VJ Day

Murk seems to be the word of choice for BBC R4 weather people.  And yes, another murky day of low cloud, a wee bit wind and not too cold.

Today I did laundry, some mending (dragged the sewing machine out from under the stairs), worried about my elderly neighbour who was taken off in an ambulance and then after lunch cycled down to Mum's to collect a bank card, which works tg, although I am still waiting for B of S to reply to my complaint of a week ago. Later a quick trip to M&S so I didn't have to go empty handed to my other neighbours' for aperos.  Very pleasant and I got dressed up, not much cause for that these days.

It was VJ Day today and I was glad to see that it was commemorated appropriately.  Earlier this year I discussed with #3 son the thinking behind having a big bash and a public holiday for VE Day and letting VJ Day slide past.  Happily this was not the case and as it happens both commemorations were muted because of Covid-19.  However, the murk meant we didn't have the Red Arrows, they went to Prestwick instead. 

The blip is of Tugu Negara (National War Memorial) in Kuala Lumpur alongside the Cenotaph erected by the British Administration in Malaya. Malaya (as it then was) and Singapore were both occupied by the Japanese.  It was a hard time for the local populations, especially the Chinese.  The War was followed by The Emergency (a war in all but name).  Interesting the Japanese did not surrender in Malaya and Singapore until a month after VJ Day, so the War didn't really end on 15 August.  Also interesting, although many countries in SE Asia mark VJ Day, Malaysia doesn't, odd in a country that probably has more public holidays than early other.

(And confession, this pic was taken in January).