Remember Hiroshima

I read with grief the news article captioned 'Hiroshima commemorates world's first atomic bombing' on page 16 of The Jakarta Post of Aug. 7, 1995. I cannot help but feel grateful to The Jakarta Post for the concern and compassion it demonstrated by printing on the front page the picture of the famous Atom-bomb Dome of Hiroshima, in front of which a mass "die-in" was staged by hundreds of young pacifists. It was reported that about 100,000 people attended the 50th memorial service held on Aug. 6, 1995, in the picturesque Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

I was fortunate to be seated with two Indonesian former schoolmates and other friends from The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Myanmar, who were invited to the ceremony by Hiroshima City Mayor Takashi Hiraoka. The two from Indonesia (a corporate lawyer and a former member of State Advisory Council), one from Malaysia (now a professor of Japanese studies at the University of Malaysia) and one from Brunei (now a businessman and a former Prime Minister) happened to be survivors, called hibaku-sha in Japanese, of the Hiroshima atomic holocaust.

The summer heat was almost unbearable, as the commemorative ceremony proceeded. Yet everyone paid tribute to the occasion in graceful solemnity.

Among the speakers were the Mayor, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and a representative of the UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

But, frankly speaking, I didn't care much for the almost similar speeches of the politicians. As by way of testing the validity of their statements, my thoughts drifted to the horrors and cruelties happening in Bosnia, Palestine, Jerusalem and to the disaster that will shortly devastate the environment on an atoll in the South Pacific. Power politics or the German realpolitik still holds sway in full ardor. This is an undeniable fact.

I was more impressed by the declaration titled "Commitment to Peace" read out by a sixth grade girl from Hiroshima City Shiya Elementary School, Miyuki Kubo. She spoke as the children's representative. She vowed that the tragedy of Hiroshima must never be repeated, and that thoughtfulness and kindheartedness toward each other are of utmost importance to achieve peace and cooperation with all the people of the world.

The climax of the immaculate memorial ceremony, the large mixed chorus of schoolchildren singing the Hiroshima Peace Song, to the accompaniment of a brass band, was most impressive. The melody was highly enchanting and appealing.

The first stanza translates "(Hear) the bell tolls; and by this Bell of Peace let the echo reverberate high up to the limits of the sky, to east and west, where the white clouds hang over our place. Now let us rise bravely and here (on this earth) build prosperity."

Witnessing the affluent society of Japan today, there is no doubt to a foreign observer that the Japanese have lived up to their vow.

Finally, highlighting the 50th commemoration of Hiroshima atomic tragedy, we were fortunate to have the opportunity to pay homage at the grave of Nick Yusof of Malaysia (known as "Malaya" when a student) situated on the hill of Kozenji, Hiroshima. His compatriot, Sayed Omar, is buried nearby on the quiet, bamboo covered hill of Enkouji, in Kyoto. Both foreign students heroically managed to survive the catastrophe, but later succumbed in unparalleled agony to the first atomic bomb ever dropped on a city.

SAM SUHAEDI

Jakarta