"Rape of Nanking"---- What are your thoughts?
-
I gave a book entitled "Rape of Nanking" by Iris Chengs to a male japanese friend for his birthday...... my japanese gf said it is offensive.. do u think its offensive? at least they should remember the past right? is it wrong of me to give him that book? any thoughts? comments?
-
she offended becuz the book is protraying the evilness of japanese soldiers? or she offended by the pics, just like some ppl offended by p0rn?
i see the book like a observer ba... see the facts lor. i dun go like "fucking japanese... see their evilness!"
more like "oh.. this is what happened.. ooo, this rape position very power.. hmm ouch, that's gotta hurt. oh.. so this is what they did..." haha kidding.
anyway..past is past... 2 wrongs don't make a right.
-
As a gesture of friendship, you should be giving gifts that are complimentary.
It's like the first time I meet you, I slap your face and scold you for what your father did. -
Yah, nobody likes to be reminded of what their pple did esp war crimes.
I'm sure he is aware cos all these info are easily avail. -
u crazy ah, give him that book for what? show him that japanese sux?Originally posted by alexkusu:I gave a book entitled "Rape of Nanking" by Iris Chengs to a male japanese friend for his birthday...... my japanese gf said it is offensive.. do u think its offensive? at least they should remember the past right? is it wrong of me to give him that book? any thoughts? comments? -
wat a book to give to japanese
-
actually not true. u know that japanese their history lessons only teach the good things. the horrible things they did to singapore etc, are not in their textbooksOriginally posted by gerrykoh:Yah, nobody likes to be reminded of what their pple did esp war crimes.
I'm sure he is aware cos all these info are easily avail. -
given the generation now theres no rite or wrong la but i support u...after all its them who did it so scared wat? they raped gals like hell y cant they know? its good if they feel ashamed.
-
I think it is insensitive ba. Most of the time for birthdays, the intention is to give a gift that would please the person and make him happy.
I think you could have discussed the war with your friend, offered to get him the book (or other non fiction books), brought him to the museum etc, on any other day than on his birthday. Still, you got to remember as you said, that many young Japanese have no idea what happened. Also it is not their fault, they shouldn't need to carry the guilt of their forebears.
Educating and letting them learn something new, should also be done with a degree of sensitivity. To rub it in right to his nose on his birthday is not something very polite. I am sure you won't enjoy having someone give you a book which suddenly lets you know your family/race was guilty of genocide or massacres on your birthday either.
It's been more than 50 years, it is time for education AND reconciliation. -
but giving such books on his birthday?
-
haha. next time he give u a clock for ur bday
-
Point taken.I was thinking he is a bookworm..so a book would be a good idea.Didnt meant to rub it in....thinking about it,my actions may have consequent implications..i think i should find out what he thinks of the 'gift'...but that would be rubbing it in isnt it?Originally posted by ShrodingersCat:I think it is insensitive ba. Most of the time for birthdays, the intention is to give a gift that would please the person and make him happy.
I think you could have discussed the war with your friend, offered to get him the book (or other non fiction books), brought him to the museum etc, on any other day than on his birthday. Still, you got to remember as you said, that many young Japanese have no idea what happened. Also it is not their fault, they shouldn't need to carry the guilt of their forebears.
Educating and letting them learn something new, should also be done with a degree of sensitivity. To rub it in right to his nose on his birthday is not something very polite. I am sure you won't enjoy having someone give you a book which suddenly lets you know your family/race was guilty of genocide or massacres on your birthday either.
It's been more than 50 years, it is time for education AND reconciliation. -
buy him another gift? i dunno. for me i wun really mind
-
i think you need to apologise for the faux pas.. and.. Hmm... if he is a sensitive person, and the Japanese have a lot of racial pride... it will be pretty devastating to him. A friend of mine who read the book was quite affected by the graphic portrayals. and she's neither Japanese or Chinese.Originally posted by alexkusu:Point taken.I was thinking he is a bookworm..so a book would be a good idea.Didnt meant to rub it in....thinking about it,my actions may have consequent implications..i think i should find out what he thinks of the 'gift'...but that would be rubbing it in isnt it?
So again... be sensitive ba. Perhaps you can explain to him you didn't give him the book out of any personal hatred! Just that you have heard such books on WWII is rare in Japan, so you gave him and it was unintentional.
Ultimately, you can't avoid handling the topic ba. Its a bit controversial. And who knows, perhaps as you say he's a bookworm, he might already have read books like this, and the situation simply isn't as bad as we think
and at least you can have a peace of mind.