The legacy of Mao Zedong
Lau Guan Kim  Updated: 2004-01-19 09:24

On the parapet of Tiananmen Mao Zedong on October 1, 1949, declared:

"The Chinese had stood up!"

Whereas others from Kang Youwei to Sun Yat-sen made attempts to reform China and make her take a pride of place as among the equals of the world, they never succeeded. Monarchist Kang Youwei failed miserably, leaving an intact and corrupt Qing to rule for a few more years before the republican Sun Yat-sen, together with the other, toppled the Manchu dynasty.

But the marauding Western nations and Japan still held sway in China, and there was no peace or pride left in the Chinese.

Mao Zedong made the difference. From 1950 all vestiges of Western and Japanese past were laid to rest. China became the master of its destiny.

If Mao Zedong were to say to us now, he would want us to get on in life and not harp on the past with hatred and vengeance. He might add that we must make friends with the US, the West, Japan and the rest of the world.

Ever the champion of the underdogs, Mao Zedong would want us to respect and take care of our own compatriots, even if they are of different political hue.

So when Mao Zedong said, "The east is red!" he meant China herald in an era of peace and tranquillity, where the Chinese people is a red beacon to the rest of the world as a nation of equal rights and opportunities, and where everyone has his or her rights and freedom.

Mao Zedong erred in later life, but that is for the Chinese to accept and live with his errors.

In the end, the legacy Mao Zedong left behind exonerates his frailties and foibles; and his mistakes, though gigantic, never diminish his stature.

That is how we would want to remember the great Mao Zedong.

The above content represents the view of the author only.

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