I could feel his anger when talking to him. All the vulgarities came out of his mouth like a machine gun. I guess, after 60 over years, all those
Aug 8, 2005
of memories
I bumped into a neighbour this morning. He is over 70 years of age. For no apparent reason, he starting talking to me about the Japanese Occupation. Could be because of the Hiroshima documentary that was shown over the tele yesterday. (Even my Granduncle also wanted to watch it.)
I could feel his anger when talking to him. All the vulgarities came out of his mouth like a machine gun. I guess, after 60 over years, all thosebad memories will stick with him for a long time. And there could be many others, who have gone through the rough times, who felt the same way too.
I could feel his anger when talking to him. All the vulgarities came out of his mouth like a machine gun. I guess, after 60 over years, all those
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When I was a kid, I watched some SBC production with people like Xiang Yun, etc about the Japanese Occupation. They portrayed various torture methods and those images are still stuck with me today.
ReplyDeleteAnother production later wasn't as graphic but it still sickens me when I think about what the Japanese did.
elizabeth choy, the war heroine said when asked about the jap occupation said that she can forgive but never forget and she is 96 this year.
ReplyDeletei admit that as much as i felt for her and what she said, i will not be able to truly understand the kind of trauma and hardship our forefathers went through during the dark days of the occupation.
to a certain extent, i think that we are leading so comfortable and affluent a life that NE is not something that everyone can identify with or see necessary.
You Will Forget
If you stay in comfort too long
you will not know
the weight of a water pot
on the bald head of the village woman
You will forget
the weight of three bundles of thatch grass
on the sinewy neck of the woman
whose baby cries on her back
for a blade of grass in its eyes
Sure, if you stay in comfort too long
you will not know the pain
of child birth without a nurse in white
You will forget
the thirst, the cracked dusty lips
of the woman in the valley
on her way to the headman who isn’t there
You will forget
the pouring pain of a thorn prick
with a load on the head.
If you stay in comfort too long
You will forget
the wailing in the valley
of women losing a husband in the mines.
You will forget
the rough handshake of coarse palms
full of teary sorrow at the funeral.
If you stay in comfort too long
you will not hear
the shrieky voice of old warriors sing
the songs of fresh stored battlefields.
You will forget
the unfeeling bare feet
gripping the warm soil turned by the plough
You will forget
the voice of the season talking to the oxen.
Chenjerai Hove
ps: you are most welcome. i am glad you like it. :)
Your observations make me wonder what they (the generation who went through the war) feel when they see how my generation of pple who watch Japanese animations, listen to Japanese songs, learn Japanese Language... anger? or silent acceptance? or laugh at our ignorance?
ReplyDeleteSometimes i imagine that my late Grandparents watching me and my brother with disapproval and great sadness ...
juz_a_ga|: Movies depict so chia lat chia lat. Cannot imagine how it was actually like.
ReplyDeletepetals: Ya, we assume that these things will not happen again. And I hope they will not. From what I heard, some kids who attended the NE felt that it is a waste of their time.
bahgae: Maybe not disapproval. But maybe a bit of sadness.