The Real Horror

I never thought I would ever like a horror movie. In fact I haven't seen one in umpteen years; the last time I remembered was peeping in between my fingers at Count Dracula aka Christopher Lee. Honestly I'd rather gawk at a super-hero hunk anytime. But my no.2 princess mentioned how good Train To Busan was... and that coming from another 'peep-er' like me aroused my curiosity. Besides all the reviews were good. And since I have never seen any of those highly -rated Korean dramas that apparently have got so many raving fans, I figured now was as good a time as any to get a little, albeit slightly different, taste of it at the cinema.

Actually I have to confess I still don't like horror movies, whether it's Count Dracula with his classic incisors, or the Chinese 'ever-green' white-sheeted ghost, or the typical Malay pontianak with long black hair from the days of P. Ramlee, or zombies lurching around with open bleeding mouths creating havoc on a train filled with hysterical passengers. So on that count, I really don't care for the zombie-infected army spilling all over the Train to Busan. I kept my focus concentrated on the sub-titles instead, and when the scenes got too gory or bloody, I simply shut my eyes, which was pretty much half the time.

Reviewers have drawn it variously as "an allegory of class rebellion and moral polarization", a "political commentary overtly referencing the country's response to the MIERS virus outbreak and class warfare". Indeed it may be all that. But for me, the movie works because the reactions of the different characters stuck on a train full of zombies out for blood are so reflective of the human race. It's not about Koreans, it's not even about zombies at all. The zombies are just there to expose the motives of man's hearts when confronted with situations that call for personal sacrifice. It's just fictitious zombies in the movie; but it could very well be something as real as running into a burning house to save 1 occupant, or taking the bullet in the line of battle to defend the country. To stretch it further, it could even be putting aside personal rights for the sake of others who are not of our same skin-color, whose views are different from ours, whom we may disagree with or even dislike. Would we lay down our lives so that others - no matter who - can live? Can we Malaysians, despite all our cultural, racial and political differences/prejudices (and let’s not deny we all have them), come to a point where we would choose to “ Love our enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44) Those, by the way, are the divine commandments of Jesus.

Kudos to the director's skill, positioning a child's innocence to bring out the innate selfishness of all mankind. The father typifies the 'too busy to care much' human being, so caught up in the dog-eat-dog world he thinks it's stupid to give up one's chair for an old lady, since his number one rule for survival is look out for yourself, not others. Taken to extreme by another character who incites others to refuse rescue of the little band of survivors who had managed to get to their compartment, it highlights self-preservation at its ugliest.

But the truth is that doesn't only happen in the movies; it really is human nature. The real horror in the show isn't the zombies, it's the humans. When push comes to shove, none of us are saints. We don't need a zombie attack for that self(ish) instinct to kick in... just watch drivers on the road or people rushing for freebies at any event. It's every man/woman for him/herself . Too bad about the disadvantaged, the weak, the minority or those who get in the way. I gotta take care of me, my and mine first, so it becomes acceptable, even logical to shut out or even kick out others to preserve ourselves. There are actually people so wrapped up in themselves they see nothing wrong with purposely putting another human being in mortal danger or manipulating frightened people into a mean nasty mob.

Perhaps it's a bit too 'pat' when such folks get their 'come-uppance', still like the saying goes, "what goes around comes around". Or as the bible puts it, we reap what we sow. I am sure many in the audience wanted to clap when the selfish gang got literally snapped up by zombies in the end. I am also sure everyone wanted the survivors to make it. But this wasn't a typical "and they lived happily ever after fairy-tale". Instead the movie used death to make the point that some things in life are actually worth dying for. Like love, and not just for our nearest and dearest, but for the ones we may not even like at all. As Jesus taught, If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that?... If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? (Matthew 5:46-47)

So we see how the 2 heroes who started out somewhat antagonistic end up working together to save the helpless in the group. We see that the dirty, down-n-out, despised and rejected homeless man can possess a much nobler spirit than the one dressed in a fancy business suit. We see the ardent passion of youths who would rather die together than be separated. And of course it tugs at our guts to see men giving up their own lives for the sake of a pregnant wife and a young kid.

But isn’t that supposed to be the way it should be? The only thing that can redeem mankind isn't to be found in a 'correct' political system, a 'fair/just' government, or an 'ideal' philosophy of life. It's not about charity or religion. All that is good and dandy, but the real heart of the matter starts very simply from the heart - why we do what we do. As Apostle Paul puts it, If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. ( 1 Corinthians 13:1-3) In short, all the good that we do is good for nothing if it's not done out of love.

Like the hero whose final memory is of holding his new-born baby, when we breathe our last on earth , if we have love to hold and remember, we will count as worth it the inevitable pain, hurt and suffering that comes as a very real risk of loving and giving ourselves away. I like how the movie elevates the ordinary guy; anyone can be a super-hero in loving others. You don't need to be clever, rich, strong or handsome. You don’t need to come from a certain background, be of a certain race or hold a certain position…. You just need the right heart.

As if the long drawn-out battle with zombies isn't enough, the movie sets us up for yet another last battle for the survivors, this time with their own kind - humans. We expect zombies to kill humans, but for humans to kill humans? And to really sink in the horror of it all, the director uses just a disembodied voice over the walkie-talkie ordering a soldier on site to shoot 2 obviously helpless individuals - a pregnant female and a child. We are kept on edge as the gun is trained on the targets walking out of the dark tunnel into the light. Will he shoot? - What a waste if he shoots...

The finale was so fitting - a song from a broken heart saves the day. I didn't understand the words, but there was no need for translation... the tears spoke volumes about a love that sacrifices all. And that's what stuck with me as the lights came on in the cinema...that the worst horrors of humankind can be redeemed. The bible says it in 3 little words - Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:8)


Published MMO 28/9/16

The Saddest Words...What could have been mine...if only...

There wasn't enough time. In the first place we didn't know the places were so far apart, or that it would take so long to travel from one point to another. On top of that several times we ended up staying longer than expected at some locations. Like our genial fast-talking Korean van driver/tourist guide put it colloquially , we take 'many many time'.  And of course we were just too lazy to wake up earlier. After all we were on vacation.

This was the longest holiday break we had ever had as a family... 6 1/2 days 5 nites spread out between Jeju and Seoul, with the former taking up close to 4 days. It was supposed to be rainy season, but I had been praying very hard that God would favor us with good weather, and thankfully He did just that.

 It was also the first time we tried out Airbnb accommodation overseas. Both places turned out very clean, comfy and decent. Seems Koreans are pretty hung-up about cleanliness; we even had to separate our own trash - it's an expected thing. Some of the apartment blocks have strategically placed big trash compactors for people to dump their separated rubbish. Public toilets are 1st class; the taps and toilet flush work, there is adequate toilet paper, no stuck bowls or stinking smells, plus there's piped-in-music to boot - even on a mountain top. And they are absolutely free.

Malaysia should learn from Korea. Even the iconic river that flows right through the heart of Seoul city is so clean you can see fishes swimming in the waters - literally a river of life.

The 2 princesses had done their home-work well, each taking the trouble to research and draw up a list of places to visit and things to do in both Seoul and Jeju. So it was a good balance between city and country. Seoul is... Seoul, with her high-rise towers, tons of shopping malls and ever efficient LRTs, with some 70 (or is it 90) lines criss-crossing all over the districts. A journey by LRT  from one airport to another can take close to 1 hour - a crucial fact which we overlooked and therefore almost missed our connecting flight to Jeju. Not that we could do much shopping, for things are so expensive. Even essentials like food. Still we had good meals, sourcing out the little eateries along the roads and open stalls right inside their giant market-centers. 

I was surprised by how big Jeju island is. Ignoramus as I am, I thought we could just hire a car and self-drive round the island. In my mind, it would be like Penang, So what if it's right-hand drive, no sweat, so I even paid for an international driving license before leaving Msia. As it turned out, we only managed to cover 1 itsy-bitsy-teenie-weenie bit of Jeju, and that also thanks to a God-sent Korean, out looking for some easy money at the airport. We had first rejected his offer to transport us to our Airbnb place, but we gave up after trying to catch the local bus. There wasn't anything wrong with the bus system, the problem was us; obviously we couldn't understand the language and we didn't know the roads.

So in the end, as the guy was still hanging around patiently, we decided might as well take up his offer. And what a blessing he was to us... because his vehicle was a luxury MPV, big, nice, and definitely very comfy plus the tour-hire price was most reasonable. This was a definite bonus because we had problems with some taxis who didn't want to risk overloading with all 5 of us. Mr Pak was such a funny character. He mistook us for Indonesians at first. His English was very limited, so he would chatter away in Korean. Sometimes he even talked to himself.

Obviously he found us amusing because he would point to my children, say something and then laugh heartily.  He even 'scolded' my son who was always sleeping at the back as he drove us around; but he gave the mum thumbs up because I was the only one  interested enough to look around all the time. When we mentioned we wanted cheap cheap Korean food, he took us to a local eatery, instead of the fancier restaurants. He didn't complain at how long we took or how slow we were. We had booked him to cover the whole of Jeju in 1 day; but by mid-day, he pointed at the map to show us where we were, shook his head and laughed. On the last day we were wondering how to get to the airport with all our luggage, but without us contacting him, he had already turned up early at the door to fetch us. That's service indeed. When I told him Jesus loves him, he didn't understand, so I pointed to the cross on my neck and said Halleluia - immediately he grinned and said "wife, halleluia, many many halleluia " So cute...

Jeju has lots to offer indeed. From volcanic caves with deep dark tunnels where it's so cold fingers grow numb to steep treks leading to cloud-covered mountain ranges, running so close to the edge I had butterflies in my stomach as I climbed, trying to keep as far away as possible from the ropes, down to the winds of Jeju which are so strong, especially up on the mountain they literally can blow you off your feet. Yes I enjoyed Jeju, but I had one regret - we could have made better use of the time. If we had dawdled less in the museum or the maze, if we had woken up earlier.... we could have done the waterfalls which were right at the other end of Jeju.  If we had not spent 5 hours climbing a mountain, we could have squeezed in a ferry trip to explore a light-house, something we have never done before. After all there are lots of mountains to climb back home in Malaysia, and as our dear guide put it succintly, "all same same". But I was taken up by the promotional blitz on the website - they claimed this was the most beautiful trail, as the whole mountain would be covered in blooming flowers. Well, they neglected to say when this would be. And of course, being taken in by the very pretty picture, I quite forgot flowers only bloom in ...spring. So nope, we didn't get to see the fantastic blooming mountain.  Ahh, for the  "what could have been mine....if only...."

Those must be the saddest words in human vocabulary. The chances we didn't take, the relationships we didn't have, the decisions we waited too long to make, the choices we didn't consider, the things we said or didn't say...  Missing out on some of Jeju's highlights is sad, but it's no big deal. I can always take another trip another time. But missing out on the best of what God has for each of our lives on earth and in the hereafter is a totally different thing. It's so easy to miss God.  After all the physical and logical world can appear so much more believable and reliable than an unseen God.

I was chatting with the ailing father of an old friend. He's hooked up on a machine that helps him breathe because he can no longer breathe on his own. He talked about how he has got nothing to live for in this world anymore, because his work is done, his children are all grown and doing well. He only wants to die, because he doesn't want to be a burden, even though he doesn't know and doesn't really care what happens after that. He's not sure this Jesus I talk about all the time is for real. He cannot grasp the love of an invisible Jesus who loves him so much as to have died for him, to save him from hell's fire. He wrinkles his brow when I speak of the joy of living that overcomes all suffering and the peace that surpasses all understanding.  He smiles when I talk about a place where there's no sickness, pain, tears or sorrow, where death is conquered,  time is eternal and life is forever.  When I ask him if he wants to go there, he shakes his head and mutters "I don't know".   I show him the packets of green tea I had brought for him, and I tell him he would never get to taste of it if he just left the tea bags lying unused. If he didn't choose to make the effort to take 1 tea bag, put it into a cup and pour hot water over it, he would truly never know.

2000 years ago, 2 common criminals hung on their cross beside Jesus Christ. One mocked Him. The other acknowledged his sin and simply asked Jesus to "remember me". And Jesus promised the latter, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43) I wonder how the other criminal felt as he died without hope... remorse, anger, scorn, despair, hate..??

Life isn't about flowers or tea bags. It's dead (pun intended) serious. We only get 1 shot at it. No return trips. No second chances as we draw our last breath. It would be too late then to say ...what could have been mine.. if only....I had believed.

"For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death" ....  2 Corinthians 7:10

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