The Anne Frank's House

For those of us who have read about the Holocaust, The Rise of Evil - Hitler and The Diary of Anne Frank, the visit to Anne Frank's House in Amsterdam is not just about historical facts. It is filled with emotional and provoking thoughts.

When the Holocaust ended in 1945, Hitler's racist ideas had ended in genocide and the Nazi had killed six million Jews. In her diary, Anne Frank posed difficult questions. Why is there war? Why are Jewish people hated and discriminated? What is the importance of being cared and caring for others? What is freedom to you?

A fight, a bully, an accident, an injustice, someone in a difficult situation needing a helping hand..... What will you do? Everyday we are confronted with such dilemmas. Some affect us personally and some are so huge that it is hard to know what to do. Do you walk by or do you stop and help? What does it make you feel? Standing up is not always easy but what if you were the one in need of help?

Who is right and who is wrong? What is freedom to you? To be able to speak the truth, to admit your mistakes, to lay down your life for others? Why do some people judge others on their colour, age, sex, religion etc? We do stereotype people and make snap judgment based on little details. Isn't it stupid? Yes, we are all victim of society but that is no excuse for violence and revenge.

Anne Frank wrote in her diary on 6th July 1944... "We are all alive but we don't know why or what for; we are all searching for happiness; we are all leading lives which are different and yet the same."

Today, people are still being persecuted and murdered because they, like Anne Frank are not only "different" but also "want to be". Obviously, there are elements in the diary that are universally recognizable by both the young and old of this generation. Otto Frank, 1967 ...."To build up a future, you have to know the past" but why did people allow history to repeat itself even in this present age? Why are there still so much discrimination, prejudice, war, social injustices, self righteous etc? These make the visit to The Anne Frank's House meaningful even in our times. The Secret Annex - a story of unimaginable horror but also one of great courage indeed gave me more courage and the conviction that to live an authentic and fulfilling life, love and courage is what we need the most.

A glimpse of hope

“Well done is better than well said” – Benjamin Franklin

We live in a world characterized by instability, terrorism, materialism and WORDS WITHOUT ACTIONS. You may have a wealth of knowledge today but if you don't do anything about it, you are not any more effective or enlightened than you were last week. Unless knowledge, awareness, insights, and understandings are translated into action, they are of no value. There is no value in just saying you understand, aware, sympathize if you are not acting on it and what matters is to act rightly.

I have never been particularly impressed by the heroics of some people who are convinced that they are about to change the world through violence. I am more overwhelmed by those individuals who struggle to make one small difference after another.

Mother Teresa lived in poverty among the poorest of the poor and believed that to know the poor; you must live like the poor, with them and be like them. Sympathy and empathy is just the ability to identify with another’s feeling and putting oneself emotionally not physically in the place of the suffering. No good will ever come out of sympathy and empathy if they are not put into action.

In the special report section of the Straits Times dated 29th November 2008; dedicated to awareness of AIDS, there was an article about Fr Giovanni Contarin from the Order of Camillian who devoted his life to care for HIV patients both the very young and old, many abandoned by their family. He lives up to his religious vow to take care of people even when there is the danger of death. His words “Entering the world of suffering of the sick and elderly touched me very much and helped me to discover the divine in human suffering.” Yes, entering is the word, not just by-passing and I totally agreed and convinced that one can only discover and encounter the divine in human suffering. Try looking for God in the rich, famous and powerful or in the church and among clergy, you probably have to go on for 40 years on desert land.

Fr Giovanni’s word brought to mind Fr Michael Mohally of the Missionaries Society of St Columban who has worked among the poorest in Cambodia for many years. When I met him in Singapore some years back, he told me that words and feelings have no value at all. You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering, complaining, sympathizing or even emphasizing. Turning it over in your mind won't plough the field; it’s just waiting for the cows to come home. Men must not only see, feel and believe. They must act, and act righteously not foolishly. Words without the right actions are the assassins of idealism.

It brings comfort to know that there are still a handful of clergy and religious who live up to their vocation and vows selflessly, faithfully and virtously.