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 gov't wants you to spend more time with your family - Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Monday, December 03, 2018
Handiwork of fanatics who think like Khalid Samad
Malaysiakini : Clamping down on activities deemed detrimental to religious sensibilities using legal provisions is exactly the kind of sub rosa (under the nose) move that riles up the religious base.
Forget
about all the sin tax collected, or the fact that entertainment outlets
are a convenient mechanism for social interaction among the various
ethnic groups in Malaysia. Enforcing stiffer regulations on how people
choose to spend their time is the time-honoured way in which fascists
slowly encroach into our public and private spaces.
"In Sabah, we have our own unique entertainment and culture, which
may be different from Kuala Lumpur and we have our own plans." – Deputy Sabah chief minister Christina Liew
COMMENT | In enforcing the 1am closing time
for entertainment outlets as contained in their licences, Federal
Territories minister Khalid Samad said it would serve "as a reminder to
those in Kuala Lumpur to spend more time and money with their families
rather than at entertainment outlets."
Really? The Pakatan Harapan
government cannot ratify an international treaty like the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
(Icerd), but it has no problem telling Malaysians how to spend their
money? Whom they should spend their time with? I mean, what do people do
with their families at 1am in the morning anyway? What does Khalid do
with his family at that time?
Apparently, entertainment outlets
have a very lax attitude when it comes to enforcing this clause in their
licence. And who could blame them? Even when the economy is bad, people
are partying like there is no tomorrow. Mind you, some people believe
that the only way to party is to party like there's no tomorrow. But I digress. Sabah meanwhile, has pooh-poohed
the idea. When asked, deputy chief minister Christina Liew said: "I
don't think we have to worry too much about the (proposal) considering
what we have here."
I have no idea what Sabah has there, but I
really like it whatever it is. In the quote that opens this piece, Liew
said that Sabah has a culture different from Kuala Lumpur. I wonder what
this cultural difference is. Not to mention, don’t the people of Sabah
want to spend more time with their families?
What exactly is going on here? Khalid claimed that the Kuala
Lumpur City Hall received complaints about noise and other
disturbances. But does anyone really believe this? I mean, sure, there
would have been complaints from certain areas which would necessitate
certain measures being taken, but a blanket enforcement of all
entertainment outlets? This is not kosher.
DAP Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun is worriedabout
this strict enforcement policy, as he should be. “I hope the government
will not have a one-size-fits-all ruling. I can understand the
rationale of limiting the operating hours of outlets close to
residential areas.”
Moral policing
My own
take is that entertainment outlets in residential areas should be
closely monitored. Not only because of the noise pollution and other
disturbances – whatever that means – but because many of these outlets
serve as vehicles for money laundering, prostitution, illegal gambling
and other illicit activities that cater to hypocritical suburban
populations. Note that this is not a blanket condemnation on sex work,
but this is not the article to discuss this subject.
Apparently,
there were special considerations for certain entertainment outlets to
close at 5am to cater to tourists. But these outlets were found to have
catered to locals, and apparently, this is a bad thing. Can you
imagine? The government is distressed that locals are supporting local
businesses by spending their money. It seems that the government would
rather people spend time with their families instead of supporting local
business.
What the hell is the matter with these sanctimonious
guardians of morality? It's okay for foreigners to spend money and
contribute to the local economy, but when it comes to locals, this is
not a good thing? I get that the tourist ringgit is
important, but to dismiss the impact of locals contributing to the
economy is damn well irresponsible. And to justify it on extremely
stupid grounds – like a reminder for more family time – is just
disgusting.
This is about moral policing. The government could, of
course, rely on the fact that these entertainment outlets are going
against clauses in their licences, but the reality is that whenever a
government seeks to enforce certain regulations pertaining to
entertainment, especially in a country dominated by Islamic imperatives,
it is all about moral policing.
Moral mission creep
Clamping down on activities deemed detrimental to religious sensibilities using legal provisions is exactly the kind of sub rosa (under the nose) move that riles up the religious base. Forget
about all the sin tax collected, or the fact that entertainment outlets
are a convenient mechanism for social interaction among the various
ethnic groups in Malaysia. Enforcing stiffer regulations on how people
choose to spend their time is the time-honoured way in which fascists
slowly encroach into our public and private spaces. What we are really talking about is here is that the Harapan government is telling you how to live. Look, the folks of the Kampung Manjoi incident were essentially pushing the same narrative. They did not want the local stores selling alcohol.
This is a variation of the same theme. The government is
telling you how to spend your time and money. You spend time with your
family because the government tells you to. All this is about 'sinning'
at the expense of the 'sacred' family. Or so these religious types would
have us believe.
This is how it starts. These are sub rosa
moves, and nobody wants to say anything about it. I did not even bother
quoting the various tourism bodies because these moves are not about
foreigners, but about control of the locals. Otherwise, why start
enforcing these types of things now?
Does anyone really think that
by enforcing this regulation, that people will spend more time with
their families? But that isn't the point, is it? In my
experience, religious fascism is not interested in the outcome, only
that the dictate is imposed. Would anyone really mind if there was
stricter enforcement of entertainment outlets in residential areas? No,
they would not.
Entertainment outlets looking for a bigger slice
of the pie would move to places where there is more traffic, so
establishments in residential areas that offer illicit pleasures will
just look for more conducive environments. Legitimate
neighbourhood pubs would not really mind closing earlier, because if
they are any good, they would have an established clientele who would
leave at a reasonable hour, only to turn up the next day.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng claims that the Harapan government needs three years
to bring the economy back on track, but when we have policies like
these rooted in the kind of moral policing that Sabah apparently does
not need, who knows what other businesses would be targeted.
For every step forward, some folks want to drag us two steps back.