All killings are cruel

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“All killings are cruel.”

When my friend said that, it jolted me. I had been watching Sharkwater, a documentary on how sharks were killed. And I can guarantee you, anyone who watched the show, will think twice about eating shark fin from now onwards. In fact, when I saw rooftops filled of shark fin, sun dried; when I saw those syndicate laid the trap which harmed not only the shark but any sea creatures that came into sight; when I saw how the law actually punished the guys who were trying to stop the killing. My heart hurts. Had money even bought justice?

And somehow I remembered about Feet Unbound. A movie I had not reviewed after a month had passed because I don’t know what to say about it. Other than, it hurts too. It hurts to know that in this world; only fame and winning are glorified. I still remember on 27th May, the headline news for MyPaper was about the soulless Chelsea. The world has only eyes for the winners? What about those who fought but lost?

Feet Unbound is about a never been told tale of the Chinese Red Army’s female soldiers of The Long March. I don’t really know the history of China and had only scathing knowledge of the Red Army. From the movie, I learnt that The Long March is a massive military retreat of over 200,000 troops on foot over 12,500 kilometres that lasted from 1934 to 1937 [Source: docnz.org]. Only 1% of the troops were females, some with bound feet, some without. But all of them faced the hardships, the cultural prejudices, the killings and the bullying which only females faced.

At one point, Elly, the female protagonist, interviewed an “enemy”. She was the descendant of Ma Bufang, a vicious warlord who killed and tortured that group of soldiers. When Elly was discussing about how Ma’s troops killed many Red Soldiers, she replied “Well, it’s war. War is about killing people.”

That line was why I remembered Feet Unbound when watching Sharkwater. All killings are cruel, regardless whether it’s people we are killing or animals. And with killing comes the innocents. Like those other sea creatures caught in the trap, like those women soldiers. And like the “enemy” who was banished and had to borne all the punishment for her ancestors sins because she was the last one alive.

When the march ended, some of these women were not even rewarded accordingly. Some were even branded as deserters. Did anybody commend these soldiers sufficiently? Did anybody give those who died on the march a proper burial or proper acknowledgement of their efforts?

And back to Sharkwater, did anybody ever understand the sharks well instead of branding them dangerous because of a stupid made-believe Jaw movie? The only icing I received is the news on 30th May where Sentosa IR says ‘no’ to shark’s fin. Thank goodness for such news. How many more will embrace such efforts?