Hi readers! How is school so far? Just a reminder, reading week is coming soon!

For the past week or so in our ASTU class, we have been focusing on poetry about violence and war. All those poems we read could be tied into the event of 9/11; those poems perfectly depicted the frustrations of those who are suffering the loss of their loved ones; those poems wonderfully highlights the the ordeal of war.  For the first time ever, I enjoyed reading poetry.

While I was on my sick leave this week, I finally have the luxury to take a break during this stressful period and watch a movie. Interestingly and coincidentally the movie I watched is also about violence and war, I watched the movie The Flowers of War a movie starring  Christian Bale. The movie follows the story of 13 Chinese prostitute and their adventure during the Sino-Japenese War during the 30s to 40s . They hid in a catholic church governed by an American mortician. The movie resonated with me because I felt a deep connection the journey of the girls. My grandparents that lived through the war told me about how they escaped from mainland China to the British ruled Hong Kong during the Japanese war. They both walked by foot to Hong Kong and smuggled their way into tge island. The youngest brother of my grandma drowned when trying to run away from the fast approaching Japanese soldiers. Till this day, my grandparents still hold a grudge against the Japanese government and I understand why. They refuse to go travelling in Japan or purchase Japanese goods.

It saddens me to know that war and violence happened so close to home not many moons ago. I know hating on a race in general is an act of ignorance but it really begs the questions wheather victim of war has the right to be angry? My grandparent’s story really did made me think if their action gets to be justified. I would probably never find an answer to this impossible question. I cannot comprehend the pain they have been through or the sacrifice they made, so who am I to judge their decision to sanction Japanese goods?

I understand this blog might be quite dull but I would like to express my thoughs on war as a third generation victim of war.

Hope you enjoy my blog and have a wonderful week 🙂