I have hardly felt sad or frightened for that matter, in the cemeteries. Maybe it’s because I have no Christian background. They are one of the places I usually find peace and time to contemplate. Yet I can feel it miles away, and it is bitterness.
Unguided: It is easy to be bitter about such places. I look at the battle and deaths as a supreme effort made in a the harshest of circumstances. The men did their best against impossible odds. Being bitter, I tell myself, sullies their sacrifice.
Health NUt: It’s Chai Wan, on the north-east corner of Honk Kong Island. The names are confusing. Wan Chai is the north-center of Hong Kong Island.
Matt: Thanks. CommentLuv is extremely fickle. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. You could try to use your Feedburner address instead of your site addy.
Unguided, it’s not the cemetery I find sad. Death is simply a fact of life. It’s the lack of caring. Those were people, with a mothers and fathers, maybe a wives and children, yet they didn’t even rate a name on their tombstones.
It seems like a metaphor for everything that’s wrong (and getting worse) with the world today.
Dang it, Stevo! You’re going to get me into a good old-fashioned rant, yet.
Shawn: There is a memorial wall at the cemetery with a list of the dead from the battle.
From Wikipedia: Other than those died in defense of Hong Kong, the remains of POWs died in Taiwan were brought to Sai Wan for burial as well. There are now 1,528 casualties of World War II buried or commemorated at Sai Wan War Cemetery, 444 of the burials are unidentified. In addition, there are special memorials to 16 World War II casualties buried in Kowloon whose graves were lost. There are also 77 war graves of other nationalities from this period, the majority of them Dutch. The cemetery also contains special memorials to 12 World War I casualties buried in Kowloon whose graves have since been lost.
I visited this cemetery when on holiday to Hong Kong some 30 years ago. My father was asked by a work colleague to try to find the grave of his father who was killed out there, which we managed to do. It is an idyllic setting where many souls can be truly be at rest. I still remember the inscription on the headstone :
‘Out of a world of suffering into a haven of peace’
How sad!
Shawn: Yes, very. The men that defended Hong Kong were deemed “expendable” as was the colony itself.
I have hardly felt sad or frightened for that matter, in the cemeteries. Maybe it’s because I have no Christian background. They are one of the places I usually find peace and time to contemplate. Yet I can feel it miles away, and it is bitterness.
Unguideds last blog post..The Bold and Ugly
I am a Christian and I find cemeteries calming, peaceful and contemplative. So I don’t think it has to do with being a Christian or not.
Is this WAN CHAI or Chai Wan?
Interesting photo. I like how the second tombstone in the back creates a sort of mirror image.
how come comment luv doesn’t work for me anymore! 🙁
Unguided: It is easy to be bitter about such places. I look at the battle and deaths as a supreme effort made in a the harshest of circumstances. The men did their best against impossible odds. Being bitter, I tell myself, sullies their sacrifice.
Health NUt: It’s Chai Wan, on the north-east corner of Honk Kong Island. The names are confusing. Wan Chai is the north-center of Hong Kong Island.
Matt: Thanks. CommentLuv is extremely fickle. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. You could try to use your Feedburner address instead of your site addy.
Unguided, it’s not the cemetery I find sad. Death is simply a fact of life. It’s the lack of caring. Those were people, with a mothers and fathers, maybe a wives and children, yet they didn’t even rate a name on their tombstones.
It seems like a metaphor for everything that’s wrong (and getting worse) with the world today.
Dang it, Stevo! You’re going to get me into a good old-fashioned rant, yet.
Shawn Ws last blog post..The Atomic Fur-Ball
Shawn: There is a memorial wall at the cemetery with a list of the dead from the battle.
From Wikipedia: Other than those died in defense of Hong Kong, the remains of POWs died in Taiwan were brought to Sai Wan for burial as well. There are now 1,528 casualties of World War II buried or commemorated at Sai Wan War Cemetery, 444 of the burials are unidentified. In addition, there are special memorials to 16 World War II casualties buried in Kowloon whose graves were lost. There are also 77 war graves of other nationalities from this period, the majority of them Dutch. The cemetery also contains special memorials to 12 World War I casualties buried in Kowloon whose graves have since been lost.
Stevos last blog post..temple stairs
Shawn: And that is exactly why I felt bitter. And I am always in for a good rant. 🙂
Unguideds last blog post..Remembering Anne Frank
I visited this cemetery when on holiday to Hong Kong some 30 years ago. My father was asked by a work colleague to try to find the grave of his father who was killed out there, which we managed to do. It is an idyllic setting where many souls can be truly be at rest. I still remember the inscription on the headstone :
‘Out of a world of suffering into a haven of peace’
It really is a haven of peace.