(Minghui.org) Practitioners gathered at Hong Lim Park on the afternoon of April 22 for group exercises to commemorate the April 25 peaceful appeal in Beijing 26 years ago.

Ms. Huang from the Singapore Falun Dafa Association described the peaceful appeal at the Central Appeal Office in Beijing on April 25, 1999, several days after practitioners were arrested in Tianjin. Although the event ended well, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started a nationwide persecution weeks later in July 1999. Ms. Huang said that's why practitioners hold events every year to commemorate the peaceful appeal in April 1999 and to tell people about the ongoing suppression in China.

Practitioners do the exercises at Hong Lim Park on April 22, 2025

People ask practitioners about Falun Dafa.

Ms. Huang said about 10,000 practitioners went to the State Council’s Central Appeal Office on April 25, 1999. They told officials how they benefited from practicing Falun Dafa and made three requests: release the practitioners arrested in Tianjin; the freedom to practice Falun Dafa as allowed by the Chinese Constitution; and to remove the ban on publishing Falun Dafa books. The incident was peaceful, no traffic was affected, and they left after the detained practitioners were released.

After decades of brutality during the CCP’s various political campaigns, many in the international society said this was the largest and most peaceful appeal in recent Chinese history. But the totalitarian Chinese regime could not tolerate Falun Dafa’s traditional values: Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. CCP leader Jiang Zemin launched the systematic persecution which has gone on for 26 years.

People Encourage Practitioners

In addition to group exercises, practitioners also held the Art of Zhen Shan Ren International Exhibition, gave performances, and held other activities to tell people about the persecution in China. Many people stopped, took pictures and asked about Falun Dafa. One Chinese young man who grew up in Singapore told practitioners, “What you’re doing is very good. Keep it up!”

Another Chinese was surprised to see the group exercises and he commended the freedom outside China. After talking with a practitioner, two Chinese girls were shocked by the CCP’s brutality, especially the forced organ harvesting, and they agreed to quit the Youth League (a CCP organization) that they joined. One elderly Chinese woman also withdrew from the CCP organization she joined because she no longer wanted to be part of the CCP.

People from various ethnic groups were interested in learning Falun Dafa. Genie from Singapore wanted to attend the Nine-Day Workshop to learn the practice. Two visitors from Denmark talked with a practitioner about the benefits of Falun Dafa, and took some information.

One Singapore young man in his 20s was curious about the paintings in the Art of Zhen, Shan, Ren International Exhibition. Practitioners explained the artworks and briefly talked about the benefits of Falun Dafa as well as the severe persecution by the CCP. He said he liked the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and took some information materials.

Kindness and Courage

Falun Dafa practitioner Hui Xin talked about her family’s experience with Falun Dafa. Her mother started to practice in January 1999 and all her illnesses including neuralgia (a type of nerve pain) were gone within two months. She was 68 at the time, and joined others to climb the Great Wall, something she could not imagine in the past.

After practitioners were arrested in Tianjin on April 23, 1999, Hui’s mother thought about it a lot. As the spouse of a Chinese diplomat, she saw videos of how tanks went to Tiananmen Square in 1989 to suppress the students. But her own experience told her Falun Dafa is righteous so she joined the peaceful appeal on April 25, 1999.

Similar to what other practitioners experienced, her mother said the event was peaceful and many practitioners read Zhuan Falun. It was quiet and no one shouted slogans. Before practitioners left that evening, some practitioners cleaned up the trash.

When Hui visited China in 2001, she was surprised that her family was more harmonious than ever. Before they began practicing Falun Dafa her older sisters did not get along with her parents, and they hadn’t talked to each other for years. After they began practicing Falun Dafa, they all looked inward to see where they could do better according to Falun Dafa teachings, and treated others well.

Impressed by these changes, Hui began practicing Falun Dafa. “The principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance taught by Falun Dafa are universal values. Our society needs them. That’s why I think the kindness and courage of Falun Dafa practitioners are precious,” she explained.

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Category: April 25 Events