U.S. Singapore Relations 2003
September 11, 2003 Remembrance Ceremony
At the start of a soft and drizzly tropical evening, 150 Singaporeans and Americans gathered around the U.S. embassy’s reflecting pool to remember the tragic events of September 11, 2001 with a dignified ceremony of words, music, and light. Ambassador Frank Lavin spoke of our collective need to honor the memory of the men, women and children murdered two years ago by Al Qaeda terrorists in New York, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania. Admitting, “Words alone cannot right the terrible wrong done that day, or heal the broken hearts and lives of the victims,“ he included in his remarks a promise to all victims of terrorism and their families that terrorists will answer for their crimes, and justice will be done.
Singaporean Minister Lee Yock Suan presented similar remarks on behalf of his government, and U.S. Navy Chaplain David Bynum offered some reflections on the tangible and intangible losses of September 9.
The Rivendale Quartet from the U.S. Peabody Conservatory of Music performed, as did a high school chorale from the Singapore American School. The ceremony concluded with everyone floating a lit candle on the reflecting pool, to honor the 9/11 victims and in remembrance of the dead. It was a memorable opportunity for Singaporeans and Americans from all walks of life to come together and commemorate a common loss. The 9/11 ceremony was also a reaffirmation that the fight against terrorists is an international one, that the burden of battle will be shared, and the campaign will not end until that terrible war is won.