PETALING JAYA: The Kedah government will put up a new signboard that depicts the three fallen Japanese World War II soldiers in Kedah as ‘soldiers’ and not ‘heroes’, with an anti-war message.
“The three soldiers were heroes in the eyes of the Japanese, but to us, they are merely soldiers who were caught in between the war between Japan and the British during World War II,” Kedah state exco for Youth and Sports, Tourism, and Arts and Culture, as well as Development of Entrepreneurs Mohd Asmirul Anuar Aris said today.
“The war monument has been around since 1941. It looked abandoned and unkempt. The decision to restore the war monument was made by the Consulate-General of Japan in Penang,“ he said at a press conference at Wisma Darul Aman today.
He also said the war monument could serve as a history lesson for the younger generation, so an anti-war message could be attached to the signboard.
“We should not play up any racial or religious sentiments, which could lead to actions like war,“ he said.
He added that as the war monument is a historical artefact, it should not be seen as glorifying the colonisers.
“We have the A Famosa from the Portuguese, Fort Cornwallis from the British, and Stadthuys from the Dutch. These monuments are also physical evidence of the presence of various colonisers in our history,“ he said.
Asmirul was responding to criticisms from various quarters over a banner that referred to the soldiers as heroes during the monument’s unveiling ceremony on Thursday.
He said the banner was printed on behalf of the Japanese side when the monument was unveiled.
The three are seen as heroes by the Japanese for defusing a bomb planted at the Alor Star bridge, whose destruction would have delayed the Japanese invasion.
