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."
UM's bully tactics will not bear fruit - By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Monday, December 04, 2017
Malaysiakini : COMMENT | "You
should embrace your culture. You should be proud of who you are and
your background. And how you worship God is going to be different, and
those are things that you should be proud of. But it shouldn’t be a tool
to look down on somebody else. It shouldn’t be a reason to
discriminate." – Barack Obama, in speech delivered at Universiti Malaya
I received this email from a young university student asking me to write about the recent suspension of the Chinese Language Society of Universiti Malaysia. I also received an email about the “gag order”
from UM prohibiting students and staff from making verbal or written
statements that would have “negative implications” on the government or
the university, from another student who wanted me to write about this
too.
To be honest, I am not into this Chinese language or Indian language
or whatever other kinds of cultural societies that always seem to crop
up in Malaysia. I get why Malaysians join them, especially in
educational establishments where young people are discovering themselves
and each other, but I have never been interested in joining cultural
groups just because it is assumed that people in such societies are
simpatico with one another.
However, this young student really impressed me with the honesty in
her rambling email about what it means to be Chinese and Malaysian and
how the two were not mutually exclusive, and I was really surprised that
this young Malaysian was interested in her country, despite the
systemic inequalities she faces because of her ethnicity and gender.
The young student wrote eloquently about what the society meant to
her. While she did not elaborate on what dialect she was referring to
when she wrote about the society, what she did make clear was how much
she learnt about her culture and community and how it enriched her life.
She was adamant that the society did not intentionally skirt whatever
regulations they were in breach of, and she was extremely upset that the
society was suspended.
Meanwhile, the other young student who wrote to me was concerned that
his activism off campus would conflict with this gag order – as I was
typing this sentence, I actually mistakenly typed “gaga” order – and
that his academic pursuits would be jeopardised. This is why both wanted
to remain anonymous. I thought it was somewhat funny actually. Here the university wants
to cut down on bad press, but issues orders that invite the very thing
it wants to avoid.
I read the reasons why the Chinese Language Society was suspended,
and the only reasonable conclusion any rational person could come to is
that the university is being unreasonable, petty and engaging in
bullying tactics. The same applies to the gag order, which Azmi Sharom (photo) rightly points out is “repulsive and obtuse.”
The reality is that while there is a section of young people who are
apathetic about the democratic process, there is a young demographic who
are engaged with it, and these young people are studying in public
universities. Now, I am not saying that the UM Chinese Language Society is a
political society, but by curtailing its activities for no good reason,
the university and the government are just making clear how pernicious
they are when it comes to enforcing rules and regulations on young
people who are supposed to be acquiring an education, and all that that
entails.
What exactly has the Chinese Language Society done which warrants a
suspension? Have they made any statements or participated in political
activities outside the confines of the university? Have they engaged in any kind of “anti-establishment” activities?
Have they rallied students to engage in the democratic process? Anyone
reading this would, of course, ask: so what if they did this?
Apparently, here in Malaysia, young people in universities are not
allowed to be politically active. Go figure.
Just a bunch of kids exploring their culture
They are just a bunch of kids exploring their culture and language,
but what does that get them in an environment where racial and religious
politics seep through everything? Do not blame me or anyone else who thinks that this is a racial issue
because Malay university students have defended “Malay-only”
institutions as a right, and nothing has happened to them. I am not
talking about Malay students who have been victimized because of their
political views, but rather, students who have been involved in
activities that any rational person would realise would bring disrepute
to the university. Indeed, politicians and activists have joined them in rejecting any
kind of egalitarianism that would disrupt Umno norms in this country.
So, when I read that the heinous crime they committed was that there was
no Malay or English translations on some sign the society put up, I can
only laugh and think this is just another way the authorities are
sticking it to the non-Malays.
In addition, concerning that gag order. In 2008, University Teknologi Mara (UiTM) students marched
to then Selangor menteri besar Khalid Ibrahim’s office because he dared
moot the idea of opening that particular educational institution to
non-Malays. This is serious “political activism” and it would bring negative
implications to the university and government – if the university and
government were not conspiring with the students, that is. No wonder
public universities are their own little fiefdoms, where behaviour which
is anathema in one university is embraced in another. Azly Rahman, in writing of that fiasco, correctly pointed out
that it is the systemic dysfunction that fuels this kind of backward
thinking. “But these students are not entirely at fault. It is the
ideology and perpetrators of the ideology of undur(retreat)
itself that's at fault. It is the leaders implementing the
retrogressive ideology that is at fault… It is the systematic
indoctrination programme of ketuanan Melayu run over the decades that are advancing this UiTM philosophy of retreat.”
Then, of course, in 2002, there was that whole Akujanji loyalty
pledge that faculties all over the country decided was something
beneficial to sign because of “economic” implications. Lim Kit Siang (at
his best) rightly claimed –“ the Akujanji for
civil servants and academicians raises the question on whether the
government has lost sight of ‘core’ civil service values with selection
and promotion based on merit, political impartiality and giving the best
independent advice to government… The pledge is even more inappropriate
for public universities as it threatens their freedom to teach,
research, publish and to speak extramurally.”
These bullying tactics are not new. It is the same old bull manure,
recycled every few years when the regime is in trouble and easy targets
are needed to demonstrate that the regime is in control. What have these
measures done for the government? If anything, it has made young people who do vote and who do go to
public universities more anti-establishment. They have made academicians
cautious about putting forth ideas that would have a negative impact on
their economic well-being, which means that the government does not get
to hear the ideas that would improve the lives of people because
academicians are afraid to unpack the baggage that weighs the government
down.
Ultimately, what these bullying tactics do is make Malaysians more
divided and distrustful of the establishment. Incidents like these make
people more likely to resort to emotional arguments instead of rational
ones because the government has demonstrated that it does not behave
rationally.