“...and we’ll talk with them too—
Who loses and who wins, who’s in, who’s out—
And take upon ’s the mystery of things
As if we were God’s spies. And we’ll wear out
In a walled prison packs and sects of great ones
That ebb and flow by the moon.”
- King Lear; William Shakespeare
In today’s world; who’s winning and who’s losing—who’s in, who’s out? What is the mystery of our universe? In light of recent developments in the Korean peninsula, I can’t help but realise the differences between how Asia and Europe handle historic legacies and events. Many say Asia is the new Europe, boasting a collective continent as a whole that is rich in culture as well as a rapidly growing economy. But there are more differences between the two continents than we know.
Europe; for one, has a largely homogeneous Western race. Sure there are the different Palaeolithic and Mediterranean types; but they are largely just... white.
Asia, on the other hand; has a myriad of different races that can easily be identified. We have the Oriental East Asian races (China, Japan, North and South Korea), South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Nepalese—who are a different colour all together, similar to the Mongolians) and an even wider array in Southeast Asia—Malay, Indonesian (yes they are different, and even in Indonesia itself there are countless numbers of different indigenous and racial populous), Burmese, Vietnamese, Eurasians... the list goes on.
The heterogeneity of the different races in Asia thus constitutes many different cultures. Despite many sociologists stereotyping Asian culture into a particular mould where we are said (and written) to be collectivistic and hierarchical (I can’t deny it though, Asian society prides itself on the basis of values like filial piety and respect; these are not only so for East Asian types but also in South Asia—the caste system is undeniably hierarchical); different religions as well as Western influences coupled with cultural flows internally largely shape the multitude of different cultures in Asia today.
This probably then affects the way Asians do business. Asia has been one of the largest business hubs in history; where in the 1820s we accounted for 3/5 of the world’s total GDP. Chinese businessmen, Indian merchants and Southeast Asian artisans ruled the seas. Albeit eventually falling behind due to Western industrialisation; Asia today is gradually and rapidly taking back its share and cementing its global presence with China and India—two of Asia’s giants; and Japan, who although suffered badly in the 1980’s bubble burst is still one of the largest players in the global economic scene with undisputedly advanced technology well beyond any other country in the world. Our diverse economic strategies that combine capitalism with our culture and ideology have made us different from laissez-faire Europe. It is easy to describe the EU’s economy in one sentence but not Asia’s.
Going back to the issue of historic legacies, it is most intriguing how differently Asians handle memory of war. As I quote Brahma Chellaney, author of Asian Juggernauts; these are “shadows of history” that Europe has “done a better job in coming to terms with”. While in Europe there is a regional consciousness of condemnation of war crimes like the Holocaust (even in Germany where they commemorate Auschwitz, the then-Nazi concentration camp established for Jews); Asia on the other hand commemorates its “war heroes” (contentious point; but shan’t elaborate; refer to blog post “It is written”, haha) – Japan built Yasukuni shrine to remember the kamikaze pilots who died in WWII. It’s therefore about using history as a tool for nationalism versus using it as a reminder to prevent racism, exclusion, and oppression.
What has this got to do with recent developments between the Korean conflict, you ask. Well much of what is happening in Korea today is a result of how we as Asians handle what has happened in history. While the Berlin wall has fallen, representative of the decomposition of European differences between Capitalism and Communism; the Korean War is still unfortunately still ongoing, with even further escalations in conflict today. It saddens the world to see how a country can be so divided based on mistakes made in history that have uncontrolled ramifications today. There are still two Vietnams, two Chinas and two Koreas because we can’t seem to let go of ideals that were in fact propagated by Westerners.
That being said, all these are a result of Western imperialism and colonialism. Enforcement of Western decisions on Asian countries has very much divided us. It was American administrators who separated Korea at the 38th parallel; a result of Western political division by who else but the Soviets and Americans. With the North ruled by the bear and the South by the eagle; the country still remains divided today as a result of differences in Western ideology that is now deeply entrenched in Asian minds. Borders in Asia were drawn up by Western colonialists, who drew the lines between Thailand and Malaysia resulting in the minority Thai-Muslim population in Southern Thailand deeply isolated by predominantly Buddhist Thailand.
The events in history are so connected its scary. Everything we do has endless ramifications. As they say, the flutter of a butterfly’s wing may cause a tornado on the other side of the world. Such is the mystery of our universe.
