Four Years Have Passed, and We Are Walking Our Paths More Steadfastly, Uprightly, and with Dignity -- Singapore Practitioners' Journey (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net)

On July 20^th 1999, an unprecedented suppression of Falun Dafa practitioners began in Mainland China. Every government and media was impacted, and they asked, "What is Falun Gong?" What was really going on? Kind people were worried: How long will these peaceful practitioners last under the suppression of a brutal dictatorship?

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

"So no matter how few Dafa disciples there are in a certain place, that is hope for that nationality." ("Lecturing on and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference". 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 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 towards 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 Teacher. Many Falun Gong practitioners told the journalists the facts of how they benefited from the practice.

The evil lies and persecution extended overseas, including Singapore. Various forms of interference restricted Falun Gong activities in Singapore. Falun Gong practitioners tried to change the environment right from the start. However, our activities of clarifying the facts came across obstacles of varying degrees due to our previous inadequate Fa spreading and practitioners' various notions. After Master published the articles "Toward Consummation" and "Using at Will," we realized that it was our own attachments and notions formed postnatally that prevented us from validating Dafa. After we broke these attachments and human notions, the methods of clarifying the facts to people became more abundant. Dafa disciples, regarding the Fa as Master, took the path of Fa-rectification.

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, Dafa 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 predestined 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.

In order to catch up with the progress of the Fa-rectification, Dafa practitioners increased Fa study and experience sharing time. 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 Fa study 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, eliminating the evil factors in other dimensions and resisting the evil exhibition. After studying the Fa and sharing experiences, all of us realized 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 organizations 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 the righteous Fa 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 sentient beings.

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 Center. 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.

Besides Fa study and truth clarification, Dafa practitioners in Singapore kept on sending forth righteous thoughts as a group, coordinating closely the progress of the Fa-rectification in the world, and eliminating the evil factors that brought damage to Dafa from other dimensions. 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 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 in the Fa-rectification and the guidance about truth clarification expressed in Master's lectures, we changed our irregular and spontaneous practice times. We began to practice the exercises there on a regular basis. We would practice the exercises, clarify the truth, and help Master to save sentient beings 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 the righteous Fa and cleared out the damage in their minds done by the lies. Many tourists discovered the truth here and therefore established the foundation for a bright future.

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, to validate Dafa, and to save the precious Chinese people.

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 disciples brought the precious 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 disciples 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 from the evil, we studied the Fa, sent forth righteous thoughts, and clarified the truth according to Master's requirements. We have become more mature, clear-headed, rational and steadfast through overcoming the difficulties. Now, Dafa disciples are able to clarify the truth and save sentient beings 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 and let's not fail to live up to the title of Fa rectification disciples.