Overstating SARS

An editorial in a local paper claims:

SARS is a word that Hong Kong people of this generation will never forget. It is an event that will be remembered in the same way our elders are haunted by the Sino-Japanese war.

Excuse me? People will remember SARS, but comparing it in significance with the horrors endured under Japanese rule during WWII is a slap in the face to all those who lived through it.

The Great Depression was significant.

Occupation by hostile forces was significant.

Devastating typhoons were significant.

While SARS will be memorable, a city of people running about in masks (not to downplay the pain and suffering of those who lost loved ones to SARS; don't miss my point) doesn't stack up against seeing an invading army conquer your home and march through its streets. Life in Hong Kong during and after WWII changed forever, in myriad ways no one could ever have predicted.

A few months of SARS hardly compares with three years and eight months of hunger, suffering, depredation and fear.

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