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."
While New Malaysia burns, PKR squabbles - Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Monday, December 09, 2019
Malaysiakini : "Ah, lips that say one thing, while the heart thinks another." - Alexandre Dumas, "The Count of Monte Cristo"
COMMENT
| Well, the peace treaty between Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali did not
last long. When I wrote that Anwar should expel Azmin, a few politicians
from Harapan texted me. They told me that this was politics and that
Anwar was using tactics and strategy when dealing with his frenemy.
Well, how is that working out for Harapan and PKR?
Wherever he is,
the old maverick is smirking. Azmin and gang are doing a better job of
clouding the succession issue and destabilising Harapan then anything
the warlords of Bersatu and the flotsam and jetsam of the fetid swamp of
mainstream Malaysian politics have done or will do.
PKR
communications director Fahmi Fadzil, when dismissing claims that there
are two camps in PKR, said, "That is something portrayed by the media. I
understand that there could be a perception of such, but the reality
is, there are no camps. What we have now is Parti Keadilan Rakyat that
is strong and united" ā which is Trumpian in its perversity. Anwar warned that anyone attending the parallel congress would be sacked.
He then agreed to a ridiculous four point agreement with his rival. I
get that some people think that this is some sort of great strategy on
Anwarās part.
Iām partial to what Lyndon B Johnson said of J
Edgar Hoover: āWell, itās probably better to have him inside the tent
pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.ā But even this has its
limits.
The
fiasco of brawls, provocations, walkouts, outright insubordination and a
dinner party demonstrates that Azmin pissing in the tent is just as
damaging as him causing problems from the outside. PKR needs a clean
break and it is far more damaging for the coalition the longer Anwar
fails to clean house.
While I am not a fan of Boris Johnson, at
least he had the cajones to sack Tory loyalists who did not support his
hardline stance on Brexit. I suppose Anwar does not have this luxury
because this is not about issues, but rather about ambition. If the PKR
grassroots are with Azmin Ali , so what? What is important is the
Harapan base is with Anwar. This split in PKR is ridiculous
because there is no ideological foundation to the camps. I am extremely
disappointed to see some of the names in Azminās camp because these
folks were supposed to have some principles that separated them from the
rest of the pack.
If Azminās supporters were to come out and
articulate the ideological difference between the two leaders, or
provide evidence of why Anwar Ibrahim is not fit to be PM or lead PKR,
that would be something.
Tian Chua, an Azmin loyalist, claims
that Anwar needs to save the party from āblind fanaticismā. As opposed
to eyes wide open fanaticism? Fine, claiming that Anwar has fanatical
support is not the reason for not supporting him.
What exactly
makes Anwar unfit for such support? What are the policy decisions that
he has made or not made, the party direction, that makes Azmin a better
candidate for the āreformasiā movement that Tian Chua (below)
thinks is in danger? Anwar is criticised by everyone, including by those
in his own party and some of them, nay most of them, are not even
aligned with either camp.
Meanwhile,
Azmin's camp, for whatever reason, is cosying up with politicians who
have mala fide intentions towards Anwar's possible stewardship of this
country. What does this tell us about Azmin loyalists and their beleif
in the supposed principles and struggle of PKR?
Azmin loyalists
talk about the struggle and sacrifice they made for the party when Anwar
was behind bars, which nobody is disputing. If they thought that Anwar
should not be prime minister and that someone else should be, why not
come out and say it and rely on their track records to convince the
Harapan base?
Why all this shadow play and internal dissent? Why
engage in insubordination and propaganda, which makes Harapan weaker and
diminishes the struggle of those politicians and the base during the
long Umno watch?
Azmin said, āHe is still my leader, my president.
That is why I have to consult and talk to him, which I did and I will
continue to do so, so there is no problem,ā - which is nonsensical
because if Azmin really believed that Anwar was his leader, there would
not be any of this trouble in the first place. Has Azmin done anything
which demonstrates that he believes that Anwar is his leader?
After
staging a walkout because of bruised feelings and then not turning up
for the final day of the congress does nothing but further the narrative
that PKR is a lame-duck party. Is this what a politician, who touts his
āserviceā to the party, wants in a time when Anwar, PKR and the DAP are
under constant attack by elements from their own coalition and the
agents of a fascist state?
What I find despicable about this whole
fiasco, is that, clearly, PKR and the DAP are a threat to the system by
virtue of being multi-racial parties. Politicians in Harapan who are
siding with the agents of a fascist state and other political parties
are weakening the foundation of what could be a new Malaysia.
Instead,
the pro-Anwar narrative is about ātreacheryā and all the pro-Azmin camp
can come up with, is that the ceasefire was broken by the Anwar camp.
What exactly is the pro-Azmin camp about? Anwar wants to
negotiate with Azminās camp, which is fair enough, but it seems to me
that negotiating away power makes PKR weaker and informs your political
rivals that the president of the party is weak.
It is funny that
Anwar Ibrahim quotes JFK, an American president assassinated by a cartel
which included acolytes who, at one time, believed in him.