Rudyard Kipling"
āWhen 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 soldierā
General Douglas MacArthur"
āWe are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.ā
āIt is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.ā āOld soldiers never die; they just fade away.
āThe soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.ā
āMay God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .ā āThe object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
āNobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
āIt 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."
Malaysiakini : "God, do not let this country and the fate of this race (Malays) fall into the hands of traitors and the wicked." - PM Najib Razak, Umno General Assembly 2016
COMMENT | What exactly is Bersatuās āstrugglesā? I mean I know that
opposition types are using Dr Mahathir Mohamad, or at least they think
they are using Mahathir, to gain rural Malay votes, but this is a
strategy - not a very good one - but a strategy nonetheless. So what
exactly does Bersatu stand for?
Honestly, if you ask an average Bersatu supporter, he would mimic
exactly what an average Umno supporter would say. If you ask Mahathir
establishment types, you would get a different, nuanced answer which
involves correcting the systemic imbalances when it comes to corruption,
and homages to old alliance politics, which ironically Umno and then
Umno Baru had a hand in destroying.
So, this source - later confirmed by a Bersatu big wig - claims that
the Umno mentality carried over to Bersatu has led to complaints of not
having an easy ride to electoral victory as it was when they were in
Umno. Money, of course, is the factor. These kinds of statements are
embarrassing but more importantly, makes people question why exactly
they are voting for the opposition. They would rather not vote or spoil
their votes than facilitate the rise of power of people with āUmno
mentalityā.
And some people are seriously making the claim, that these people
will āSave Malaysiaā? Some people are seriously making the claim, that
these people are committed to making changes that would ensure that the
country recovers from its kleptocratic nightmare. Some people are
seriously making the claim, that these people would ensure that our
religious freedoms, constitutionally guaranteed rights and whatever else
we take for granted in our ever increasingly diminishing public
spheres, would be protected?
Kelantan Bersatu chief Kamaruddin Mohd Noor claims that changing this Umno mentality will take some time,
which implies that Bersatu - or at least that the impression they want
to give - is in it for the long haul. But hereās the thing. The
opposition has made it clear that this is the election which would
decide the fate of the country. This is the election which if we do not
change government will spell the end of this country.
So what happens if Bersatu does not win big in this election? Does
anyone really think that these āUmnoā mentality types will stick around
and continue the āstrugglesā of the party? Does anyone really think that
these āUmnoā types consider Bersatu a new dawn of Malay politics? Most
probably, what these Umno mentality types will do is rejoin Umno who
would welcome them with open arms, because this is the way in mainstream
Malay politics. You take a shot at the Umno grand poobah, you miss,
make amends and are rehabilitated.
What does this say about the base that these operatives appeal to?
Does the base actually care about the corruption and abuse of executive
privilege this country is facing or does the base merely think that
Bersatu lacking funds cannot be as powerful as Umno?
Now I get that funding is important but surely if you are expecting
an easy ride, it was because it was implied that an easy ride was what
you signed up for when you jumped ship, right? I mean, personality
politics does not put food on the table, and after so long on the gravy
train, Umno mentality types are not expected to go on a handout-free
diet, right?
And of course, there are invisible hands at work. They are Umno
saboteurs in Bersatu because this is exactly the strategy Umno devised
when people were busy jumping ship back after Bersatu was formed. This
is exactly the strategy nearing an election when Umno sleepers choose to
act. Of course, what Umno has to worry about are the Mahathir sleepers
within their ranks, but that is all part of the game.
āHidden handsā
Claiming that people are dissatisfied because they do not have access
to the funds they had when in Umno but claiming that voicing out these
concerns is the agenda of āhidden handsā merely confirms that the
opposition is made up of a bunch of political opportunists, who have no
real attention of changing the system but instead are hoping to jump
back on the tracks that Umno/BN have been travelling on post-1969.
You know what happens when voters, who do not participate in social
media or are the opposition base, but who read these types of news
items, think? What this does is that it sustains the impression that
Bersatu is a leaking ship filled with undesirables who are either
working secretly for Umno or Umno rejects who just want to replace PM
Najib Razak and get back to the glory days of the old Umno Baru.
It brings me back to this:
āThe opposition always says that people are not āeducatedā and that if
they only knew the ātruthā, they would understand why we need to change
the government. Perhaps people know the truth and they believe that it
is safer for whatever reason not to vote because it would not make any
difference, especially now that the opposition has joined forces with
the very man they claimed was destroying this country - how many times
has this country been destroyed? - and attempting to engineer a revival
that would see the system not only rejuvenated but also redeemed.
Perhaps some folks do not want to be a part of that.ā
To be honest, I underestimated the people who are furious that the
opposition has aligned itself with the former prime minister. I
underestimated the feelings of anger and disgusts of people who thought
that the opposition represented a new dawn in Malaysian politics. I
underestimated the anger of those who quietly sit by and consume the
news in the alternative press and have made up their minds that they
want no part in this election.
Before all this nonsense, people used to accuse PKR of having Umno
DNA. People used to say that the choice is between the lesser of two
evils.