Japan was
very active and destructive during the Second World War, to include South East
Asia as part of their grand plan for a East Asia Co prosperity Sphere, ie the
Japanese Imperialist Empire. And in their implementation of this plan for co
prosperity of East Asia, it was not about stability but conquest. The plan was
the invasion of Asia and South East Asia that led to great pains and sufferings
and millions of death to Asians and South East Asians. The countries in the
region were invaded and colonized and looted, their people raped and killed en
mass.
When talking
about stability and prosperity in Asia with the Japanese, one must not talk
blindly, in a vacuum, unthinking and without reflecting on the meanings of such
terms in the minds of the Japanese and to those who had suffered under Japanese
brutality. For children born after the
war, and if they did not read history or their parents did not tell them what
happened then, they may think that Japanese are all wearing suits and ties and
very nice people. They have different plans for the Asians and South East
Asians, and stability and prosperity in Asia meant different things to them.
And inviting the Japanese to sustain their roles in SE Asia, without
qualifications, without understanding history, is a dangerous and uncalled for
remarks.
Japan should
be invited to play an active role in the prosperity of Asia from the economic
point of view ONLY, and not security and definitely not a military one. People
who don’t learn from history are likely to ignore history and repeat history
and suffer the same consequences of their forbears.
Japan was
not an angel like they want to present themselves today. Japan’s role in South
East Asia in the past was that of an invader, an occupier, colonialist, imperialist,
and barbaric, killing and looting Asia and SE Asia. No one in his right mind
would want to invite Japan to play the same barbaric role as invaders and
conquerors of Asian and SE Asian countries all over again.
The
militarization of Japan and the tearing away of the Pacifist Constitutions
should be taken heed, that Japan is reverting to its military past and wanting
to go to war again. The Japanese ambition as a military power at the expense of
Asia and South East Asia must not be simply forgotten and taken lightly. Invite
the Japanese to grow and prosper with Asia and South East Asia, but the
Japanese must be reminded that their military ways would not be welcomed unless
these countries would not mind being invaded once again. Do SE Asians want to
suffer the same fate as their forefathers under Japanese rule?
Singapore
would not want to be ‘Syonan to’ once again. Singaporeans would not want to
sing the Japanese national anthem once again. Singaporeans would not want to
be butchered and beheaded and shot at point blank by Japanese soldiers and
buried in Tanah Merah or Blakang Mati Beaches. The Singaporeans killed were
literary digging their own graves, forced by the Japanese soldiers.
Singapore
must really teach history all over again to make the young Singaporeans smarter
and wiser, especially to those born after the war. Many did not know what they
are talking about.