Look down! Look down!
Don't look 'em in the eye.
Look down! Look down!
You're here until you die.

The sun is strong,
It's hot as hell below!
Look down! Look down!
There's twenty years to go.

I'll die, O Lord,
Sweet Jesus hear my prayer.
Look down! Look down!
Sweet Jesus doesn't care.

I know she'll wait.
I know that she'll be true.
Look down! Look down!
They've all forgotten you.

When I get free,
You won't see me, 'ere for dust!

Look down! Look down!
Don't look 'em in the eye.
How long, O Lord,
Before you let me die?

Look down! Look down!
You'll always be a slave.
Look down! Look down!
You're standing in your grave.

---adapted from Les Misérables

To those who have watched Les Misérables, you should know what the above lyrics of the Entre'Act reflect. To those who do not know, pray read more.

Its main theme is about the poverty and war that struck France in the early 1800s. Poverty and war have caused much social unrest, and law at that time was unmerciful. This is what was the writer of the novel Les Misérables, who is Victor Hugo, tried to portray. In those days of war, people who are poor could become rich through stealing and doing other sorts of things. According to the novel (and the drama), college students have to defend their own land from being conquered. They were outnumbered and all but one died in the war.

Although the story discusses about poverty and war, I'd like to draw your attention on the matter of war. Human beings have not ceased to gain glory through conquering and colonising other people's lands. This was since the first civilisations appeared on earth. And till now, war is still going on.

As we ponder back into the days of modern history, we find ourselves looking back into the First and Second World War, the Vietnam War, the Iraq War and many more, we see that war brings nothing more than just misery, loss, condemnation, sufferings and so on. What is it that you see is good from war?

Who decides to wage war on other nations? Surely it is the leader of a country who does so, against the leader of another. But they forgot that war affects not only the leaders but the innocent ones as well. Sometimes a leader wages war against another leader for the wrong that the latter has done, but does that make the people in the wrong, too? Because of the decision that the former makes, the latter's people have to suffer the consequences, too. Is this what we would constitute as justice?

The worst of all is this: after the war, the people who are afflicted by it will still continue to suffer. While the victor continues to wash their hands in butter, the defeated ones have to continue grafting for as long as they are able (yes, I'm using quite a lot of words from Les Misérables). And it isn't just for a few weeks or a few months, it's for years!

We have seen for ourselves the hard times the Iraqis are going through now since the Iraq War. Although many lives have now improved and restored to normality, chaos still happens and people are still living in fear.

We know perfectly well that war brings misery and suffering to the people. In history, people have often been tricked by other nations about how they can help free the nation from other conquerors, how they can help develop their nation if the people co-operate with them. However, in the end, they still are conquered, albeit by another nation, and is still neglected. All I am trying to say is this: (Most) war-mongers make empty promises.

Don't agree with me? Well, have your say here then! Feel free to drop comments.

P/S: Sorry that I can't write a more extensive entry about this matter. I'm currently down with sore throat and cough (I've lost my voice!). And I'm sorry that I haven't been able to post here often.