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Islandwide siren to sound on 15 Feb to commemorate Total Defence Day

(Image: SCDF)
(Image: SCDF)

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) will be sounding the “Important Message” siren through the islandwide Public Warning System (PWS) at 6.20pm on Friday (15 February) to commemorate Total Defence Day.

In a media statement on Wednesday, the SCDF advised the public not to be alarmed by the minute-long exercise.

The timing of the siren marks the exact time when the British surrendered Singapore to Japanese forces 77 years ago. At 6.20pm on 15 February, 1942, British Lieutenant-General Arthur E. Percival surrendered Singapore at the Ford Factory in Bukit Timah after a week of intense fighting against Japanese forces under the command of Lieutenant General Tomoyuki Yamashita.

“The PWS sounding serves to give due significance and remembrance to this historical moment,” the SCDF said.

Siren to also sound on SGSecure app

The signal will also sound for all mobile phones that have the SGSecure mobile app, and are not on silent or vibration mode. This signal will stop after 20 seconds, or once the message is acknowledged. This will be followed by a brief text on the PWS sounding.

The public can also tune in to any local radio station or free-to-air television channel for a brief message explaining the different PWS signals and what you need to do in the event that the PWS is activated during a national emergency.

The annual sounding and radio broadcast message are part of the SCDF’s continuous efforts to familiarise the public with the PWS signals and to raise awareness on how the public should react upon hearing them.

The public can contact SCDF for more public education materials on the PWS. Should the public have any queries on the sounding, they can also call the SCDF Hotline at 1800-3677233.

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