War is Never a Choice

Lam Chi Yuen (Lammy)

Born and bred locally, Chi Yuen “Lammy” Lam is a Computing sophomore at PolyU. While he is not busy fixing code, Lammy has a profound affection for military stuff and spends his time enjoying war films and literature. Often inspired by films like Apocalypse Now, Platoon, and Rambo, he strives to reflect on humanity, moral crisis and discrimination through writing. An introverted observer, he hopes to develop a humorous and sarcastic video game conveying his lingering thoughts towards the problems in society.

Author’s Introduction

It came to be a great relief after enrolling in the course of ELC2011 Advanced English Reading and Writing Skills as I could finally write my feelings out in reflections on lyrics or stories without being barred by the rules of academic writing imposed in my previous English course.

A 1981 movie named Das Boot is the ultimate reason why I chose to reflect on Bob Dylan’s timeless song. Its futile ending, in which the submarine crew all perish despite going through the thick and thin of what war involves, struck a real chord with me. It resonates with the theme of the song that war is pointless, brutal and absolutely avoidable. The film has stuck in my head for so long that I decided to vent such frustration in this reflection. As Lieutenant Werner says in the film, war is pathetic and ‘all for the fatherland’ are just ‘empty words’. Good men are only fighting other good men. To me, Das Boot and Blowin’ in the Wind endure as memorable examples of film and music because of strength of their messages.

Contrary to my previous assumptions, expressing my own feelings can be difficult. Ideas in my mind often mingle with each other, and as a slow writer, thinking on the same topic for way too long can get my brain clogged. Fortunately, with the help of my Inscribe editor Mr. Richard Brooke, I have been able to organize and polish my ideas in an effective way. I would also like to thank Ms. Karen Hui, my ELC2011 teacher, for guiding me through the course and introducing Inscribe to me.

Photo Credits

Wikimedia
Photo by Katherine Grace on Unsplash