So Ace asked me why do people study history. I asked him why he thought people studied history and he said, "So that we can know what good things that other people did in the past and we can remember these things..."
And he went on to share with me some things he learnt about Singapore's history when he was at CAMP@Home about war hero, Lim Bo Seng.
Somehow though, the discussion turned to the topic of WAR. So Ace asked me if anyone I knew survived war. I told him that zeng popo and laoma probably survived WWII... "Does anyone you know survived both WWI and WWII?" he asked me.
So I explained tat WWI happened a really long time ago and that is why very few people alive now have surivived BOTH wars.
Then we started to discuss about why there is war. I explained to Ace that wars start for various reasons. Most often than not, it is when the kings or the leaders of a certain country, wanted to expand their country.. want to make their country bigger and stronger and so they will try to fight another country and make it part of their own. I think WWI started because this guy by the name of Hitler wanted to be King Of The World and so he started war against many countries around the world to make them his own. "So mummy.. how did hitler die? Did he get shot by someone?" I told him I didn't know and will know after I googled it.. (Found out that hitler died by suicide... guess he couldnt take losing the war...)
Also like in WWII it started because Japan also wanted to become the leader of the world and started to fight other countries.. that is why the countries came together and formed the Allies to fight back.
Sometimes of course, it could be because people from two different countries have different ideas about things and they get into a disagreement.. or that two people from different countries do bad things to each other and the people in their own country get upset with the other country as a result and then they fight and war starts...
At this point, Ace suddenly said to me, "I wish I can experience war..."
I told him though that I wish he will NEVER have to experience war. "There is nothing good about war to experience..." I told him. I explained to him, during war, people are always running and hiding and always in fear, thinking that they might die or that their loved ones might die... families are sometimes seperated because they get lost or die... during war also, there is usually not enough food and so, people are often hungry as well... and during war, sometimes soldiers who invade a country do mean things to the people like they might kill anyone they do not like or they might kill women and even children...
I also explained to Ace that war is a lose lose situation for both sides. For the country that started the war and invade the other country, they have to send many of their people to fight the war and these people are are someone's family members and so families are torn apart.. and when you fight in a war, there is a chance that you might die as well.. and of course, the other country might fight back as well... Just like in WWII... while Japan managed to win many of the wars, many of their people are killed... on top of that, when the Allies fought back, they dropped this bomb called the Atomic bomb that did not just KILL people.. it affected their people many generations after as people living near the area were suffering from poor health and also many of them gave birth to children who were deformed or very sick at birth afterwards.
For the country that is being invaded, the people will surely lose loved ones and some of their things will be taken and so for both sides, they don't become better even if they might win the war. Always there is a price to pay.
"And that is why people study history.." I explained.."So that we also learn from our past and not make the same mistakes that our forefathers did and we can help create a better world.."
I asked Ace why would he want to experience war and he said he changed his mind in that case... he was just wishing that because he is curious about history and what happened in the past.
Later in the day, while going out to dinner, I shared this story with Max and he told Ace a very important thing- history happened in the past, and what we do now could make history for the people in the future. People can be a part of history and be remembered for doing stupid things or they can be remembered for doing great things...
So, do you want to create your own history for people to remember and do you want to be remembered for doing great things or stupid things?
PS: Coincidentally, the night I was writing this, I came across this book.. called If You Knew Me You Would Care.. it is written by women who share stories of having surivived difficult situations like war, rape, etc... REad through one or two stories.. quite an interesting read.. salute these strong women....
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