The Standard - China's Business Newspaper: Let's keep Nazis out of fashion

In a crowded marketplace there is a constant battle to stand out. A glance at the numerous magazines on display at a newsstand is a case in point. And a glance at the moment might find your eyes landing on a quarterly magazine called Akasi, published by the Flying Wind group. The cover displays a scantily clad young woman posing as a Nazi tank commander with a Nazi general, Heinz Guderian. Inside, the magazine continues the theme with a centerpiece explaining Guderian's life and times. Clearly they are aiming to offend and I will take the bait. This is the latest example of a long line of "Nazi chic." Fashion chain Izzue had an infamous campaign involving shops adorned in Nazi flags, swastikas and even Nazi propaganda films playing on the shop wall. There was also Bar Pacific with its photographs of Hitler and Nazi executions lining its walls. Last year another fashion chain was selling Nazi-themed bags. In Singapore earlier this year a school team chose the name "Hitler" for their leadership idol. These are not isolated examples. Rather they are all too common. Many wonder what the fuss is about. Nazism is poorly understood in Asia, largely because the continent was thankfully immune to its effects. Instead Asia was tied up with its own war, with its different and incomparable evils. And herein lies the problem. There would be a massive outcry should a magazine cover feature a woman wearing Japanese Imperial Army uniform, cavorting with a World War II Japanese general.