Requiem / Ee Tiang Hong

Date from this day onwards
Whatever you will,
Use the momentous day
As it suits you, but with reverence,
As befits the great divide.

Tell your children to remember
The lessons of May 13^[1],
Or tell them to forget
The friends or relatives who died,
It makes no difference,

Sun and moon will rise tomorrow
Sun and moon will set

For all our sorrow.

[1] 13 May Incident refers to the Sino-Malay sectarian violence of 1969 in Kuala Lumpur.