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."
What is pragmatic about the big tent? - Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Thursday, June 02, 2022
Malaysiakini : What is the big tent anyway? Why is PKR being pressured into going the big tent route?
Well,
it is because PKR is seen as a stand-in for the race-based parties of
the establishment and the big tent is by definition, a collection of
Malay uber alles types who want to supplant Umno.
Anwar with his ādo not spook the Malaysā narrative and his machinations with various Umno potentes give oxygen to this belief.
The
key to this can be found in the words of various political analysts,
but the words of Academy Science of Malaysia fellow Shamsul Amri
Baharuddin will suffice for now.
He said: "Rafizi (Ramli is
Anwar's protege [...] raised in the world of politics under his umbrella
and patronage. The politics of Malay patronage is still very strong,
that is, obedience to its patrons and protectors.ā
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim
The big tent is really about Malay patronage and the ketuanan system. And the ketuanan system is a fickle mistress.
PAS,
for instance, is part of the PN government but in Kelantan, it is
facing the big tent of Umno led by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Amanah and
whatever other minions they can scramble together.
Give credit to PAS, they do not seem perturbed.
It
is as if PAS understands that treachery and betrayal of supposed
comrades are all part of the racial and religious game that Umno/BN
wants to continue to play.
Every time Umno has managed to destabilise a Harapan state government, cries of ādemi bangsaā and āagamaā have wafted through the corridors of power. The cash helped as well I suppose.
What the big tent really is?
Forget about the trust issues when it comes to the big tent.
What
the big tent really is, is a plea for the racists, bigots and religious
extremists to join hands with Harapan in the hopes of scuttling the
ambitions of the court cluster.
Harapan did not need Mahathir to
break Umnoās two-thirds majority and to capture economically viable
states. They are sure as hell that they do not need the ketuanan establishment to hang on to power in those states.
Meanwhile,
the states Umno/BN or PAS manage are mired in the kind of corruption
that makes the lesser of two evils argument more viable.
Umno supreme council member Azalina Othman Said
Look, everyone knows the political terrain has changed. Umno supreme council member Azalina Othman Said certainly does.
This
is why she says this: "We need to keep an open mind about either a
pre-election or post-election coalition agreement, regardless of (if we
are dealing) with 'enemies' or 'unfriendly' parties if we want (to have)
148 seats.ā
Azalina is referring to the magical two-thirds majority which would allow the government to run riot but this is a good point.
It
is not that Harapan should not work with other political parties ā even
PAS ā but rather it should do so from a position of strength.
This is what Umno has been doing since slowly clawing its way back to the top.
When
we have these Malay uber alles types clamouring for a place in the big
tent, you can bet your last ringgit, that they will all be taking shots
at the DAP.
And it is not as if the DAP didnāt bend over for these
Malay uber alles types. The DAP did but it wasnāt enough. It never is
enough.
Can you imagine what a big tent campaign trail would be?
You would have the bangsa and agama
crowd attempting to demonise the Chinese polity because that is all
they can do, while the progressive attempting to downplay such
criticisms.
Meanwhile, the DAP would be fending off attacks from the outside and the inside.
Nobody,
certainly not me, is arguing that Harapan should not work with other
political parties to form a federal or state government.
All this should be done after an election, which honestly is part of the democratic process.
The big tent does not sound like pragmatism to me.
