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."
The hypocrisy of Zahid’s 'original Malaysia' By Eric Loo
Wednesday, June 08, 2022
Malaysiakini : However, we do not forget easily. The political past is never dead
even as Zahid sells his message that the only option for the Malays is
to return to the “original Malaysia”.
Zahid’s backward focus, and that of his ilk, perfectly underscores the Malay proverb: Bagai ludah naik ke langit, menimpa muka sendiri juga (spitting in the air to land back on one’s face).
For all his dirty politics, the chickens will ultimately come home to roost. Sepandai pandai tupai melompat, akhirnya jatuh ke tanah juga (as clever a squirrel is at jumping, it falls to the ground eventually).
In
politics, nothing is what it seems, even as Umno gloats over its
winning momentum in the state elections, driven primarily by Pakatan
Harapan’s infighting and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s
plot to remain relevant.
For now, my gut reactions to Zahid’s outlandish claims as reported, are as follows:
First,
his claim that Harapan from 2018 to 2020 “has widened the gap to the
extent of causing anger and increasing prejudice to the point of
threatening harmony”.
On the contrary, racial discrimination has been systemic during 60 years of BN rule, according to a series of racial discrimination reports by Pusat Komas.
Umno’s fossilised ideology of ‘untuk agama, bangsa, dan negara’
(for religion, race, and country) and racialised implementation of
socioeconomic and education programmes have held the country back for
decades.
Zahid is simply capitalising on the perception that
Harapan is an anti-Malay coalition that is dominated by a Chinese-led
DAP, although Harapan’s manifesto states that the alliance represents a
shift away from racial differentiation to integration. (Here, I defer to
an expert opinion on where Harapan had faltered, and how Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin’s camp betrayed the coalition in 2020).
Second:
“The power that was mandated by the people was fully exploited, to kill
political opponents, trying to erase legacies, including manipulating
institutions that are pillars of the rule of law.”
Wrong again. Zahid’s claim, ironically, represents the BN’s mode of operation.
Post-1969,
the secular public service and apolitical education system put in place
by the British was whittled away by an Umno-led government.
Umno
focused on reinforcing an Islamic ‘legacy’ in a bloated civil service
where chances of promotion of non-Malays to leadership positions were
practically zilch. It remains so today.
Third: “What we have been
through in the past four years only convinces us that only BN can create
stability. We must return to original Malaysia and not the new Malaysia
that has clearly failed.”
Misleading falsehood. If by “original
Malaysia” Zahid meant a less racialised era of the early 1960s when
public corruption was minimal, when English was the main medium of
instruction, religious tensions much more benign, and politics less
stoked by racial polemics, then kudos to him.
However,
Zahid is unashamedly pandering to the insecurity of his Malay base.
Muhyiddin and his minions played the same game when they deserted
Harapan.
It is to the sacred cow of bumiputera privileges and
Islamic rights that they habitually muster to garner support from a
divided Malay polity.
Fourth: “…being the government does not mean turning the country’s institutions into tools”.
Highly
hypocritical. Over decades of Umno-led BN governance, the country’s
judiciary, police, and the Special Branch, higher institutions of
learning, Islamic organisations (Jakim for instance), think tanks,
licensing agencies, and mainstream media were proxies of the government.
Fifth:
“BN government is progressive, increases the country’s capacity,
creates a prosperous economy across all races, creates opportunities for
the Malaysian youth to expand their efforts and build their capacity to
make them more competitive.”
Actually, the country’s social
capital is depleting. The brains are leaving. The brawns are arriving by
the plane loads. The non-Malay population will likely decline to below
20 percent by 2030. Which is a non-issue to Umno.
Finally,
opportunities for our youth are skewed to privileged families with
political connections. To those who have, more are given. SAM (Saya Anak
Malaysia) has given way to SAD (Saya Anak Datuk/Datin). Hence, the
increasing wealth disparity among the Malay communities.
Sad, indeed, if we do return to the “original Malaysia”.
