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."
I never thought I would say this, but former information minister
Zainuddin Maidin questioning Umno information chief Annuar Musa if the
latter was still living in the Hang Tuah era, was pretty interesting
blowback for Annuarās urging of the state security apparatus to
investigate Bersatu supreme council member A Kadir Jasin for his article
allegedly āquestioningā the royal institution.
Furthermore Maidinās caution of not threatening the rakyat with
āreckless feudalismā is also a reminder that perhaps, we are living in a
new dawn of Malaysians politics, something which I am skeptical of.
This idea that political hegemons āthreatenā the rakyat with
āfeudalismā, reckless or otherwise, has always been the preferred weapon
of the ābangsa and agamaā (race and religion) crowd.
Here is an example of this narrative whereby the rakyat have been threatened with āfeudalismā. When Anwar Ibrahim goes on his royal tour, apparently to convince the
royalty that all is kosher with āMalay rightsā and āIslamā, this is
part of the narrative that Malay rights and Islam are under attack. When Anwar Ibrahim and any Malay politician for that matter have to
reassure the Malay community that the appointment of Tommy Thomas will
not adversely affect Malay rights and Islam, this feeds into the
narrative that those ideas/institutions are under attack. The
counter-narrative is, have they ever been under attack?
Questioned the journalistic integrity of the New Straits Times;
Questioned if the royalty was really insecure as some have claimed;
Wondered why Anwar Ibrahim had to go on his royal tour; and
Reminded the ordinary rakyat of how much is allegedly spent on the
Agong and the difference of expectation between a pauper and a king.
To wit ā āBut unlike the pauper who evokes Godās name to earn
sympathy of the passers-by, the Agong evokes Godās name in his oath of
office.ā Thatās powerful stuff coming from Kadir, and the reality is that this is what the average rakyat is wondering. When kids carry out a car wash to contribute to the Hope Fund or whatever itās called, people think it demonstrates how Malaysian we are.
When the salaries of politicians are cut and the trimmings used to
contribute to the Hope Fund, people think it demonstrates how
politicians are playing their part in saving this country. However, when the expenses of the royalty are brought into question,
people wonder, why is it so much when we are told that we are on an
austerity drive. We have a finance minister who apparently has sleepless nights because of his fear of the financial time bombs that he would discover in the red files.
The rakyat also notices how the royalty, during the lead-up to the
elections and post-elections, by word or deed have made extremely
political overtures. Of course, when you bring up the expenses of the royalty, you better
cite sources which are credible, which is where Kadirās piece suffers. However, what should be done is that the Finance Ministry should
immediately issue a response and tell the rakyat exactly how much is
spent on the royal institutions.
After all, this is supposed to be a ministry which values truth above
all else. Truth, we are told, is needed for this country to move
forward. So when Kadir makes a statement about royal expenses, his claim does
not have to be challenged by the royalty but should either be verified
and challenged by the Finance Ministry. End of controversy.
However, Kadirās piece is more than just about royal expenses.
Kadirās conclusion is this - "In conclusion, our CONSTITUTIONAL
monarch (emphasis in original) has nothing to fear if they understand
their special position and stick to their duties as spelt out by the
constitution ā and the rakyat wonder, does the royal institution
understand their special position and stick to their duties as spelt out
in the constitution?"
When Umno was in charge, there was never an issue when Umno set policy. Even when former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak introduced the
National Security Council Act ā by the way Harapan folks, is this act
going to be ditched? ā the āissuesā with the objections of the royalty
were simply brushed aside. Nobody in Umno seemed to care that the royal institutions were
sidelined because the sitting Umno prime minister wanted more power than
the Agong. Even Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said as much on the
campaign trail.
Did anyone from Umno or PAS object when the constitutional provisions
that guaranteed certain rights to the royalty were supplanted by this
most odious of āactsā from Umno? Were the rakyat threatened by reckless
feudalism from the Umno state? Did the royalty make noise that the powers they were guaranteed under
the constitution - the very same powers, that Kadir argues, makes them
immune from insecurity - were under attack from the Najib regime? Did the Malays need to be reassured that the Malay institution was not under attack?
This idea that the royal institution has not changed through
constitutional means is a myth, much like the mythical/mystical era ā
depending on the source ā of the Hang Tuah era. The current Harapan grand poohbah in his time went against the
āreckless feudalismā and instituted changes that were embraced by some
of the very same Umno potentates who are now scrambling for power in the
political party - Umno - which has staked the ābangsa and agamaā ground
as its sole province.
Look even in the Sinar Metro article, all Kadir did was
raise three points ā in my opinion ā which are vital to the economic and
social stability of this country. Reproduced here in the original
Malay:
"Mereka dibayar gaji oleh rakyat jelata dan segala keperluan rasmi
mereka ditanggung oleh kerajaan. Dalam keadaan di mana hidup rakyat
susah dan kewangan negara sempit, kerajaan tidak boleh sekali-kali
membazirkan wang untuk sesiapa pun. Biarlah saya kata macam ini:
Istana-istana yang ada itu sudah mewah.
Dalam usaha kerajaan baharu mempertahankan hak rakyat jelata dan
melindungi institusi negara daripada sebarang bentuk pencabulan maka
adalah penting diambil tahu pembabitan raja atau istana dalam
kegiatan-kegiatan tidak rasmi seperti perniagaan dan social.
Kalau perlu kita kaji semula perlembagaan dan kontrak sosial bagi
mengambil kira suasana dan realiti yang ada pada hari ini bagi
mengharmonikan perjanjian antara raja dan rakyat jelata.ā
My interpretation of Kadir's words is as follows (you may of course
disagree): In times of austerity, because the rakyat are in a crunch,
the government of the day should scrutinise its expenses and the royal
institutions should also play their part. That the royal institutions
should not be involved in unofficial business and social enterprises,
because it weakens the integrity of these institutions and encourages
practices which are detrimental to a functional state. And as Malaysians
we should understand that reforms of institutions ā all institutions ā
are needed to save this country.
If anything, what Kadir is advocating is āresponsible feudalismā,
which I suppose is what a constitutional monarchy is all about.
I am a Johorean Malay.. I support and agreed with Kadir Jasin.
It was the Royalty themselves who put everybody in akward position.