Manchester sings 'Don't Look Back in Anger' during memorial service, but not all are for it

British band Oasis' 1995 hit Don't Look Back In Anger took on a whole different meaning for a particular crowd in Manchester on Thursday morning.

Traffic was halted as the city's residents assembled in St. Ann's square for a memorial event honouring victims of the Manchester Arena bombing on Monday. The crowd gathered around the floral tributes and fell silent at 11am to observe one minute of silence.

After a minute had passed however, a lone lady began singing to herself. The crowd, upon hearing her, started following her lead, before bursting into a sad, poignant rendition of the hit single. Watch the video here:

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/theguardian/videos/10155468103176323/[/embed]

Videos of the moment quickly circulated around the internet and made its way on news sites.

Online however, many users on Facebook criticised the crowd's stance, debating that anger should and rightfully be expressed.

Some also saw it as a sign of disrespect to those who had passed, stating that such a response after family members and loved ones had suffered was simply illogical.

Others felt that such a pacifist response was downright weak.

But there has also been occasional praise for what the crowd did, with some Facebook users echoing the message of peace and forgiveness evoked in the video.

Users criticised attempts by netizens to incite more anger, which they saw as only serving to encourage extremists and perpetuate the cycle of hate and violence.

Elsewhere however, an image has emerged of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force (RAF) with the defiant message, "love from Manchester <3", scrawled on a missile bound for an airstrike against ISIS.

The RAF had responded to confirm the authenticity of the photo, amidst speculation that the photo was a hoax.

nicchew@sph.com.sg