The Morality of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima

"For sixty years, soldiers, politicians and historians have argued about the morality of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Did it bring an end to the war, removing the need for a land invasion which would have killed many more civilians and soldiers than the bomb itself? Or was it a cynical test of a new weapon on an enemy which was already on the verge of collapse? Whatever moral doubts exist about the bombing of Hiroshima, they are redoubled in the case of Nagasaki." (A short excerpt from Asia Exile titled The Luckiest or Unluckiest Man in the World? Read more here.)

While I grieved every time reading about the Japanese casualties in the A-bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki which end WWII, I must admit that I have very little sympathy for the their ordeal. An argument about the morality of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in my opinion is totally unnecessary because of the Japanese atrocities in WWII. Besides leaving many innocents civilians dead, the question of morality has never crossed the mind of their leaders when all these war crimes were being committed, either deliberately or accidentally, by their invading armies. Therefore, it was definitely necessary to put an end to the Japanese atrocities using A-Bomb or similar if anyone has one to prevent soldier without moral to create more casualties.

It is interesting to note that the Japanese High Command did not immediately surrender when the first A-Bomb was dropped in Hiroshima, thus resulting in the second bomb being dropped in Nagasaki by the Americans. The action of the Japanese High Command was beyond comprehension by a normal person. However, the article itself provides an answer. It was said that "American intelligence was fully aware of the confusion which reigned in the Japanese High Command: the question under debate was not whether, but how, to submit to the inevitable." Yes, how can Japan - the Imperial State submit themselves to an invading force? Their extreme jingoism, if not prevented, had delayed their decision in surrendering to the Allied. In delaying their decision, it seems to me that the Japanese was not deterred by the horror of A-Bomb, but had placed nationalism and egoism above the life of the common people. As Mr. Yamaguchi asked, "But they knew that it would kill women, children, babies. How could they do that?”, this question should be directed to his government of the day on why the delay of surrendering when they knew the devastation A-Bomb would caused? With their stubbornness to accept defeatism, I would say even the second A-Bomb for Nagasaki was justified.

Nevertheless, I do hope that similar episode will not happen again. Both A-Bomb and war atrocities give the same level of devastation. War should be avoided at all cost!

We Are Not Opportunistic Racists

"However, I must add that there were indeed a few Chinese that stayed back and help defend the nation against the communists. Those were the brave ones. Very much unlike the opportunistic racists that we have now who would migrate overseas when times are bad and at the same time condemning Malaysia from abroad." (A very short excerpt from the blog of jebatmustdie)

Dear Jebat,

I must admit that the above comment by the you has been very disturbing to me for the past few days. Your comment hits me severely hard on my face, and that suddenly makes me lose all the impulses of expressing myself to condemn the brutal regime of UMNO from abroad. I struggled to come out with a valid reason for me to continue condemning them from Australia.

Although my skin is yellow, but my blood definitely flows with Malaysian blood. I have not equated myself with the chinese from China, but I declare that if those chinese from China dare to conquer Malaysia land, I would pick up a gun and give them a bloody nose, just like how our forefathers had fight against the insurgency of the Communist in the past. I can be the brave ones as well when come to defend my country from oppressors.

I'm not leaving Malaysia because of the bad economy, or of the humble wages. When I leave the country and migrate to another country, it was a big decision for me, because I have to leave everything behind to start anew in a strange place. I must say, it's much easier to continue staying in Malaysia rather than starting all over again in a new place, alone. Furthermore, I'll belong to even a smaller minority group than I am in Malaysia after migrated. If I have a choice, I wouldn't migrate, I love Malaysia.

Dear jebat, it's the security & the racial policies in my country that made up my mind to migrate. There is nothing more precious than having a peaceful & harmonious living. That's why we often greet people with "peace be with you". Because without peace, other possessions would have become unimportant. Look around us, people are killing people just for a mere five ringgit and the police just shrugged off by asking the people not to wear handbag and expensive accessories. The government of the day has not done anything to improve this situation, but has aggravated the situation by the police themselves becoming a criminal. When my mom often told me in the past that she was able to walk & cycle around without fear being targeted for petty crimes, the Malaysians today do not have the luxury to feel the same. We just want peace.

Over and over again, I have heard racial hatred being sowed by UMNO. In the context of racial relation, times has been bad since 13th May 1969, not just recently. Whenever we tried to forget, we were reminded by UMNO that if the non-Malay are not obedient, 513 will repeat. Since young, I was told by my parents to be aware of the Malays and Indians, because they kidnap children. It was used as a standard scare tactics by most of the ethnic chinese parents to stop their children from wandering far from their sight. At school, the chinese named the Malays as babi, the Indians as keling and of course they have different names for the chinese. Even today, I'm sure you hear people utter such words at each other, even in the parliament, don't you? There never was a good time as racial relation is concerned. Jebat, I don't want my children to grow up in such environment where we label different ethnic groups with contempt and constantly under life threatening threats from our leaders. I want my children to grow in an environment where they feel accepted. We just want to be treated equally as a human.

I have lived in Singapore and Australia 1/3 of my life. Ironically, those were the place that I didn't feel being discriminated against even I was not part of them. Can you understand the feeling of a Malaysian who is being discriminated in his own country? Surely not, because you haven't been one of them as defined in the constitution.

Who Are You Talking With, PM?

Look who is talking: Be Truthful To The People, PM Tells Leaders

"Tell them the truth. If you've done well, tell them the policies are right. If the policies are not working, then you should have the courage to tell them that look, we've made mistakes but we intend to do better, we intend to correct these mistakes. And I think the rakyat would appreciate that. "Although you are in the government, you are only human, and humans do make mistakes. The key is not that you will make mistakes, but how you recover from your mistakes. Hopefully mistakes will be few, but most of the decisions will be correct and the decisions will be spot-on. "But there will be times when, because of changing circumstances, you suddenly realise that your policies or your decisions are not quite correct. But once you realise that they're not quite correct, be honest about it and tell people,"

"Over a period, certainly you will be able to develop that faith and trust with the people. Above all, keep your word. If you promise, you must deliver. One of the things that can undermine this faith and loyalty is if you break your promise. If you promise something, you must stick to your promise and you must deliver your promise,"

"Once we are able to deliver what is promised and be more transparent and open with others, we will have built a solid foundation for trust," "No one single value can be imbued without the other in order for 1Malaysia to truly take shape. While these values have long been taught in our culture, the application of these values must be renewed. "I urge all Malaysians to inculcate and cultivate these values in our daily practices and actions not just amongst close friends and family, but in the workplace and our community at large,"

Contempt! Contempt! Contempt!

What an episode of Malaysia's democracy today. It's a mockery. Not just to the democracy of this near-failed country, but to the monarch and the people of Malaysia.

We all know that UMNO is scumbag and the PDRM a running dog for the scumbag. Not until Feb 09 did I realized that the monarch of Perak also a kind of domestic dog to UMNO. You know what, I have a high regard and respect for the Sultan of Perak since the time I knew the meaning of Sultan. I often tell people that we the Perakian have the most learned, assertive, well-mannered and people-centered Sultan in all of Malaysia, not to mention he was a Lord President. And he has a son, Raja Nazrin, who is a bold, well-learned, young, humble and dared to speak for democracy in Malaysia. What has happened today completely destroyed their ideal image in my bosom. It was sad that the monarch has chose to betray the rakyat over its own interest. Shame on them.

I have followed the web live report from 7am. It was alarming to see how the PDRM has cordoned off the state assembly from the public with barbed-wire, numerous policemen and FRU ready to strike on those who tries to breach the blockade. It was disheartening to see various walk of life, protesters or innocent law-abiding people being herded away by the police. It was agitating to see how the Speaker was being dragged out by the officers hired by UMNO. My blood was boiling with higher temperature with each passing moment of the proceeding. Every moment was a contempt to democracy. I have never seen such an absurd thing in my life. When I read the updates, I have nothing to say but fuck, fuck the police or fuck UMNO! I should have fucked the MCA and MIC too, but I forgotten about them because they were so silent as if they were not in the scene. What a hypocrite!

Of course, Malaysia has had many constitutional commotion such as today, and most of them happened when I was still feeding on milk. I have heard and read about it. But nothing comes as real as today, I read with my own eyes and listen to it with my own ears. For me, it's the darkest day of Malaysia since I was born. Today will be remembered as long as it can contain in my memory. I hope Malaysian will repay them dearly on the coming 13th General Election.

Nonsense and Laughable News for the Day (1/5/09)

Disclaimer: I'm NOT taking any responsibilities if you puke after reading these nonsense news below. Read it at your own risk.

1Malaysia wins friends among Bruneians (NST)

THERE may have been some scepticism at home about the 1Malaysia concept introduced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, but people outside the country appear to be attracted to it. This could be seen from the numerous questions on the concept posed to Najib during his two-day visit to Brunei which ended yesterday. Read more here.

Abdullah: Discord evident in Pakatan (NST)

KEPALA BATAS: Pas' proposal to field a candidate in the Penanti by-election showed Parti Keadilan Rakyat is not the most popular choice among voters in Permatang Pauh. Read more here.

Avoid State Secretariat building (NST)

IPOH: The public has been advised to avoid going to Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan (State Secretariat building) as the state assembly will be sitting from May 7. The State Secretary's office said in a statement yesterday that the public should reschedule appointments or meetings at the offices there.

Liow more concerned with dengue situation (NST)

KUALA LUMPUR: "Wow! It's definitely an interaction which took me by surprise as many people went online to communicate with me, including a politician," said Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai. Read more here.


Najib: We need to inspire our younger generation (The Star)

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia must continue to inspire the younger generation to continue its struggle in order to be able to compete in a global marketplace amid global economic crisis, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. Read more here.


1Malaysia songwriting contest (The Star)

KUALA LUMPUR: The Information, Commu­nications and Culture Ministry is organising a 1Malaysia song writing competition based on the “People First, Performance Concept” mooted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. Read more here.