Response 4

The Yasukini Shrine has been a controversial part of Japan’s recent history. The issue of Prime Ministers visiting this shrine has been debated in the region since 1975 and especially during the term of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Shinzo Abe’s recent act of leaving a sacred potted plant with a wooden tag reading ‘Prime Minister’ at the shrine has again stirred up controversy on this subject. It can be interpreted as a gesture of respect that his voters demanded or a way of infuriating his neighbours or both. It may seem like a big hullabaloo over a small thing but in truth, this matter goes to the very bottom of Chinese, Japanese and Korean hearts; for this shrine houses and honours the war criminals and militarism of Japan in World War Two. To the Chinese and Koreans, honouring the shrine is tantamount to an insult on their nationals who died from Japanese atrocities in World War Two but to the Japanese it is a mark of respect for their citizens who gave their lives honourably for Japan.

The theme underlying all this controversy is patriotism. These countries were bitter enemies during World War Two and there remain till today many unresolved issues. I can sympathise with the Chinese and Koreans, especially those who lost loved ones in the war. Understandably, they are furious that Japan continues to honour the men who perpetrated these atrocities, as Abe is doing now. However, we must understand that many of today’s Japanese, because of the Reductionist Policy, know little about these atrocities and war crimes that their ancestors committed. Hence, I can understand why they view visiting the shrine as visiting heroes, since this is how these men have been portrayed. Patriotism is not an issue alien to Singapore and Singaporean students. The government has been trying to cultivate patriotism towards our Singaporean identity through National Education and Social Studies in schools. This issue teaches that patriotism and nationalism are not always good and can have negative effects, which is a new concept for me personally.

One lesson we can learn from Abe’s actions is compromise. Shinzo Abe must be under immense political pressure from his supporters to visit the shrine and from China, Korea and the international community to abstain from doing so. He may have felt that his actions were a compromise that could appease both the Japanese people and the foreign powers, although neither side appears to be totally pacified. Personally, I think there is no easy or perfect solution to this problem and sympathise fully with Mr Abe who has to deal with this difficult task.

Political issues are indeed very complicated, with many sides and views to consider and weigh. As a lay person reading this article, one is often swayed by the arguments put forth by the author. However, the article may not have covered all the background issues surrounding this matter, which may allow us to arrive at a better assessment of the problem.

Response 3

Many students of Virginia Technological University will remember April 16th forever as a day of bloodshed and fear. On that fateful day, thirty-three bright futures and minds ceased to exist in what will be remembered as one of the worst massacre in American History.

I think this attack teaches us an important lesson about violence. Looking at Cho’s writing, we can see that violence was present within his mind and may well have been a factor in this shooting. If we delve deeper, we can see that Cho’s mind was a bubble of anger and hatred waiting to explode. And explode it did.

Anger and violence among the young in our society is more common today and our schools and institutions of higher learning are not spared from this trend. What are the reasons behind this alarming development? I think the excessive portrayal of violence on television programmes and even computer games is a major contributing factor. These shows and games tend to glamorize violence, where the heroes will often defeat the ‘bad guys’ in sensational fashion and never ever seem to get hurt or in trouble with the law. The mass media seem to make light of violence and do not portray the consequences of violence – the loss of loved ones on family members, the injuries sustained and the arduous treatment needed to regain one’s health and even the permanent disabilities that result from injuries.

This trend of anger and violence amongst the young is a problem in Singapore as well, as seen in the recent cases of school bullying reported in the media. A good example is the recent report in the Straits Times about a female student who was stripped and beaten up in the school toilet by a group of classmates. I think it is time for our schools to take the problem of anger and violence amongst students more seriously before it gets out of control.

How can this problem be addressed? Is this just a case of a few bad sheep in our schools or a wider problem resulting from our fast-paced achievement driven society. While I cannot be completely certain, I suspect it is the latter. Many students today come from families where both parents spend long hours at work. This has resulted in parents spending less time imparting good values to their children. Instead, the wrong values are learned from the computer and television. Students today are driven to learn more and compete aggressively with each other. They tend to be more individualistic, aggressive and less tolerant of others. Some may exhibit a lot of anger from this stress.

I think schools should take a greater role in identifying ‘at risk’ students and provide counseling and mentoring from teachers as well as lessons on stress and anger management. I am not sure if this will work but I think this will be a useful start to recognizing and addressing this problem. Hopefully we can prevent another similar tragedy from occurring.