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."
Malaysiakini : COMMENT | We have lived with
Najib Abdul Razak's reign of terror for almost a decade, and that is why
the video clip of men from a Muslim NGO, forcing a shop assistant, in a
store in Manjoi, to empty a liquor cabinet, fills us with dread.
The assistant may have avoided a confrontation with the thugs,
because he feared that he would be beaten up, or that they would return
at night and fire-bomb the shop. The timing is crucial. The thugs know that the authorities are reluctant to act during Ramadhan. The new Mentri Besar of Perak, Ahmad Faizal Azumu, has refused to
deal firmly with these troublemakers. His weakness emboldens the thugs.
Worse still, is the silence of the Muslim leaders, who do not condemn
the bigots.
Make no mistake, these are not righteous Muslims, who are trying to
uphold their religion. They are paid thugs who just happen to be
Muslims, and are using religion as a beard for their law breaking. This incident reminds us of the bad old days of the Red Shirts and their leader, Jamal Yunos. Ahmad Faizal's meek reprimand
will not stop these thugs, who have long believed that they are the
master race. In the video, you can hear them issue threats to smash the
bottles of alcohol, if they were not removed.
Ahmad Faizal (photo) reminded the NGO to lodge a complaint
with the government about their concerns. A reminder? He does not
inspire us with confidence. His actions will fail to reassure the
business community.
Disband all instruments of oppression
It is time to disband all of the instruments of oppression of the
rakyat, that were promoted by Umno-Baru, including Jamal Yunos' Red
Shirts and the NGOs that terrorise shopkeepers, businesses and
newspapers in Malaysia. Who is to know that tomorrow, the extremist groups may target a
bookshop, because they believe that the books there could proselytise
Muslims. Perhaps a magazine shows women in clothes which disturb their
sensitivities. Maybe a recipe book has recipes which feature pork and
alcohol. Will they also target shops which sell leather goods made of
pigskin? Will they demand that tins of spam, or packets of bacon, be
removed?
The hallmark of the Red Shirts, is the use of violence and threats. They are usually "commissioned" by Umno-Baru to cause havoc. Despite their breaking of the law, the former IGP, Khalid Abu Bakar,
treated the Red Shirts with kid gloves. Umno-Baru kept quiet about their
harassment. Jamal may now be contained, but his thuggery is being emulated by others.
The Manjoi troublemakers held shopkeepers to ransom. They threatened the peace. They harmed community relations. Instead of dealing firmly with this potentially dangerous group, Ahmad Faizal pussyfoots around them. People who are vegetarians do not force shopkeepers to remove cans of
Corned Beef, Spam or Serunding because it irritates them. People who
abhor fast food cannot demand the counter staff to tip the contents of
the oven into the bin, because the food is unhealthy.
The shop in Manjoi has a licence to sell alcohol. They have not
broken the law, but those Manjoi thugs have committed a breach of the
peace. No-one should be allowed to walk brazenly into a shop and demand that
the shopkeeper removes his stock. Try doing that in Tesco or Giant.
You'd be marched out of the premises and prevented from returning.
In 2012, Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz (photo), was harassed by the Federal Territory Islamic Affairs Department (Jawi). They targeted a woman, because it was easy. They did not dare aim for Vincent Tan, the boss of the Borders chain.
Nik Raina was an employee. She has nothing to do with the stocking and
purchase of the book, which upset Jawi. The book by Canadian Muslim and
lesbian author, Irshad Manji, was called "Allah, Liberty and Love".
What other reasons may have prompted the Manjoi incident? Is there a
Malay/Muslim trader who wants to get rid of the competition, make his
regular customers afraid and hound him out of business, so that he can
take over the shop? Are the thugs being paid by a developer, who knows that the site will fetch a good price on the property market? Is this part of the grand design of Umno-Baru, post GE-14, to stir-up
trouble, destabilise the newly formed state government, and topple it
for Umno-Baru's return to power?
When the 93-year-old Dr Mahathir Mohamad stepped into his prime
ministerial shoes, he was sprinting all over the place. Even his deputy,
and elected MPs, had trouble keeping up with him. His stamina reminds
us of a person doing the marathon. His zeal for work and his work ethic
are second to none. A pity that the menteri besars are less competent. The appointment of the Perak MB has, from the beginning, been under a
cloud. To be fair, it was alleged that he was a reluctant MB. We need a
strong MB who will fight for the state, and not to enrich himself, as
all too often has been the case in the past.
The state needs firm handling, so that it may regain its former glory
as the richest state on the peninsula. Perakians want a person who is
committed, not a career politician. They do not want a compromise
candidate. The MB's role is not to make buddies by not censuring those
who cause trouble. The MB's main job is to turn around the state. Perak has many issues, from its economy to environmental degradation,
from tackling corruption, to community relations. It needs a capable
pair of hands to manage it, but the new MB has failed to deal with
religious troublemakers from the outset.
The only way to neutralise thugs like these is to isolate them, by
striking at the source of the trouble and by targeting their heads. Is
Ahmad Faizal prepared to do that?