Letter from Dudley Au, Straits Times Forum 11 Feb 08;
THE report, 'The ties that bind Japanese to whales' (ST, Feb 7), is simply that of predator and prey.
I see no emotional ties, as asserted by the writer, unless it falls into the category of a nation consuming whales, where the emotion, if it can be called emotion, resides in the gastronomical satisfaction of eating whales.
We are informed the emotional ties to whales can be seen in a spot overlooking the beach in Nagato City, Yamaguchi prefecture, western Japan.
Here, according to Mr Masayuki Komatsu, there is a temple, spanning the course of a few centuries, where whales are given posthumous names, and, devotees yearly offer prayers to the dead whales; as they do for relatives who have passed on. It appears that throughout Japan there are many plaques and tombs dedicated to whales.
Here, we have a phenomenon which George Orwell called 'double-think', in his apocalyptic book 1984. This consists of holding two contradictory beliefs simultaneously and accepting them both. How can one eat a whale and after a satisfying feast offer prayers in a temple for the animal one has consumed, as one does for dead relatives?
I do not think that after eating a relative, the correct thing is to offer prayers for that departed relative and then go on to eat another one and, in continuity, offer prayers also.
The nexus of '...as they do for relatives who have passed on', to the offering of prayers for dead whales, presents a contradictory example, unless one has also eaten the relative, which then substantiates the link.
I do not believe whales cherish the thought of being revered (with offertory prayers) after being killed and eaten. I believe they would rather live a peaceful life at sea without some whaler trying to end their lives prematurely.
The ties that bind Japanese to whales, to reiterate, is one of predator and prey, pure and simple.
If you are going to eat the whale, eat it; enjoy yourself, but do not speak in double-think, for it insults trenchant thought.
