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."
The last great political fight for Zaid - By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Wednesday, April 04, 2018
Malaysiakini : “The whole world keeps asking: ‘What has gone wrong with
Malaysia?’ In other words, they are asking what has gone wrong with
Malays. How do we respond to this?” – Zaid Ibrahim’s speech (translated from Kelantanese Malay) to 300
Kelantan Pakatan Harapan party workers in Kota Bharu, March 20, 2018
COMMENT | I really do not get it.
Why isn’t DAP offering Zaid Ibrahim a seat? Why am I reading about
possible young candidates going on about the reasons why they as –
non-Malays – feel marginalised in this country instead of someone like
Zaid, who – considering his maverick status – has played well with
others (this time) when we are told that this is going to be the
ultimate electoral brawl within the Malay community.
It just does not make sense. Pakatan Harapan – whoever they are –
tell us that Bersatu is needed to secure the rural Malay vote and it is
filled to the brim with former Umno acolytes attempting to present an
image of reformasi. Meanwhile, PKR is floundering and has yet to shed
its “weakest link” image of Harapan. Amanah is attempting to discover
how exactly it fits in this coalition and the DAP is busy ensuring that
MCA and Gerakan are footnotes in history.
There are very few Malay politicians like Zaid. Who knows what
brought upon this change from Umno political insider to mainstream
political outsider. That is a big leap to make. From Umno embracing you,
to everyone thinking that you are that crazy uncle who makes
politically incorrect (in the Malaysians context) utterances in public.
The opposition needs a Malay politician like Zaid. After all, the
opposition has many Malay politicians from the Umno mould. They have
politicians from the PAS mould as well. Rare is the Malay politician who
understands that this conflict is not about saving Malaysia but rather
is an existential conflict within the Malay community.
Think about this. Umno, Bersatu, PAS, Amanah and even PKR, when they
talk about the Malays, the belief is that the system is needed to save
them. Zaid is a Malay politician who thinks that there is something
wrong with the system. When I was editing his book, one of the questions
that frequently cropped up was, “Do you really want to put this in the
book?” “This” was slaying sacred cows types pieces that played well with
non-Malays but which I believed will alienate his Malay audience. Zaid’s answer was always the same.
“It’s reality, Thaya” or something
like that. And when you think about another Malay politician, the
former Umno strongman now Harapan PM-designate, Dr Mahathir Mohamad,
also revealed “truths” about the Malay community when he led Umno and
the sycophants lapped it up. These days, of course, they use it against
him but the Malay community despite what the Umno state wants you to
believe has always been in conflict.
There is a discourse going on far away from the mainstream
urban/English-dominated media. Young Malays from both sides of the
political divide send me materials – sometimes poorly translated, but
hey I asked – of the political discussions that are going on, away from
what we think is the Malay discourse. Zaid’s name always crops up. He is
divisive, which is a good thing because unlike the majority of Malay
politicians who are easily dismissed, the ad hominems sometimes spewed
at Zaid gives way to discussion on what it means to be Malay in this
country.
Forget about the opposition narrative that Bersatu and Mahathir are
needed to save Malaysia because of the demographic they apparently can
get for the opposition; there is another narrative, a politically
incorrect one – depending on how you view such things – that only a
Malay can say and do things in this country when it comes to addressing
his or her community. Actually, the Institute for Democracy and Economic
Affairs (Ideas) man, Wan Saiful Wan Jan, said more or less the same
when he joined Bersatu.
Departing from script
I do not want to get into the merits or lack thereof of this type of
thinking but let’s face facts. Whenever mainstream Malay politicians
talk about their community, they stick to the same script and attempt to
pay homage to whatever political correct ideas because they need the
non-Malay votes because as yet – as yet – they do not command the
majority of the Malay vote.
Meanwhile, Zaid departs from script. When he does, nearly everyone
gets upset with him and I am talking about political operatives from his
own coalition. And it is troubling. Umno uses what Zaid says to target
the opposition. Meanwhile, the opposition predictably wonder what
adverse effect his words has on the community they are trying to
placate.
Nobody ever stops to think, that maybe if there were more Malay
politicians like Zaid and the mainstream oppositional politics nurtured
such people, they would not have to worry about being targeted by Umno
or worried about the Malay vote because there would be a demographic
within the Malay community who values what he or people like him
advocate.
The system wants to destroy Malay politicians like Zaid, and by
system, I mean the political system in general and not only the Umno
state. Why? Because if more Malays subscribed to what Zaid advocates and
then more Malaysians subscribed to what he advocates, then racial
politics would slowly lose its appeal. What would political parties do
then?
I reference this
when I argued that Zaid is a relevant Malay even though some claim he
is out of touch with the Malay community – “I have to ask, what does out
of touch mean, exactly? That he warns them that a dogmatic approach to
religion cannot withstand the vicissitudes of the modern world? That
institutional integrity protects them from the powers of the state? That
entitlement programmes have not benefited them if they have to rely on
them forever?
“That Malay right is a sham that protects the political elites but
not the average Malay citizen bereft of political influence and money?
That race-based policy which favour one race is morally suspect? That
modernity means more than just aping Western culture or that tradition
means more than just aping Arab culture? Does all of this make Zaid out
of touch with the pure simple people that Umno claims they want to
‘uplift’?”
About the only thing I disagree with is this idea – his and others –
that if fielded, it needs to be in a Chinese-dominated urban seat. This
will not prove that DAP is not a Chinese-centric party, it will just
prove that the Chinese will vote for an “acceptable” DAP-endorsed Malay
candidate. No, if Zaid really wants to signify a new political narrative, he
should face off against Umno powerbrokers with the full support of the
DAP – his party – and Harapan beside him.
This, after all, will be his last great political fight but before that, the DAP should allow him to enter the ring.