Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Professor: S'wak Christians can decide BN's fate by Dukau Papau
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
From Malaysiakini : A top academician has reminded Sarawakians and members of the various
Christian denominations that they are the "saviour" of the BN
government in Putrajaya.
"Without your support in Sarawak, the
BN government in Peninsular Malaysia would have sunk to the bottom of
the sea," said Dr Jayum Jawan Empaling, professor of politics and
government at Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Sarawak has 31 seats in Parliament, of which 25 of them are held by BN. DAP has five and PKR, one. "Sarawak
has been described as BN's fixed deposit. To me, Sarawak is the saviour
of BN in Semenanjung Malaysia not for first time, second time or third
time, but the fourth time," Jayum Jawan said at a forum in Kuching
yesterday, organised by the Association of Churches in Sarawak.
He said that Sabah and Sarawak first saved Malaya in 1963 when the two
Borneo states agreed to form the federation of Malaysia along with
Singapore.
"We came in not only as a balancing power, but also
to enhance the Malay ‘supremacy' in the federation. If we did not come
in, the federation of Malaya and Singapore would have an equal
population of Malays and Chinese," Jayum Jawan said.
The second one was the 1969 general election, and without the support from Sarawak and Sabah, BN would have lost.
Similarly Sarawak saved Putrajaya at the 2008 and 2013 general elections, argued Jayum.
"It is up to you and members of the various churches whether to
continue to support Barisan Nasional or not. You can determine who forms
the next government," he said. Multi-level marketing
Jayum Jawan, who hailed from a longhouse in Sibu, was yesterday
delivering a talk on 'The role of church in nation-building' at the
Christian Centre in Kuching.
Attended by some 2,000 church
members from various Christian denominations and representatives from
other faiths, the forum also featured two other speakers -
constitutional lawyer Lim Heng Seng and Dr Ng Kam Weng, an authority on
theology and Christian history on the use of the word ‘Allah' to refer
to God. Jayum Jawan said church members are also taxpayers and voters, and they have the right to exercise their democratic rights.
"We can use a multi-level (marketing) system in politics by bringing in
your spouses, brothers, sisters, parents, in-laws, relatives and other
church members and their friends to vote against the BN government if
you think it is not looking after our interests. "And we can vote
for another party that is sensitive to our views," he said, adding that
Malaysia was fortunate that it now has a two-party system, thus giving
voters an electoral choice.
"Democracy is about choosing our
representatives to Parliament or to the state assemblies. When we choose
that person, that person must represent your interest. He must do what
we want him to do in Parliament.
"He must listen to us, not we
listen to him because we are the ones who put them where they are. But
if they don't listen to us, then bring them down." We've only ourselves to blame
Jayum Jawan stressed that there is no need to wait for the next election and action can be taken now.
"Voting
them out is one of them. In the meantime, we can petition them to be
removed, or ask them to step down if they don't listen to us. This is a
signal we must give them.
"We used to treat our elected
representatives like little gods, giving them red-carpet welcome with
'gendang', music, food and drinks," said Jayum Jawan, pointing out that
Malaysians must change their mindset.
"Once they are elected or
become ministers, they forget about us. They forget that we are the
source of their political power, and they forget that we are the ones
who put them where they are.
"Now I want to ask you a question: Do we blame the BN government for not looking after our interest? I don't think so.
"We also cannot blame (Sarawak Chief Minister) Abdul Taib Mahmud or
(Land Development Minister) James Masing or (Social Development
Minister) William Mawan, but blame ourselves.
"It was you who put them there. You have done a great disservice to yourself," he said.
Pointing out that the country was facing many challenges, Jayum Jawan
called on church members to rise and join other Malaysians to meet those
challenges.
"We have to respond to our environment," he said in
obvious reference to the government's ban on the use of the word ‘Allah'
by Christians in their Bahasa Malaysia publications.
Last month, the appeals court ruled in favour of the government that the term ‘Allah' must be exclusive to Islam.
While PM Najib Razak said the ruling only applied toCatholic weekly The Herald,
lawyers argued it affects all Christians in Malaysia, especially
bumiputera Christians in Sabah and Sarawak who use Bahasa Malaysia in
carrying out their religious activities.
"Sarawak
has been described as BN's fixed deposit. To me, Sarawak is the saviour
of BN in Semenanjung Malaysia not for first time, second time or third
time, but the fourth time," Jayum Jawan said at a forum in Kuching
yesterday, organised by the Association of Churches in Sarawak.
Jayum Jawan said church members are also taxpayers and voters, and they have the right to exercise their democratic rights.
Last month, the appeals court ruled in favour of the government that the term ‘Allah' must be exclusive to Islam.
