As if we were God's spies

“...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.

It is written.

I recently had a very interesting conversation with a friend regarding our views on History-- a subject that I have been studying for a good 9 years now. As much as I love the subject, I would have to say that what we study about in textbooks are very much skewed and biased (then again one would argue that absolutely NOTHING is unbiased in this world). Well in short, as we all know, History is written by its victors.

Well it's simple, really. The world works on a basis of Darwinism, which basically talks about the survival of the fittest. The stronger survive and the weaker, well, die. Similarly, in the course of global politics and power play, the stronger nations triumph and basically get whatever they want when it comes to treaty terms and conditions; while those who are weaker and eventually lose will have to reluctantly accept the victor's T&C. This, we all know.

But of course, then, are we too quick to believe that which we read in History textbooks or even Social Studies textbooks? Are the British and Americans really the "good guys" and the Germans and Japanese the "bad guys"? Weren't the Russians part of the Allies too? Why aren't they portrayed as the "good guys" as well? Did the allies not kills hundreds of thousands of lives, civilian or not, just like the Axis Powers did?

Communism ideals work on the basis of egalitarianism and the utopian view of Communism would be that everyone works for everyone and that power and wealth would be distributed evenly-- so why is it that Communism is seen as an evil force? And yet, Capitalist America is portrayed as the 'freedom fighting, liberalising driving force that will set you free", the American symbol of the Eagle that soars way up high above us.

While I can't deny that the Holocaust is definitely downright and purely morally wrong, I can't also agree that the Atomic bomb was necessary. Is this, then, a question of whose lives are worth more? Does this mean that Japanese lives were not worth as much as the, say, Americans at Pearl Harbour? Definitely not.

Just something that I've thought about for quite a few years since I was 16-- when in History lesson we were taught the controversies surrounding the nuclear use on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945:

1. Nuclear use was not necessary because the Japanese were already fighting a losing battle-- the Japanese were fast exhausting their resources in the Pacific and lost a lot of men due to their Kamikaze tactics. It was soon enough that they would be too weak to continue the fight and eventual surrender would ensue (One could argue, though, that they have a no-surrender mentality, but given the lack of manpower and resources they would probably be left with no choice just as they did surrender eventually)

2. The dropping of the atomic bombs were just an opportunity for the Americans to showcase their nuclear power and advances in weapon technology to Russia. There were huge tensions between the Capitalist and Communist blocs that were arising as WWII was coming to an end (the alliance between Russia and America to defeat the Axis Powers was definitely just a marriage of convenience) and America wanted to psychologically threaten the Soviet Union in terms of showing what they were capable of, attempting to put off the Communists from trying to infiltrate or influence and 'poison' even more governments and countries.

I've never then agreed with how the Japanese were portrayed to be evil. Yes they had atrocities towards the people. And yes, they had a insatiable hunger and thirst for power that led to them wanting to take over Asia and eventually the world, but hey, wasn't this the case for European Imperialism as well? The Western powers, Britain, Germany, Italy and France--they were all fighting for territories. And lets not go into colonialism. They did provide education. Western education. Just as the Japanese DID provide education in Singapore schools as well.

As for killings, lives were lost when the Western powers were fighting for their territories in Africa as well. Why is imperialism and colonialism justified when that was also what the Japanese were trying to do? Does it mean that White people can rule but not us Asians?

All this is a product of what is written by those who won the fight, be it WWI/II, or the Cold War. I know that there isn't a solution to this because everything has been written. But well, I suppose we should, in future, not be quick to dispel the Japanese or the other 'bad guys' in History to be purely evil, and at the same time realise that well, whatever in the books may be factual and accurate, but we cannot purely be biased in our views towards what has happened in the course of History that will affect our political discourses. This could have further implications and ramifications as well especially since there is religious tension due to terrorist bombings as well as the Iraq War. We shouldn't be quick to separate and distinguish who is good and evil in this fight as there are atrocities on both ends.