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 : āGod is merciful to all, as he has been to you; he is first a father, then a judge.ā ā Alexandre Dumas, āThe Count of Monte Cristoā
COMMENT | So this MIC political
operative called me and asked my advice on how to reform the MIC. A bit
of context is needed. Normally whenever I wrote about MIC, back in the
good old days of BN rule - you know, last month - I would get these
calls from MIC operatives ranging on the spectrum from pleas of
understanding to outright threats. Mostly anonymous - donāt they
understand thatās what the comment section of the āalternative mediaā is
for - but always this idea that this time, they were really doing
something for the Indian community.
In the great MIC hoax, I laid out what I thought of the MIC. Forget
about the grand history of this Indian political party. What it had
succumbed to was larceny, thuggery and cowardice, but fatally for the
party, to become the instrument of subjugation wielded by the
kleptocratic state on the disenfranchised of the Indian community.
Let me be very clear. In numerous articles when I have discussed the
Indian issue, I have clearly articulated that I meant by disenfranchised
Indians and not the Indians who self-identify along cultural (Indian)
and party (political) lines, who in many ways are better off from their
brethren. I have resigned myself to the fact that I cannot write about MIC
without engaging in a bit of schadenfreude. It is not like flogging a
dead horse or even kicking a dog when it is down. It is more like, why
even bother, guys? I mean, the Indian community as a voting block are
inconsequential. We do not have the numbers to engage in the political
arena like the other minority community.
Consider this:
āForget about dodgy official statistics for a moment and consider the
value of a Malay vote - because of gerrymandering, it is greater than
that of a Chinese vote. What do you think the value of an Indian vote
is? At this stage because of the idiotic way in which how the āMalayā
race is defined in this country and because of the phenomenon of
constitutionally-created Malays, I would argue that the Indian vote is
near meaningless.ā
Indeed, Indian political operatives are reminded that they are there
because of the āpartyā and its ābaseā ā that is dog whistle politics
right there ā and this is when the partisans are being polite. When they
are not, it is blatant reminder to Indian politicians to know their
place.
Furthermore, the āIndianā community has a plethora of yahoos claiming
they represent the Indian community. In fact, I believe that there are
more Indian organisations claiming to represent the Indian community
than there are Indians in this country. Before the elections I wrote that there should be a moratorium on fishing for Indian votes.
āI get that Indian votes are important, especially when the
opposition intends to contest in seats where every vote counts but with
the establishment ramping up the propaganda and the opposition doing the
same, the reality is that the Indian community, or at least the
marginalised in the Indian community, are slowly coming to the
realisation that they will always be on the losing end when race-based
hegemons clash.ā
The last bit in that sentence is the key. Playing the race card when
your base is insignificant is one thing. Playing the race card when over
the years, you have been the biggest obstacle to your community, is
another.
Preying on the community
MIC claims it has to reorientate because now it is the opposition.
The MIC claims it needs to reinvent. MIC political operatives believe
that they need a second chance. Listen very carefully. Every time BN won a mandate was MICās āsecond
chanceā. Every time BN won a mandate, the MIC had the opportunity to
reinvent and do something for the community. Instead, what MIC did was
prey on the community they claimed to represent and did nothing while
the former Umno state slipped into a maelstrom of kleptocracy and
Islamic delusions.
As the smallest faction in the power-sharing community, the MIC could
have done so much for the disenfranchised in the Indian community who
were their base. The fact that the Indian community is scattered all
over the country was an advantage. The MIC could have strategically
tailored their welfare programmes to individual states and come up with a
coherent strategy to solves issues facing the Indian community in a
holistic manner, because the base is small.
Instead, what the MIC did was to enrich themselves, looting from the
scraps from the table the Umno state gave to them. Former leader S Samy
Vellu claimed that the MIC had no voice in the Umno round table. The
current Pakatan Harapan grand poobah claims that funds directed to the
Indian community via the MIC never reached their intended recipients.
Both are probably true.
How can the MIC be an effective opposition when the MCA is decimated,
Umno is embroiled in a tumultuous power struggle and the rest of the BN
component parties are looking after their own? MIC still does not get
it. I argued that the first party to fold in this racial game would be
MIC.
Maybe MIC's base understands that they do not need a race-based party
to look after their interests. Maybe the Indian community is the first
community bereft of any race-based political outlet and maybe this is a
good thing. Well, not a good thing in the Kool-Aid sense, but rather,
because the changing demographics and the lack of changing ideology,
sooner or later, the greater Malay community will gather around a
religious/ethnic hegemon more virulent than Umno and this whole idea of a
multiracial Malaysia will be flushed down the proverbial crapper.
If Harapan political operatives can deal with the issues that the
disenfranchised of the Indian community consider important, then there
really is no need for Indian race-based political parties. Check that,
even if Harapan does not deal with these issues, there is no need for
Indian race-based parties because of the reality of the reasons I
mentioned above.
In fact, since the needs of the Indian community are attached to so
many other government reforms ā prison reform, education, small
businesses, etc ā it is actually one of the āeasierā communal reforms to
carry out. All that is needed is the political will and not more doses
of the Kool-Aid.
The best thing the MIC could do for the Indian community is to
liquidate all the assets held by MIC. Collect all monies held by MIC
potentates. Once MIC does this, give the money - which should be in the
hundreds of millions - to an independent organisation to manage and
distribute to the disfranchised in the Indian community for educational
purposes. Education, in this instance, should be narrowly defined (and
mainly for children and young people) and all allocations should be open
to public scrutiny. After which, they should deregister the political
party.
This is the best thing the MIC can do for the Indian community. This
is the honourable thing to do. Consider this an act of political seppuku.