(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners in Singapore gathered at Hong Lim Park on April 20 to commemorate the 17^th anniversary of the peaceful appeal of over 10,000 practitioner in Beijing on April 25, 1999. With an exercise demonstration and a display, Singapore practitioners held this event to inform passersby about Falun Gong and how this peaceful meditation is being brutally persecuted in China.

Much like the participants of the April 25, 1999 protest, participants of the Singapore event were volunteers who had personally benefited from practicing Falun Gong and wished to raise awareness. Many who stopped to learn more during the event expressed appreciation for their sincere efforts.

Group exercises at Hong Lim Park on April 20, 2016

From Nearly Disabled to Full Recovery

Ms. Li, 72, looks much younger than her peers. “I began to practice Falun Gong on April 20, 1999, five days before the appeal in Beijing,” she recalled.

She did so to improve her physical health. Because of rheumatoid arthritis, Ms. Li had joint pain everywhere. She could not lift her arms or legs, and even turning in bed was painful. She saw a doctor, tried Chinese medicine and physical therapy, but they did not help. “Once in the hospital, I met someone with similar illnesses. She had sought medication for 10 years without success and all her joints had degenerated. It seemed that her fingers were about to fall off. It was quite scary,” she said.

A glimmer of hope appeared when Ms. Li came across a newspaper article that mentioned Falun Gong. Seeing that learning Falun Gong was free of charge and very effective, she decided to give it a try. “I managed to go to a nearby park on April 20 and someone showed me the exercises.” Within two weeks, the pain was relieved and she could walk normally. Not only that, the blood pressure that had bothered her for more than 10 years, was also cured.

People who knew her were surprised to see her jogging in the park. “Really? I thought you could hardly walk—what happened?” her friends often asked.

From her own experience, Ms. Li knows Falun Gong is good, both for individuals and society. The suppression in the last 17 years in China did not change her mind. Instead, she often goes to the parks and tours sites to tell Chinese people the facts about Falun Gong, hoping to dispel their misconceptions caused by the hate propaganda of the communist party.

“Oasis in the Desert”

Ms. Lu, who graduated from a medical school, found her working environment very challenging. “Especially in China, people do not trust each other. They fight constantly with each other for money or other material interests. This made me upset and frustrated, often unable to sleep at night.” But feeling powerless and that nothing could be changed, she found that she had no choice but to bend her principles.

Four years ago, she came to Singapore. She came across Falun Gong and was quickly drawn to it.

The practice of Falun Gong helped Ms. Lu with a better understanding of life and society. In addition, she found the health benefits were also extraordinary. “I had arthritis since I was six and my legs were always aching badly on rainy days. With my medical background, I knew that there was no good cure for it.” Miraculously, through the practice of Falun Gong, the arthritis disappeared, and so did my allergic rhinitis.

“Thinking about the words of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, you will find that they indeed carry a lot of weight,” said Ms. Lu. “Even being truthful alone is not easy, particularly in China, where it is severely suppressed.” Seeing practitioners able to follow these principles to be honest, modest, compassionate, and tolerant, Ms. Lu has been deeply touched.

“To me, this is an oasis in the desert,” she said.

Reminded of Ancient Treasures

Many Chinese tourists stopped to watch the group exercises. One woman in her 30s asked her friend to take a picture with practitioners while pressing her palms together in respect. “Some of my relatives are Falun Gong practitioners and I have not seen a group exercise like this in China for 17 years,” she explained.

Another Chinese tourist chatted with a practitioner for a while and accepted some material. “As you know, the news media is tightly controlled in China. So I found it intriguing to see something like this today,” said the young man. He said he knew Chinese media twisted the facts about Falun Gong, and now he would read these materials, which he cannot easily get in China.

Tourists learn about the suppression in China from practitioners.

Local resident Mr. Zhu had seen practitioners' activities previously. He said the movements were slow and graceful, and reminded him of the forgotten treasures of traditional Chinese culture. “Watching them doing these gentle exercises always touches my heart. And I think someday I will be a practitioner too.”

“Unprecedented Atrocity”

Neil Pacatang, a technical analyst, heard about organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners in China for the first time. “The organ harvesting is vicious and unprecedented. We cannot tolerate it!” He and four coworkers signed petitions calling to bring Jiang Zemin to justice for his crimes.

Passersby sign petitions to support practitioners.

Werner Sombergert, retired engineer from Germany, was on a 10-day tour of Singapore. From a hotel window he saw practitioners doing the exercises and he took some pictures. Then he came to the park for more pictures and videos. While signing a petition, he said he would forward the photos to friends in Germany so that they could also learn about Falun Gong and the persecution.

Another woman who signed a petition said she had heard about the persecution in China, including the organ harvesting atrocities. She said to the practitioners, “What you do is very important. Keep it up!”