Thursday, August 21, 2008
REMEMBERING THE VICTIMS OF MILITARY SEXUAL SLAVERY
My reaction to the photos of this memorial on fellow HCS member Jeffrey Yap's site was one of amusement. He termed it "an interesting 'irony' on Plaza Lawton." I didn't know anything about this memorial so I told Jeffrey that I would go there to take some pictures for my personal archive.
The initial reaction of amusement turned to dismay when I finally got there, for it was only then that I realized the inappropriate symbolism created for this memorial.
Tucked away in a corner of Plaza Lawton facing the Manila Post Office, this memorial unveiled by then Manila Mayor Lito Atienza on April 22, 2003, was intended to preserve the memory of more than 1,000 women -- comfort women -- who were continually raped by the Japanese occupation forces during the Second World War.
However, the entire setting seems more of a tribute to Eros, as if to mask the painful truth behind the tragic event being memorialized: the violent and brutal experiences endured by the thousands of our women, including prepubuscent girls and boys; none of it, I'm sure, was of a Memoirs of a Geisha-like episode for any of them.
To this day, there are thousands of living survivors who are still trying to demand an official apology from the Japanese government and full recompense for their pain and suffering.
Certainly the Atienza administration was fully cognizant of these wartime atrocities yet, I wonder why it didn't commission a more sensitive artist like Julie Lluch to create a solemn image for this memorial?
Hopefully, Mayor Lim, in conjunction with his Historical and Heritage Commission, will consider it worthwhile to address this impropriety.
As an aside, Plaza Lawton was recently rehabilitated with the design assistance of the Heritage Conservation Society. Removing as much of the existing concrete as possible, the plaza was restored as a grassy, green space with benches installed along the walkways. In addition, the refurbished Plaza Lawton now boasts of a fountain as its centerpiece, flanked by a colonnade of fully grown royal palm trees.
Related link:
When Tears Fall
Irony on Plaza Lawton - Jeffrey Yap
When Tears Fall
Irony on Plaza Lawton - Jeffrey Yap
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Please note:
I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
Thank you!
*
I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
Thank you!
*
Labels: life in Manila, Manila history, memorial
posted by Señor Enrique at 9:09 AM
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