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."
Does Malaysia need a Saddam Hussein? - Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Malaysiakini : āAnd we will look for a candidate.ā - Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin
COMMENT |
Recently PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang ā who still has not replied to
my numerous open letters and which makes me sad because he is the only
one I have written to ā said that we should debate people like
controversial Muslim preacher Zakir Naik instead of turning the issue
into a political one. Well, in the spirit of that admonishment, I will
start with Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin.
The Perlis mufti (does the DAP still want to build bridges
with him?) said that Malaysia needs a strongman like Saddam Hussein to
take on the āmany thugs we currently haveā. This I find strange because
as far the DAP leaders are concerned, I think they are a bunch of pussy
cats. He did not mention the DAP but seeing as how they are his
favourite target, it is not hard to imagine that he views them as one of
the numerous anti-Malay thugs we have in this country.
Before
the elections, DAP leaders were roaring their heads off at the drop of a
hat but since the Grand Poobah has taken over, they are bending over
backwards to justify policies decisions that their base has no interest
in. Which I suppose means that anyone who supports the DAP is an
anti-Malay thug.
I mean, take this whole khat fiasco which has got
Asri all riled up. āBut if learning three to six pages of Jawi in Tanah
Melayu can trigger a war-like situation, is this being respectful to
the landowners?"
What "war-like" situation? The DAP? They were
performing all sorts of unsavoury rhetorical tricks to push the issue
forward. Dong Zong and the other educational groups? They were doing
what they have always been doing - ensuring that the Islamisation
process does not further encroach into our public and private spaces.
So what "war-like" situation is there? Angry letters and bruised
feelings? This passes for "war-like" in the minds of Asri and his
acolytes?
And for something like this and to protect an alleged
money launderer and someone who allegedly stole from Islamic funds meant
for the disenfranchised - Zakir Naik ā the Perlis mufti wants to find a
mass murderer to lead this country? Correction: he and his followers -
"we" - intend to find an extremist like Saddam to lead this country?
Abdul Hadi Awang
Hadi
claims that we should ādebateā religious leaders when it comes to
Islam. Okay. So how about the Perlis mufti who claims that Islam is
about peace, that it is axiomatic that Muslims are "anti-racism" which
does not require explanations but yet claims he wants to seek out a
political operative who like Saddam Hussein butchered his own people and
who at one time was an ally of Western imperialists that some Muslims
like to blame for all the troubles in the world.
Let me get this
straight. The Perlis mufti makes public statements that he and his
coterie are looking for a mass-murdering extremist to lead this country
and the state security apparatus is worried about today's anti-Zakir
Naik and khat rally?
Imagine if a non-Muslim had said that he or she was seeking a
mass-murdering psychopath to lead this country because they had enough
of Malay rule in this country. What do you think the response from the
security and political apparatus would have been?
Here we have the Perlis mufti who is known to be antagonistic
to the Shia school of Islamic thought - reminding the non-Malays that
the Malays are the owners of the land seeking someone like Saddam
Hussein who has killed innocent civilians, his political opponents and
yes, thousands of Shia, and there is silence from the state security
apparatus. And you wonder why some people are Islamophobic? You wonder why people distrust the state security apparatus? You wonder why some people vent and rant on social media?
The
mistake people make is this - that this is some sort of joke. I am glad
to see there has been blowback on Asriās comments by Malay political
groups, activists and some political operatives but the reality is that
many people think that people like this are only worth laughing at.
This is a grave mistake. When calling for the deportation of Zakir Naik, I received the usual straw man and ad hominem ā
ironically from some non-Malays ā who always seem to misinterpret my
arguments. But here is the thing. These people are dangerous. This is
not a laughing matter. When I call for the deportation of someone like
Zakir Naik, I do so because I believe he is a threat to national
security. And I do not mean only to non-Muslims. Religious extremists
more often than not target their own in Muslim-majority countries.
Zakir Naik
Asri
likes to talk about how he defended non-Malay rights as if those rights
were separate and distinct from the greater Malaysian polity. And you
know what? He is right. Are all citizens of this country treated the
same under the law in the sense of enjoying whatever our tax ringgit is
used for? We have all this noise about how we are citizens of this
country but is the reality reflective of the grand speeches made by
political operatives or people with power?
People like Asri for a
time gained political currency with the anti-BN crowd because he said
things that appealed to non-Muslims. Every time a Malay in power, of
power or close to power, says things that appeal to non-Muslims, they
gobble up these words as if they mean something. They really do not in
any practical sense. It is, in reality, a kind of propaganda.
Some
folks say that I am obsessed about the fate of Pastor Raymond Koh and
social activist Amri Che Mat. What they fail to understand is that the
state was implicated in their disappearances. And the response of the state could be summed up as dangerous nonchalance.
You
really think that people like Asri and Zakir Naik would have any
problem if Islam in this country reigned supreme and the non-Muslims
were grovelling in a corner, fearful that every word or gesture would be
sanctioned by an Islamic state? Zakir is on record a saying that it the
duty of Muslims to support corrupt, dangerous Muslim individuals over
non-Muslim leaders.
Now Asri believes that a strongman like
Saddam Hussein is needed to unite the country. He does not mean unite
Malaysians regardless of race or religion. He means unite Muslims
against the dangerous non-Muslim "thugs" who pose a threat to racial and
religious hegemony and Muslims who do not support the religious
orthodoxy of the state.
Remember, if you think that this is a joke, the reality is that you are the punchline.