But despite all that, it was a wonderful trip. We had sufficient (QR would probably say too much) time for shopping in Bangkok (but interestingly, I either fail to bring the stuff back or bought the wrong sizes) and made 2 day trips to cities 2 hour's bus journeys from the capital. And those two were Ayutthaya (capital of earlier dynasty, around 15-16th century I think) and Kanchanaburi (death railway). Well, to me the highlight was the latter. First of all, they have a wonderful museum right within the immediate town area. Takes no more than 3 minutes on mini-bus (which only costs 10Baht a ride. Don't be fooled by those who extort more.) There you'll find many models which depict living conditions during the building of the railway. A very visual collection.
We later went to the Bridge over River Kwai, apparently famous, but I couldn't get much out of the place. That was the same with Ayutthaya, probably worse, because the museum gave virtually no information in anything other than Thai, despite being a world heritage site. We later spent another hour or so on a bicycle, visiting a war cemetary in the outskirts, padi and maize fields, cows, and a cave temple.
My biggest takeaway this trip is somewhat about history. I was at the war cemetary, quietly whispering a prayer for all dead, especially for those in war. And I was walking down the rows. Rows that look so dignified and beautiful (complete with plants and flowers, well maintained indeed). Home to those who died (mainly British in this cemetary) during the building of the railway. I think of a artsy film that I earlier watched - which informed me, in a subtle manner, of how the POWs' spirits and philosophy of life was superior to that of the devilish Japs. But the breaking point was reading the words left by the loved ones left behind by the late soldiers. I saw words from fathers, mothers, siblings, children, wives... Some of them reflected on what their beloved sons died for - peace. Some spoke of meeting again - in eternal bliss, hopefully. Yet others spoke of longing, remembrance, love. I couldn't not tear when I passed by those that spoke of the remains were those of "our (or my) son". I cannot imagine the anguish of losing a love one to something as stupid as a war. I've run out of words to describe such conflict and brutality. The message lives though. That war should and must be avoided. That peace and understanding is the only way for the human race to progress.
But not all tombstones had lines left behind. And not even all had names.
A soldier of the war. A soldier of the war. A soldier of the war.
That was all that was left of him. No one claimed some relationship to his bones even in death. Maybe no one could, for he was unidentifiable. But history is THIS. Unnamed people, positions, ranks, numbers, groups, formations, societies. After another 2 centuries (I dare say 50 years), who would remember this names? For the named soldiers, who would know of them and their personalities after their immediate families pass away? Probably no one, but right in our history lessons we learn that there was such a war and so many people died and they did this-and-that. And the reasons and trends was such-and-such.
WHAT IS THE POINT??
We should all stop to ponder on this. Somewhere, somehow, I recall that someone ever spoke of these lines to me: "We can avoid making mistakes we made earlier in our history in future if we truly understand our past." Note that there are two time phases there. Past and future. But read deeper. The past to us is nameless, and the future cannot be named for it hasn't come to pass. The only way that line is going to work is for the present to be involved, for numbers and statistics and academic studies cannot bring us the message and lessons from our past.
To fully comprehend and adopt these lessons, we need to be grounded in the present. Our current emotions and worldview and ideological (and moral) systems and codes. Our understanding of what happened previously. So we need bridges. In Singapore, the new generation has lived through at least 30 years of peace. No major conflicts which ends up in many deaths all at once. So we have to try to imagine the undesirability of wars and conflicts. We have to make up, in our mind, the hardships that those before us went through. But all this is not all that difficult. We just have to think of the times we came under threat, the fear, and maybe the bravery and camaderie such trying times resulted it. We could just reach deeper within us to recall times when we were hurt by others in various ways, and I'm sure we can all feel a small part of the soldiers' suffering.
We may be different, but we are really quite the same.
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