HIEA 114 Medium Post #1
In order to have a peaceful world, it is very important to understand and help other people. When talking about wars, the world will always be divided into different parts. Using World War II as an example, Allies and Axis, Democracy and Totalitarianism, East and West. Even people inside Japan can be divided by ethnicity. Not only the Zainichi Koreans we discussed in class, but also the Taiwanese people under Japan’s colonization during that time from my own knowledge as a Taiwanese person. After the war, it is good for us to listen to different people’s stories. It can help collecting information and also preventing the next potential war.
In the NHK World news “Korean A-Bomb Survivors Speak Out”, the person was treated badly during his young age due to his Korean ethnicity, but finally had a chance to speak out about his own experience recently. “It makes me feel good that people listen to my story, not disguised as Japanese, but as a genuine Korean” (Kondo 2018). The man said. This action not only means his relief but also makes us be able to know more about zainichi Korean people during WWII and A-bomb survivors. I really like what the student said in the news. “‘I hope nobody sees this light again,’ she said. ‘And I’d like to do something to tell people about the importance of peace’” (Kondo 2018). Lee’s story taught us how terrible were racial discrimination and the A-bombs. People learn from mistakes. When we understand, we can try to prevent similar things to happen again.
Jennifer Cooke also talks about people understanding and helping each other during the pandemic period. “But there will also be simple kindnesses, more phone calls between family members, between friends […] And there will be incredible community support, for the people by the people. There will be ingenious new forms of entertainment and the revival of older forms that we have forgotten or stashed at the back of the cupboard […] Lists are circulating for you to sign up to help those in your area by shopping for them, collecting medicines, or simply to chat on the phone to assuage some of the loneliness for those unable to go out” (Cooke 2020). The pandemic makes us take back many things that we have been forgetting all the time. Despite some outliers, mostly the whole world unite together to confront the pandemic. I will always remember that Japan gifted vaccines to Taiwan regardless China’s hindering.
I believe that understanding and helping are essential for maintaining a peaceful world. As a Taiwanese, I could say the 228 incident is one of the most well-known historical events. It is been almost 80 years, but many people still care about it very much to a extreme extent. This is an event that should never be forgotten and forgiven, but I also think it is not good to discuss it with pure anger or other irrational emotions, either. We should try to listen and understand the people that are related to the incident from different perspectives. For example, the victims’ families can stand out to tell us their stories just like Mr. Lee. Some people think we should not discuss about the incident because it is a sad tragedy. This is not true. If we do not talk about it, then we can never solve the problems that it brought to us. I hope Mr. Lee’s experience could apply to other similar cases, so we can understand more about people and things that we were not familiar with before. This world really needs us to work together.
Work cited
Jennifer Cooke, “Letter on a Plague Year,” commune (March 19, 2020)
Kondo Yukari, “Korean A-Bomb Survivors Speak Out,” NHK World-Japan (August 8, 2018)
