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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| October 2, 2003 |
Singapore |
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With clockwork precision, Peace Boat called into the Singapore Cruise Centre. While for some participants, Singapore is an opportunity to sample a melange of cultures cuisine from across Asia, principally Chinese, Malay and Indian, or to stock up on supplies for the longer stretches at sea, Peace Boat also offers the chance to see the legacy of Japan's impereial agression during WWII as well as forging links of friendship with local people.
It was with plenty of anticipation that 50 participants poured onto buses bound for a lightning short visit to Singapore Management University (SMU) - Singapore's newest university campus - to meet and find out what life is really like for the students, who are often dubbed the MTV-loving, Starbucks-doting consumer generation of South-East Asia.
From the outset, there was much curiosity on all sides to satisfy. What are the other side like? What are their aspirations and interests? What do they talk about, how do they speak? (Everyone on Peace Boat had heard all about?eSinglish', lah!) So Singapore Management University (SMU) and Peace Boat agreed to set aside an afternoon to help open up the kinds of cross-cultural interaction that would hopefully spark new friendships and lead to greater collaboration in the future.
The ages of the Peace Boat participants ranged from 19 to 75 years. They were joined two guests from Viet Nam now living in the USA, Le Ly and Alan Hayslip, and K. Thanh Bui. The SMU contingent was comprised of 19 to 23 year olds studying either Accounting, Economics or Business majors.
Showcasing the diversity and cultural fusion that represents contemporary Singapore were members of SMU's performance clubs, who demonstrated their talents ranging from sleek, hip-hop to traditional Malay theatrical dance to Punjabi drumming and traditional Indian dance complete with richly coloured saris. In effect, these dances represented the blend of Indian, Malay, and Chinese-descendent identities co-existing in the city-state. Sparking energy and alighting smiles on each and every one of the audience's faces, the dancers enticed old and young alike moving to the catchy rhythms of the Indian drums, shedding the awkwardness of being a room full of people who had met just minutes before.
Next, Peace Boat's own group of traditional Japanese drummers playing the large Wadaiko drums took the stage and energized the room with their Eastern beats, while our inter-generational choir, communicated their message of unity by including sign language in their performance, as a symbolic gesture of crossing the language barrier.
After the visit, the roles were reversed and Peace Boat became the host, inviting close to 100 Singaporean students onboard to see firsthand what Peace Boat is all about. In addition to a tour of the ship, they were given a presentation as well as learning about our activities and background. They heard how on any regular day at sea, Peace Boat is abuzz with lectures, workshops and people of all ages mixing together to learn from, and teach each other in a community of sharing.
As a key part of the presentation, our guest educators from Korea, Viet Nam and the United States made a joint appeal for peace using poetry, photography, music and speech. Their peace message expressed our common humanity and collective experiences simply and from the heart. They conveyed that at some stage in history, we have all been aggressors and we have all been victims and that we should acknowledge our commonality rather than our points of difference. Part of the appeal featured a display of a large map of Asia with ?gFor the brighter future of our region, let's transform Asia from a map peppered with conflict zones to a map of peace." Then, one by one, students from SMU were invited to come up to the front and add a coloured flower to the poster map of Asia so that before their eyes, everyone present saw, at least symbolically, their wish for peace fulfilled.
Peace Boat plans to continue to build on the relationship when it calls at Singapore in January 2004 and look at ways we can deepen the friendship with our new Singaporean partners, so that together we work to make the "map of peace" a reality on the ground.
Flowers of Peace for Asia
When we look at a map of Asia and think carefully, there is no place which has not seen war and violence. Every river is bloody, every mountain has became the grave of those who suffered. Asia exists silently on this sad earth.
Korea
We Koreans always bear our wounds in mind. We remember that we were invaded and colonized by Japanese imperialists. But, we in Korea are also the aggressors who have sent military troops to unjust wars in other countries. And we have killed each other and continue to mourn the division of our people.
Japan
We Japanese have brought suffering and pain to many people throughout Asia during our years of invasion and occupation. But we are also victims who lost our loved ones during the long years of war, and we are citizens who have been suffering from the atomic bomb.
Viet Nam
We Vietnamese are victims who have been invaded by France, China, Japan, the United States, Korea despite the fact we have no modern experience of invading other countries.
But if we think again, we can realize that we are also perpetrators who have killed each other divided ourselves into north and south.
Throughout Asia there is a need to acknowledge and learn from our shared history and experiences. Whether it is in Aceh Indonesia, Mindanao in the Philippines or military rule in Burma, our Asian region needs our attention.
No one can forget the pain of war and the harshness of colonization. In some way or another, we are all aggressors and victims at the same time. We have the collective experience of killing and being killed.
So we really hope we can replace the memory of suffering with the wish for peace. Rather than leave this work to the political world - where apologies do not come easily, and truth is often concealed or forgotten - we the people should work together to bring about a new consciousness.
We want to grow a forest of peace in Asia through solidarity and understanding.
Let us make this the first step in healing our wounded memories, so that the people who have forgotten about peace will start to remember. |
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