Tuesday, May 8, 2007

In War, Humans Become Barbarians...


















The pic and story above come from the banned Sarawak Tribune, dated 8/19/95. It's all about the appalling ill-treatment and atrocities committed against captives by the WW2 Japanese Imperial Forces in the Far East, including Malaya.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not beating a dead horse (WW2 Japs & their sins) here. It's my belief that we must be reminded of the past or we'll be condemned to repeat it, to paraphrase George Santayana. Let's not hide the truth and bury the past, hoping everything will be better tomorrow. It won't be better tomorrow as history has shown us that the similar forms of bloody wars, strife, revolutions and so forth occur worldwide...

As for the Japs, the people of today are quite different from the WW2 ones and war does change humans, turning them into inhuman barbaric beasts. In every war, crimes against humanity have been and will be committed. This war may be as minuscule as the campaign against the communist terrorists, aka War of the Running Dogs in Malaysia and as widely awesome as World War 2.

I'm saying the Japs of today are different from the militant Japs 'cos I've personally been to modern Japan twice and experienced its warm Japanese hospitality. The people are polite and gracious towards visitors even though it is difficult to communicate with them due to their English language backwardness. In fact, the airport Japanese female staff in the postal outlet and elseway, despite their English handicap, were remarkably friendly, helpful and humble towards me at the Narita Airport on both occasions, giving me an excellent impression of the people there.

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