Commemorative speech

A Tribute to the Heroes

Everyone knows the history of their own country.
Everyone knows how torturous wars and atrocity can be.
Some remember them by commemorating their national independence.
Others through the commemoration of significant wars.
Any commemoration should be celebrated with respect, to honour those who
serve and protect their country till death do them apart. Their service towards
the nation will never be forgotten.
I personally believe that pass events that still give an impact on our lives should
be commemorated till this day. This includes national independence, wars
between countries and atrocities that had affected many lives and people of
different cultures.
But, there are some past events which we, as imperfect humans need to forget.
Events that none of us had anticipated before.
Events that lead to more destruction.
Events that are still sensitive to the majority.
Events that gives the wrong perception of others.
Thus, let us leave that in the past. Let bygones be bygones.
It is true that these tribute events send an indirect message of promoting war,
nationalism and aggressive patriotism to those who perceive it such way.
Nonetheless, remembrances of these events has taught others that unity and
intercultural awareness are one of the main keys towards a peaceful world.
Commemoration events do not necessarily need to be organized by
governments. In fact, these events should be led by non-governmental
organisations as these organisations will act as the mutual party to any sides of
the society and the commemorations will have less political influence in it.
Non-government organisations should consider having tribute events such as a
moment of silence, religious services and a cenotaph build. This will
accommodate each individuals way of paying respect to those who pass away
serving their country without splurging a lot of the nations income.
We, as UWC students, have the opportunity to do more than that. As we live
together in a community, we are able to eliminate those negativity towards
commemorations and understand in depth, how the commemorations that we
never celebrated before affected our friends. We get to hear their side of the
story and understand from their point of view towards their tribute to the people
they consider as heroes of their nation.
This is what UWC wanted us to learn throughout the time we spent here. Making
education, formal and informal, as a force to unite students from various cultures
and nations for peace and a sustainable future.