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."
There's something about Nurul Izzah and Latheefa - Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Malaysiakini : "People are expecting a lot from us, so I always take my position
that if you can't be that voice of conscience, then what good are you? I
try my best to remind myself and everyone else of the key concerns." – Nurul Izzah Anwar
"PKR
needs to realise that it is now part of the federal government, charged
with no less a task than instituting reforms and properly governing the
nation. Hence, it must uphold the highest and best democratic
practices.” – Latheefa Koya
COMMENT | The resignationof
Nurul Izzah Anwar from her posts in PKR and the government is an
interesting development in this New Malaysia. While Nurul Izzah has made
clear the reasons for this course of action, the rumour mills are in
overdrive blaming the schisms within PKR for her decision.
Numerous
people from both camps have been calling and texting me, hoping I would
contribute to the narrative; I just tune all that nonsense out. As far
as I am concerned, Nurul Izzah did the strategic thing in resigning. The
current political climate is toxic. Not only are we witness to the
reshaping of political parties for hegemonic agendas, we are also
witness to a level of hypocrisy and sycophancy not seen before in
Malaysian politics. Stepping out of the fray hopefully brings clarity.
Nurul
Izzah is no ordinary politician. I do not mean this in some sort of
messianic way that her supporters are wont to believe. She
is the daughter of a former establishment figure turned dissident
turned political prisoner. Her parents – although some now claim
otherwise – are the architects of the removal of Umno from power.
For better or worse, the story of her family is her story.
There is no running away from that, as there is no running away from the
fact that her parents are influential figures in PKR.
This
is not to say that Nurul Izzah did not do the hard work that got her to
where she is today. Familial dynasties in politics is a brutal game
unless you are Muhkriz from clan Mahathir, where your old man is thought
to be the messiah who would save Malaysia. Nurul Izzah occupies
that heady terrain of young Malay leadership that will one day – very
soon – determine the direction of this country. While people are free to
speculate on the “real” reasons she has chosen this course of action,
it is all smoke and mirrors anyway.
Stepping out of the fray
There
is a deeper game played and strategically, Nurul Izzah made the right
move by stepping out of the fray. By severing the strings from the
levers of power within her party, hopefully she will now be free to
criticise her party and the government when needed.
And, of
course, we will all be waiting to see how Malay power structures and
personalities settle after the dust clears in the ongoing unerklärter Krieg (undeclared war) between Bersatu, PKR and Umno. Remember,
the factionalism within PKR is not solely confined to personalities
within the party. The reality is that there are many interested cabals
who have agendas of their own in seeing that the party remains chaotic.
It benefits other political parties when PKR president Anwar
Ibrahim is always on the defensive. Not to mention Anwar having his own
coterie of allies outside the party. Does Anwar carry self-inflicted wounds? Yes. However, we
should not underestimate the machinations of others in the turmoil
within PKR.
With her resignation, Nurul Izzah can
hopefully step away from all of this and concentrate for the time being
on speaking up for the idealists in this country – because the
pragmatists are bending over backwards for neo-BN policies and, of
course, for the disenfranchised in this country.
And when I
say 'disenfranchised', I mean those people who did not vote for Pakatan
Harapan but who are shackled by the system. I mean the rural heartland
who are agitated that they are out of the political process when they
assumed they were the political process. I am talking about marginalised communities who do not have a voice in the system.
And
who knows what permutations will come from young Malay political
operatives? Anything is better than the diseased dreams of old
powerbrokers clinging to power and hoodwinking people into believing
theirs is the only way.
Partisan fury
Meanwhile, Latheefa Koya has again become the focus of the ire of partisans who claimed that her statement about the appointmentsof
PKR state chiefs is disturbing – in particular,
Anwar's heavy-handedness and the strong whiff of nepotism in Nurul
Izzah’s appointment as Penang chief.
On Anwar’s legitimate claim to throne, I wrote
this previously –“Anwar’s daughter, Nurul Izzah, says she takes charges
of nepotism positively, but really, why should she? The opposition is
riddled with nepotism most often at the highest level in the form of
powerbrokers and political dynasties placing their pawns for future
political power.”
On Monday, Latheefa said: "After a scandal-ridden and
disgraceful party election process, these appointments (of state chiefs)
only further erode public regard and confidence in PKR.”
This
is echoed in statements made by Nurul Izzah in November – who
acknowledged the strained relationships in PKR when the press caught her
looking “distraught”
after the party polls. “Of course anyone would be distraught. People
should be focusing on strengthening our party, I don't like to see us
having gone through such a difficult and arduous (voting) process, which
is flawed.”
Of course, a flawed electoral process begets
a compromised leadership, which begets a suspect decision-making
process. It really does not matter if Latheefa belongs to a faction or
doesn't make her allegiances – if any – public knowledge. What is
important is whether what she is claiming is factual. And by the looks
of it, it is.
Already, anonymous cretins are making personal
attacks, referring to her complexion and attempting to make this about
an evil dark-skinned crone and a fair princess. This is the level that
some anonymous Harapan cretins stoop to in the alternative press and on
social media. These are the proponents of New Malaysia.
Greater transparency
Sometimes,
transparency benefits certain parties or factions, but it most often
benefits the people who want a different form of government and a
different form of political party.
Only the most toxic partisan
would use this opportunity to champion personalities, when the reality
is that political operatives and their parties should always be
scrutinised – because any quest to consolidate power necessarily
includes manipulating democratic processes at the expense of the rakyat.
Someone
asked me what I think of Nurul Izzah and Latheefa. I told her, I do not
know them. I distrust most politicians, and these days, the stakes are
much higher because Umno is imploding, and Malay power structures, for
the first time ever, have to fight for their very existence. Anything
can happen.
What I do think is that even with all this unfolding
drama, Nurul Izzah and Latheefa are part of a solution, not part of the
problem.