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."
Anwar confirmed Najib’s comeback - Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Monday, May 16, 2022
Malaysiakini : To answer Mariam’s question, Anwar does not have a plan and apparently, neither does anyone else in Harapan.
Furthermore, I wish people would stop saying that Najib is attempting a political comeback.
Najib
is already here. He and his acolytes have managed to destabilise and
engineer elections in which their factions have emerged triumphant.
The
problem with Anwar and Harapan is that they do not have a political
narrative that anyone beyond the most partisan adherents would subscribe
to.
Beyond the toll that this pandemic has had on people's lives,
what I think people really want is some form of stability. Any kind of
stability.
And because Harapan seems obsessed with relitigating
battles they have already won, what some folks are thinking is that Umno
has learnt its lesson and perhaps the old BN way would bring some sort
of relief in these uncertain times.
Big tent strategy
Anyone
perusing the online and real-world propaganda by Umno would understand
that not only is Umno attempting to plant its flag in the middle ground,
but it is also attempting to win over the majority by claiming that
Perikatan Nasional has failed the Malay masses with economic hardship
through incompetent leadership (which they blame on Muhyiddin Yassin)
and bankrupt Islamic ideas, which they blame on PAS.
And because
Harapan is determined that a big tent strategy is the way to go, most
voters, even partisans, have no idea what separates their coalition from
the other.
In other words, people do not really have a choice
because there really are no policy differences between the political
parties beyond hatred for Najib.
Now, if people voted because
Najib was the only thing on their mind - either for or against - then
there would be merit to this strategy.
Unfortunately, Najib is not such a polarising figure.
Now
I get that for that particular breed of Harapan supporter, the Malay
base is stupid and ignorant which is why they vote “Najib” but the
problem is that while Najib's fingerprints were all over these
by-elections, the Umno/BN narrative of “stability” is resonating.
DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang
Keep in mind what DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang said in the run-up to the Cameron Highlands by-election in 2019 which Harapan lost.
Lim said if Harapan wins, Najib's hope of a comeback would be “crushed to smithereens” and the latter could bid a “final goodbye to Malaysian politics.”
Even when it comes to the non-Malay vote, it would be extremely naïve to think stability is not a legitimate vote-getter.
Najib is not aiming to secure the vote of the entire Chinese community.
What
he is aiming to do is secure enough support from the Chinese community
to get Umno’s candidates over the line with Malay support.
Voters are not as dumb as some folks think.
They
see this big tent nonsense and remember how Harapan spectacularly
imploded by betrayals, frogs and exactly zero policy difference from
Umno/BN and those voters who show up may think it is a better idea that
politics remain stable especially when it impacts their lives in ways,
urbanised people cannot fathom.
Meanwhile, Najib, convicted of
corruption, has been relentlessly attacking opposing power structures
within Umno, positioning his faction as key players in the "musical
chairs" that is the de facto system in place until we have an
election, to determine which bunch of screw-ups are going to be able to
form a coalition to run this country.
This debate could have been
the spark that ignited enthusiasm in Harapan, especially amongst the
base but all Anwar did was confirm that unless the Malay establishment
removes Najib from play, the next general election could be Anwar’s and
Harapan’s Waterloo.
