Rotary Otumoetai Listens to Enthralling Speech

This treaty stoked a vengeful fire and by the 1930's, the flames whipped and cracked in the name of a man called Hitler.   This is how Armistice Day, a memorial to one war, became a memorial for two.

 

We - who have gained so much from those who gave their all - give earnestly two minutes of silence to remember and honour the war dead, to evoke those ghosts in the background of our lives.   Armistice Day is a day for acknowledging that the great tragedies of WW1 and WW11 are not ancient history, but an affliction and loss many still feel in their own families.   But of course, we know this.   My speech is not about reiterating facts, but it is about how Armistice Day is one of two things - a time to educate the youth on the realities of war, and an opportunity to connect, link and unite everyone.   All of us have our own personal values that we ingrain upon Armistice Day, and I am going to share with you my reasons for the values I associate with this important day.

 

My mother was an immigrant.   She is now a proud citizen.   New Zealand is my home, as it is yours, and I am honoured to have grown up in a country that is proud of its diversity, that does not shy away from the concept of difference.   I feel that maybe I am a little under qualified to deliver a speech about Armistice Day, when my own family hasn't served in the wars that shaped this nation.   However, New Zealand is a part of me, and Armistice Day is a part of New Zealand.   I have grown up in a place that is safe, away from the horrors of war.   I have been nurtured in Asian culture and have experienced the world as a kiwi.   But, I'm missing a vital part of New Zealand culture.   People have attended dawn services since they were in diapers.   It is a fundamental part of being a New Zealander.   I've only been to one.   Armistice Day provides the New Zealand youth with the understanding of the realities of war.   Having never actively celebrated ANZAC and Armistice Day, I was never aware of the real sacrifices and impacts of the two great wars in New Zealand.   As I have grown and become more aware of my identity, I have made it an imperative choice to learn about the significance of days like Armistice Day, because even though my family didn't serve, the war still affects me.   I may not have a personal connection to the war as my peers do, but just the fact that I exist, breathe, and stand here giving this speech is reason enough.   Without the sacrifice of millions, I would not be here.

 

Given the fact that New Zealand is a small country, the effects of war were, and are still felt everywhere, not just through the veterans in our families, but the shift in New Zealand society with the addition of women into the workforce.   The war was felt by millions with great sorrow.   Few families, mine included, were untouched by its horror.

 

However, we didn't escape unscathed - conflict has a way of leeching into humans.   My mother migrated to New Zealand to escape the possible resurgence of Kampuchea, a state in Cambodia run by the Khmer Rouge.   Kampuchea operated from 1975 till 1979, and is infamous for the mass graves it produced.   It is most renowned for S21, a former high school, turned into an execution centre.   Thousands lost their lives behind its cold walls.   The Khmer Rouge were responsible for a Cambodian genocide, that resulted in the deaths of around 25% of Cambodia's population.   People were tortured, starved, and forced to kill.   I know of 4 members of my own family, who have died at the hands of its tyranny.   Led by Pol Pot, it became known as the Pol Pot Regime, and personal stories of his reign of terror are rare in New Zealand.  I always appreciate them, as they are an important aspect of my cultural identity.

 

There is one story that I remember particularly, about one of my close family friends.   She told me the story herself.   She told me that during the regime, dump trucks were filled people - living people.   They were dumped into a ravine, which was decorated with spikes.   People were tossed over the edge, like rubbish, falling to their deaths, impaled on spikes.   She said that she, along with fifteen other people, were armed with assault rifles, and ordered to shoot down into the ravine.   She said she could hear the living still moaning and crying out in agony - begging for mercy.   No one would help, because that meant putting themselves and their own families at risk.   She told me that the first one to fire, was a 9 year old boy with a smile on his face.   The most hard hitting fact of this story, for me, was the involvement of children in war, in violence and conflict.   We have long applied a notion of innocence to children, an idea that they represent a chance at redemption.   Because I had never learned about the realities of war through days like Armistice Day, hearing the story brought a lot of things into reality for me.

 

War and conflict had always felt like something that happened, but never to me.   Just tragedies in far away lands.   Through the woman's story, war became a reality.   She was a tangible link to the time of terrible sacrifice, and for a lot of people, this links exists through the veterans in your own family, or even the tradition of commemorating Armistice Day.   This connection allows us to appreciate the sacrifices that have been made for us, more deeply or even at all.   It is easier for us to understand the truth of what happened, because we have met the people who have seen the way war ravages.   We've talked to them, and grown up with them in our lives.   This connection, makes things more real, especially on Armistice Day.   It is a level of understanding we soon can never achieve as the last links to the great wars leave the world.   They will just become dark periods in our past, and will remain a time that exists only in the pages we read, museums we visit, and days we commemorate.

 

Armistice Day is a reminder for future generation of the reality of war, the tangibility of the tragedy of our past.   As entertainment media continues to glorify war through gripping movies and shows, the youth are more inclined to enjoy violence.   This is why, in a new society established on the foundations of media and thrills, educating the youth on the reality of violence and war is of utmost importance.   Young minds are impressionable.   If we ignore the responsibilities of educating the youth on the realities of war, then they'll never know right from wrong, just like the boy from the story.   This type of mental corruption still happens today.   The most notable example is ISIS - just last year a video was released where 5 children, aged 12-13, were shown executing Kurdish prisoners.   Even now, after two great wars, some countries regard 12-year-old executioners as the norm.   The slacking awareness of war continues to result in a fearful attitude towards violence.   War becomes child's play if we don't emphasise the reality of it.   Armistice Day gives us a platform to educate the youth.   It guides us away from the saturation of glorified violence and reminds us that war is not just a thrilling movie, but a horrible period of which the consequences continue to ripple throughout our lives.   Armistice Day is there to remind us, the youth, the future, of the sacrifices that were made to ensure we live freely.   It teaches us about the wrongness of war.   It is time to ground that reality of war into us, the successors because if we don't, war will be waged for joy, whether it is with real guns, foam bullets, or streams of water.   

 

We all have stories about war through our families - they may not all be part of the same battles or even the same war, but they were all said to be fought in the name of liberty and virtue.   A common cause.   Armistice Day is a personification of the stories of war in our families, different in the fact that it is shared by everyone, not just a few.   This allows us to connect over the losses and experiences we have suffered together, that have shaped our lives.   Armistice Day can be commemorated regardless of our differences because it isn't just about the end of the first war and the loss of our men, but the influence of war on our lives, and the importance of educating the youth on the truth of war.   It is a day of remembrance and its power lies in its ability to reach so many.   As Obama once said, 'our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared'."