brush away this piece of history. We definitely hope that Singapore will not fall under another country anymore (and no one own Singapore a living).
(2) Besides the war atrocities, visitors will go through Konfrontasi and the period post-independence when communism threatens our livelihood.
How does Singapore manage to house her population in HDB flats in such a short time?
And yet deal with internal and external challenges?
Many will know MacDonald house at Dhoby Ghaut MRT (not related to fast food), but how many remember Konfrontasi’s bombings?
That was the period when Indonesia threatend new Malaya (Malaysia and Singapore). Terrorists infiltrated Singapore and set off bombs!
Not fiction But real facts!
(3) Another episode during my growing up years is the cable car incident at Sentosa. 
Kids recite their pledge every morning, but do we understand the significance behind? Or are we so used to a peaceful Singapore already, and take everything for granted?
(4) Do catch the short clip about Japanese occupation of Singapore too.
(5) Another section of the exhibit showcases Singapore’s milestone.
I am sure not many have fond memories of ERP! (or for that matter COE)
Hey, the little ones can even be part-time broadcasters haha. Choose your favourite Singapore top stories.
Do take note the studio setup is for folks under 1.75m as I could not fit onto the screen.
(6) The last segment is about Covid 19, known as Coronavirus in the early stages. How did Singapore stand together against an unknown enemy?
Covid19 is the best CIO to elevate Digitisation and productivity for Singapore. We could not have imagined an empty causeway, nor Religious services via Zoom, or working-from-home facility.
There is a small segment on Supermarket run too (did not mention toilet paper :p) 
And we have been wearing our masks for one year already! Thank you to the Healthcare and frontline staff for keeping Singapore safe!
Total Defence exhibition 2021 will run till end March, and entry is free. You should be able to cover the ground in 1 hour, I took longer as I really read all the exhibits.
More details at SDC website.
