Epilogue: How VJ Day is Remembered Across Asia
With Beijing's "Victory" parade in full swing today (September 3), I decided to write a short post about historical memory which is a key theme that runs throughout " Palace of Ghosts: Singapore's Untold History " Find out more about the book In many ways this post may also be considered as an epilogue to my recently concluded 5 part series on one of the most enigmatic characters in the book Yoshichika Tokugawa. How is VJ Day remembered across Asia—and what does that say about the stories we choose to tell? At first glance, this may seem like a departure from the storyline of Palace of Ghosts. And in a narrow sense, it is. But I’ve chosen to explore this topic because the way we remember—or misremember—VJ Day reveals deeper, unresolved tensions in historical memory. These tensions sit at the very heart of Palace of Ghosts. The book is not just about events, but about narrative power: who controls the story, what is preserved, what is buried. The politics of ...