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."
What does RM1.1b worth of BTN hate get you? - By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Tuesday, July 03, 2018
Malaysiakini : āWhen we don't know who to hate, we hate ourselves.ā - Chuck Palahniuk, āInvisible Monstersā
COMMENT | Okay, I will admit to
being pretty bummed out that the Department of Islamic Development
(Jakim) was not axed. I mean think of all the money we would save and
there would be less of a need for kids to break open their piggy banks. But sure, I get it. It would look bad for the new administration if a
federal religious authority was axed. As it is, the Malay far-right
crowd are claiming that this new administration would destroy ābangsaā
(race) and āagamaā (religion) and culling this particular body would
reinforce this perception.
But seriously, the Biro Tatanegara (BTN), spared? When the Selangor
and Penang state governments banned their students and civil servants
from attending these courses, it seemed as if political operatives
finally got it. Even Kelantan jumped
on the bandwagon, stating that they would not send their people for
these brainwashing initiatives unless the BTN ācurriculum was not
changed in accordance with Islam.ā So maybe PAS only got half of it.
Where did I get that RM1.1 billion figure? Well, Wong Chun Wai wrote a pretty good piece for The Star ā Pretty hate machine
ā which neatly defined the problem with the BTN courses. And he should
know, right? Iām kidding, Wong, itās the new Malaysia so everyone has
got a say. But seriously folks, people have heard stories about the BTN
courses. There were testimonials of the kind of horse manure that goes
on there.
Has anyone really visited their official website?
I do, pretty often. The images there serve a purpose. Loads of images
of Malay civil servants and the activities that BTN carries out. This
provides a narrative that the dominant Malay majority are the ones who
actually serve the state, serve the country and in essence, serve the
political party - Umno - that supposedly serves the Malay community.
This is a powerful narrative captured in images and it is amplified
when minions of Umno used to claim that it is the non-Malays who are not
patriotic, it is the non-Malaysā religions which threatens Islam.
Some would argue that there are a few bad apples in the organisation,
so get rid of them. Well in Wongās article, he quotes former minister
in the Prime Ministerās Department, Nazri Abdul Aziz, who in 2009 pushed
back on the horse manure in Parliament that the work of a few bad
apples sullied the programme - āDonāt think that people outside do not
know about the syllabus based on patriotism for Malays. They know what
the syllabus is all about, so who are we to say that it did not happen?
You want to lie? You make people laugh.
āI mean, there are people who attended the courses who came out very
angry. There were many instances of the use of words like Ketuanan
Melayu. It is ridiculous. Do they want to say that Malaysia belongs only
to the Malays and the government is only a Malay government? Should
only the Malays be given the spirit of patriotism? Other races are not
patriotic about their country?ā
Okay, you may say, fine, reform BTN. Sounds simple, right? Has anyone
stopped to think, why this organisation is needed? Forget about what it
is costing taxpayers but why would there ever need to be a government
agency instilling āpatriotismā in the civil service and students? Why
would the state need to do this except to ensure that people are
brainwashed into voting for them?
No more propaganda, please
Is the new BTN going to be about the Bangsa Malaysia Kool-Aid? Is the
new BTN going to be about how there are no race and class divisions in
this country and how everyone has to āsave Malaysiaā?
Think about that. Think about how this current government is
desperately attempting to assure the āMalaysā that they would be taken
care of and that they have nothing to fear from non-Malay political
structures. This kind of thinking is because of the BTN and other
propaganda arms like it.
Remember that MCA and MIC and all those other BN, non-Malay power
structures turned a blind eye to the brainwashing and hate speech coming
from BTN and just assumed that all this was part of the social contract
and the means to ensure compliance in the Malay community. Do
non-Malays want they, ānew Malaysiaā non-Malays representatives, to
follow the same kind of thinking?
So, what does RM1.1 billion ā over the years ā get you? For the
Malays, it is - āThe Chinese are richā, ādonāt spook the Malaysā,
āliberalism is a threat to Islamā, and the rest of the propaganda that
defined Umno dogma. What did it get the non-Malays? Every time as a
non-Malay, you have to worry about not rocking the Malay vote - the
tendrils of the courses of BTN touched you even though you may not have
attended any of its ācoursesā.
Every time you hurl some invective against the system anonymously
online, using racial insults or religious bigotry, it is because of the
boot of Umno dogma you may feel - depending on your economic status - in
the real world. Every time, you have to think not as a community but
rather consider how this plays out in the majority Malay polity, you
have been touched by the BTN courses.
You fear or hate Islam? You cheer when you read articles telling like
it is to the Malay community by other Malays? All this is part of the
propaganda, the culture that is really part of what it means to be a
non-Malay Malaysian and this is the function of the BTN. BTN not only
taught Malays how to hate and who to direct it against, it also taught
the non-Malays how to react.
For years, we voted in successive BN governments and if DAP supremo Lim Kit Siangās numbers
on the BTN funding is to be believed, the figures have increased. This
would mean that we were literally endorsing the hate coming from this
organisation. Do you really trust this new administration to reform this
institution? Do you really want your tax ringgit spent on an
organisation whose function is to instil a sense of patriotism in the
civil service or students or whoever they target?