19/03/26 05:50:34.19 FOAiNkHh9.net
2019年3月24日/ 20時41分H.
Monumental blunder in honouring Japanese invaders
insensitive initiative of monumental proportions occurred last week when a “Tugu Wira Jepun” (Japanese Heroes Monument) was unveiled in Kedah last Thursday.
The unveiling of the 1.8m tall structure honouring Japanese soldiers who died in a battle to capture a bridge in Alor Star during the invasion of Malaya in 1941, has drawn the ire of several quarters, including the National Patriots Association (Patriot), which pointed out that the invaders should not be glorified.
“They were invaders. Why should we honour them? That’s something very wrong. Take it down. They are not heroes!” Patriot president Brig-Gen (Rtd) Datuk Mohamed Arshad Raji told theSun today.
In calling for the monument to be torn down, he said it was not right to honour a foreign military force which had invaded our country.
The monument, located next to the Sultan Abdul Halim memorial bridge in Alor Star, was unveiled last Thursday by Kedah state executive councillor in charge of tourism Mohd Asmirul Anwar Aris.
Asmirul was guest-of-honour at the event jointly organised by the office of the Consulate-General of Japan in Penang, the Kedah chapter of the Malaysian Historical Society and the Kedah State Museum.
Mohamed Arshad expressed b