National Women’s Day commemorates the 1956 Women’s March to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, when more than 20,000 women of all races protested against the apartheid government’s pass laws. These laws required Black South Africans to carry pass books (internal passports), restricting their movement and reinforcing racial segregation.

National Day in Singapore is a public holiday celebrated every year to mark the country’s independence from Malaysia in 1965.