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."
Saifuddin Abdullah fumbles, Ismail Sabri fumes By Mariam Mokhtar
Friday, April 15, 2022
Ismail Sabri
Malaysiakini : Not everyone is willing to fulfil the Malay politician's every
wish. Foreign people may not realise that, in Malaysia, the rakyat is
held to ransom by the Ketuanan brigade. If we do not "ikut cakap" (follow orders), we are punished for insubordination.
Ismail Sabri is also a global defender of Bahasa Melayu, a creator of shopping malls, and a batik promoter, but his recent visit to the UAE, which the New Straits Times touted as the trip to 'build a better brand for Malaysia', was a huge flop.
The humiliation faced at Dubai airport
He
may command attention simply because he is PM, but the humiliation he
faced on the tarmac of Dubai's Al Maktoum International Airport was a
revelation in itself.
In the shockwaves following the
snub, we had a glimpse of how Ismail Sabri's administration is run, how
it conducts itself and how they mismanaged the diplomatic debacle.
For
his supporters, Ismail Sabri is the symbolic Malay warrior, and the
absence of a senior minister of the host country to welcome a visiting
PM on official business must have been acutely embarrassing.
Saifuddin prepares his letter, in Bahasa Malaysia, to the US State Secretary
The
public may not know whose decision it was to punish the two senior
diplomats when they were recalled to basic desk duty in Putrajaya. They
may not be privy to what happened behind the scenes that led to this
snub, but if you recall, on March 24, Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah proudly boasted that he had written a letter in Bahasa Malaysia to the State Secretary of the United States, Antony Blinken.
What
if Saifuddin had got carried away, and in his childish enthusiasm had
written, in Malay, to his counterpart in the UAE with details about
Ismail Sabri's impending visit?
The clueless
Saifuddin was probably unaware that the UAE government was busy running
the Dubai World Expo, where every day, their officials had to deal with
hundreds of VIPs, whose itineraries had been planned years in advance.
The event ended on March 31 and had been delayed for one year, because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It
is highly probable that a junior official had seen Saifuddin's letter
in his boss's in-tray and couldn't make head or tail of the
gobbledegook, so he put it aside for translation.
Saifuddin
and Ismail Sabri should take note. Lesson number one in international
diplomacy is this: Do not do things to impress. If you want to be
understood and have a speedy response, your correspondence should be in
English.
Ismail Sabri during his visit to Vietnam on March 20
The
above translation issue probably did not arise, but more to the point,
many Malaysians are wondering why Ismail Sabri makes several overseas
trips when he needs to stay at home and deal with the many local issues
that need serious attention. His priorities are all wrong.
The
cost of living is going up. Basic goods and services are increasingly
beyond the reach of the average wage earner. The economy needs sorting
out. Foreign investment is drying up. Racism, including
institutionalised racism, is on the rise. The extremist form of Islam is
rearing its ugly head again.
The coronavirus
pandemic has made corrupt politicians and civil servants more devious.
They devise ways with which they and their proxy companies can make a
quick buck, from masks to migrant workers, and apps for monitoring the control of the coronavirus.
Here
is another conundrum. What if the UAE had received notification of
Ismail Sabri's visit, but then deliberately ignored his request for an
official welcoming committee?
The UAE authorities are probably fed-up with Malaysian politicians for tarnishing their princes
with allegations of corrupt and dodgy dealings linked to 1MDB. The
testimony by former Goldman Sach's banker Tim Leissner, about Sheikh
Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the deputy prime minister of the UAE, is
particularly damning.
A few years ago, the convicted
felon, Najib Abdul Razak, was welcomed like a conquering hero in the
UAE. Today, unlike Najib, the UAE has a reputation to protect.
So,
when allegations appear about UAE princes being involved in dodgy deals
involving the mother of all corruption scandals, 1MDB, it is completely
understandable if the UAE were to ignore requests about Ismail Sabri's
visit.
According to a report in Free Malaysia Today (FMT), Ambassador Tarid had warned Wisma Putra that Ismail Sabri's visit was ill-timed, but his advice was brushed aside.
Does the foreign minister think he knows best? He does not appear to trust his officials on the ground in Dubai.
The reckless and incompetent Saifuddin is to blame for the diplomatic bungle, but isn't it convenient he found two scapegoats?
Many
former and current senior officials in Wisma Putra are livid about the
treatment of the two diplomats. But do either Ismail Sabri or Saifuddin
care?
The problem and solution to Ismail Sabri's upset are obvious.
The
PM suffered a bruised ego. He should develop an insult-proof persona,
but more importantly, he needs to get rid of his massive ego.
