US and Japan being selective about feeling remorse

Published on: Saturday, January 21, 2017

Text Size:

By Awang Jumbul
Japanese Prime Minister Abe and American President Obama observed the bombing of Pearl Harbour 75 years ago recently.

The Pearl Habour bombing dragged USA into the 2nd world war. Each leader has advocated that the Japanese, Americans and indeed the whole world to forget and forgive past enmity and to look forward to the future.

The leaders have generated a lot of ambivalence with their presence in the ceremony in Hawaii for they have stirred up memory that USA is capable of dropping the nuclear bombs if she sees her national interest has been endangered.

USA wants the human race to forget that it had killed hundreds of thousands of lives in the two Japanese cities that have suffered the first nuclear bombings in the world. Besides a huge loss of lives, billions of dollars had been lost, many people are still suffering from the fallouts of the two nuclear bombs.

When Japan decided to enter the war on the eastern front when Germany was busy fighting the Western allies in Europe, it had hoped to be the supreme nation, controlling China, Korea and South East Asia and their resources.

The consequence of the war for Japan was the loss of hundreds of thousands of Japanese lives and also in the countries they have conquered.

In any case the event in Hawaii only highlight Hawaii, not a word about the Atomic Bomb at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Like the ceremony in commemoration of the end of 2nd world war, the Pearl Harbour event can only stir up memories of the atrocities and killings by the two nations. If it is the intention of the world leaders to “forgive and forget” it is better for them to do away with these observations so that future generations will not be reminded what their forefathers have suffered in the hands of Germany and Japan.

The Chinese, for example, will never forgive the Japanese for the “Nanking Massacre” in which hundreds of thousands were killed. It will be impossible for the Chinese to “forgive” when Japan, up to day, has refused to acknowledge that this cruel incident has happened or has apologised.

To the people in China, Korea and South East Asia, any so called “observation” of this nature can only stir up bad memory.

Awang Jumbul