Page 65 - MDOS2_Final

THE ROAD TAKEN AND A BATON TO PASS

term to describe survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings). However, as I
stepped into the exhibition hall of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park,
nothing prepared me for what I saw. I was not quite sure what triggered that
somber mood in the whole exhibition area. Perhaps, it was the dim lighting
or maybe the artistic set-up of the displays.

After a while, my own subdued emotion multiplied with the realisation that
the massive atomic blasts were not only a dedicated chapter in history books.
T ey were real human tragedies.

T e blinding white explosions and big mushroom clouds. T e massive energy
from those bombs, consisting of heat rays, blasts and radiation. T ey left
the surrounding humanity with either immediate casualties or permanent
disabilities. Survivors had to endure pain and sorrow, both physical and
psychological, throughout their ensuing lives. Even until today, there is an
abundance of very moving and vivid narrations as shared and recorded by
survivors of the atomic bombings, for those interested to delve deeper into
the tragedy.

Scholars of history have of ered various schools of thought on what had led
to the atomic bombings in Japan, and how they had changed the course of
international relations. If we were to turn back time, would humankind have
been able to avoid the calamities that befell Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

T is question is up for analyses and case studies. As I concluded the tour
and made my way out of the exhibition hall, the of cial guide led me to the
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park just outside. It is customary for visiting
guests to lay a wreath in honour and memory of the lives lost.

After the wreath-laying ceremony, I could not help but recite a surah from
the Quran (Al-Fatihah) and prayed for the Muslim victims, including those
from Malaysia.

T at memorable tour of Hiroshima and Nagasaki left an indelible mark on
me, up to this day. T e past is history, which we cannot change. But the
future awaits us to be chartered and lived. T e catastrophic humanitarian
consequences caused by atomic weapons, as demonstrated in both cities in

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