Whenever bad things happen to good people we are often in shock and often times even question where is the logic or fairness.
So when a 8.9 hit Japan coastline, I guess this thought is on the minds of many.
For some they may even think that Japan deserve it for all the atrocities which they commited during World War II. I personally have no experience because all this happens in 1941 and now I am practically a fan of Japan and all things Japanese.
But I did hear stories about it and how my grandparents cope with Japanese occupation from my mother.
The most vivid is the story about my great grandfather (GGF) or great granduncle (GGU). The story is being repeated hearsay so many times that I am not sure of the actual details.
Anyway, him (GGF or FFU) being a very industrious person still managed to find food and money for the family but the currency at that time were forcefully converted to Japanese issued dollar. The locals called it "duit pisang" or banana money because of the motif of banana trees on the notes.
How many of you know of this piece of history of Malaysia?
Anyway my mother (as she hear it from my grandmother) continue to explain that prices of goods escalate like crazy and to buy simple things like rice, you have to bring stacks and stacks of banana money. Plus to hide the money from would-be thief, my GGF or GGU used to stuff the money into his pillow. He'll sleep on it every night knowing that his money is safe.
There's also part of the story which says he often count the money but now that I am older, I'm not sure how true is this part of the story.
Anyway for those who studied Malaysia history you would know that when the Japs surrendered the banana money was rendered worthless. So when this news reach him, I think he suffered a momentary loss of reason and sanity.
As for the pillows, I think he may have burn it in his fits of anger but burn it did cos most of my great grandparents stuffs suffered this fate when the corner shophouse they were staying in burnt to the ground one evening.
The only thing that survived were items kept in an old safe. Mostly land titles I was told. Guess the banana money was too worthless to be kept in the safe or too bulky to fit into the safe (me think the latter is more likely the case).
Apart from this inconvenience, other war time stories which I can remember were the ones on how my mother who didnt have much food to eat and feed her siblings had to steal sweet potato
("ubi") from neighbouring farms
(my mother at that time were living in a rubber estate). So in a way she was shielded from much of the horrors of war as they did not have much contact with the outside world.
But now as I read about stories how the earthquake and tsunami caused so much damage to Japan, I dont think anyone should bear grudges against them but instead pray for them to overcome this difficult times cos whatever that happens to them, affects us one way or another.
We are not isolated from them and they from us. We are bonded by history and time. So right now I have decided the one way I can support them directly is by buying Japanese products. So between buying Dior or Shiseido, needless to say I will buy Shiseido.
It may seem trivial to some but this is the least I can do for such a beautiful country which manage to retain its unique old charm in spite of ultra modernization.
Banzai Japan!
(lit: ten thousand years) Long live Japan!
