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."
My choice for the five newsmakers of the year - By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Malaysiakini : COMMENT | As usual, my pick for
the top five newsmakers in no particular order – except the top spot,
that is – are individuals who shaped the discourse, either intentionally
or not over the course of the year.
I assumed that choosing these individuals would be difficult, but I discovered this was not the case.
1. Zaid Ibrahim
Let's see. Over the course of the year, the former law minister has: 1. joined DAP; 2. angered the Selangor royal family, by reminding the Sultan that he should be non-partisan; 3. angered mainstream Islamists, by reminding them that rationality trumps blind faith; 4. angered the liberal left by encouraging Malays to leave an increasingly intolerant Muslim Malaysia; 5. angered certain people in the opposition for his defence of former
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (Zaid was one of the first to support
the former strongman); and, 6. Angered the Umno establishment with his views on the Islamisation process and what it means to be Malay. The state has since banned a book of his that has been in print for the past two years.
From my vantage point:
“Zaid will no doubt gain much attention if he continues talking about
his principles with nary a care for party solidarity. While I think this
is a good thing, his political career is evidence that this is not
considered being a team player. Zaid believes that a ‘Malay’ tsunami
will be the downfall of Najib. The question is, can Zaid and all the
other oppositional Malay leaders create the variables for a perfect
storm that would bench the Umno hegemon?”
2. Former PM Mahathir Mohamad
There is no doubt that the former prime minister defined prime minister’s Najib Razak’s annus horribilis.
Relentlessly attacking the Umno grand poohbah, dissing the Umno
sycophants that ironically he helped create, the former prime minister
in his quest to dethrone Najib has made it clear that he has no intention of ceding the field even if it means slaying sacred cows. While opposition types may have made peace with the reality that the
prime minister they had condemned for decades is the only viable captain
in this great coming election, many feel a sense of futility as to what
could come of this unholy alliance of former Umno die-hards and an
opposition sensing the tide is changing.
From my vantage point:
"If the goal of removing the current Umno grand poohbah is paramount
then the opposition should just stop this nonsense and place the crown
on Mahathir Mohamad and hope that some kind of change will be
forthcoming if they succeed."
3. PM Najib Razak
Why do I get the feeling that even if he loses he wins? That is right
because with the setting up of the National Security Council and other
powers at his disposal, the current Umno grand poohbah has a safety net
that could see him retain power if he chooses to carry out certain
options. While the opposition flounders, Umno is making use of its old
enemy PAS to shore up Malay/Muslim support and string the Islamic party
along with dreams of power in Putrajaya.
I would argue that the complicated 1MDB issue, the People's Republic of China (PRC) bailouts
and the reality that the Umno establishment is using its own crimes
which they claim were perpetrated by the current opposition leader
Mahathir Mohamad, has done far more damage to the opposition than
anything the opposition has done to the current Umno grand poohbah. From my vantage point:
The Najib regime has made no comment and indeed the racial and
religious rhetoric has escalated to the point that the Umno
establishment has enacted laws that would give them legal authority to
rule in emergency until such time that they feel confident enough to
resume the facade of democracy in this country.”
4. Jamal Yunos
The clown prince of outsourced thugs. Jamal has the singular
distinction of being the person who defanged the concept of Malay and
Islamic supremacy. With his bizarre antics,
he turned the concept of “ketuanan Melayu” into a joke. The joke was on
us, of course, because the real Islamists within the establishment were
making moves while Malaysians were distracted by his tomfoolery.
It is easy playing the tough guy when the state is behind you. It is
easy spouting racist and bigoted horse manure when you know you will not
be sanctioned. It is easy fighting with opponents who have one hand
tied behind their backs. If Jamal Yunos is the future of Malay
leadership, then perhaps, we should just sign the country over to the
PRC. I am sure they will have a job for him.
From my vantage point:
“Jamal, meanwhile, continues his ‘screw you’ approach to the security
apparatus of the state. He has no problems leaving a mess in a public
space because he has the backing of the Umno state, which is making a
public mess all over the country. His type of easy Islamic extremism
entails bullying the non-Malay/non-Muslim communities, all the while
enjoying the blessing of the state, instead of fighting other Muslims on
foreign soil attempting to establish an Islamic caliphate.”
5. Nurhanizah Abdul Rahman and her dog Bubu
I have no idea how this story panned out but Nurhanizah and what she
went through for taking care of a stray dog, is a reminder to us
non-Muslims of how the majority of Malay/Muslims in this country with
all their special rights have to put up with oppressive state religious
agencies. Religious bureaucrats who characterise an act of compassion as
something that should be repented
should be a stark reminder to all of us, that if we do not stand up for
our rights, support those who do but most importantly hold the people
who claim to share our values responsible for what they say and do, we
could all end up at the mercy of such charlatans.
From my vantage point:
“I do wonder if these same pious members of her community, so easily
distressed, also threw food laced with poison and faeces - cat, dog or
human? - into her compound? No, what she was doing was showing empathy
for an animal, and what she gets in return is a state-sanctioned
religious institution asking her to repent for her sinful ways.”
Lastly, my New Year message for friends, readers and Malaysians fighting the right fight: Illegitimi non carborundum.