Total Defence 2010 - “I Will”

Building on the success of last year’s campaign which posed the question to Singaporeans “What Will You Defend?”, the Total Defence campaign in 2010 calls Singaporeans to action with its theme “I Will” – a personal pledge to do something to defend what we hold dear. Moving from reflection to action, the 2010 campaign aims to encourage Singaporeans to make a commitment and act on it, individually and collectively as a community. It could be a pledge to learn a personal skill, take better care of the environment, donate blood, help other Singaporeans or simply to keep fit.

Introduced in 1984, Total Defence provides the framework for a comprehensive and integrated response to deal with all kinds of threats and challenges, by bringing together all Singaporeans in a coordinated effort. Singaporeans can play their role in the five aspects of Total Defence – Military Defence, Civil Defence, Economic Defence, Social Defence and Psychological Defence. When Singaporeans all take personal responsibility for, and participate in, protecting the Singaporean way of life, they are playing their part to help keep Singapore secure.

This year’s multi-platform outreach efforts seek to showcase the collective will of Singaporeans by providing varied opportunities for them to express their individual commitment. These include:

1. An online contest, in which the public can submit a text, photo or video pledge and encourage fellow Singaporeans sharing similar commitments to actively join them in the pledge1.

2. Island-wide distribution of ZoCards which will allow Singaporeans to share their personal pledge. These cards will be collected and form part of a specially commissioned art installation by local artist Casey Chen.

3. Call-in contests on radio stations Power98FM and Jia883FM. As part of the TD commemoration, five groups of Singaporeans have stepped forward to share with the nation what they are doing to protect what they hold dear. Through their actions, they hope to encourage fellow Singaporeans to walk the talk and commit to playing their part in defending the country2. The TD movement has also garnered strong support among the grassroots organisations, corporations such as IKEA and student groups who have also pledged their commitment to defend Singapore in their own way this year.

The art installation formed by pledge cards will be displayed for the first time at an event held at Nanyang Polytechnic on 11 February 2010 to commemorate Total Defence Day. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean will grace the occasion and present the prizes to the winners of N.E.mation! 4 – the annual animation competition for youths to express why they care about Singapore.

15 February, the day Singapore fell to the Japanese in 1942 during World War II, is Total Defence Day. It is to remind Singaporeans that everyone has a part to play in defending our country. For more information on the campaign, kindly log on to www.iwill.sg.