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."
BN govt under Najib caused imbroglio with Sulu heirs - P Ramasamy
Sunday, July 24, 2022
Malaysiakini : The Sulu heirs, it is reported, might be eyeing the takeover of other 167 global assets of Malaysia.
The
trial in the French court might be crucial to determine whether there
is light at the end of the tunnel over Malaysia’s dispute with the Sulu
heirs, in other words, the Philippines.
Political agenda
It
is clear that Najib has his own political agenda in shifting the blame
for the ongoing dispute with the Sulu heirs on the former Harapan
government and on the former AG Thomas.
Whether the letter written
by Thomas while in office to the Sulu heirs in offering a new
compensation of RM48,000 was prejudicial or not is not the question, but
why was it written and whether he disagreed with the earlier decision
of not paying the Sulu heirs.
Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak
It is clear that the Najib government was responsible for the present imbroglio with the Sulu heirs.
The
BN government could have avoided the irrational decision of stopping
the annual stipend, especially under the circumstances of tenuous or no
links between the armed incursion and the Sulu heirs.
But whatever the case, the dispute with the Sulu heirs has become extremely problematic.
As it stands, they are claiming a whooping amount of RM66 billion from the Malaysian government for the loss suffered.
This is millions of times more than the original amount of compensation.
The
abrogation of the annual stipend in 2013 was a mere catalyst that
formed the basis of a larger and more comprehensive claim by the Sulu
heirs.
It was without question that the oil and gas earnings of Sabah from 1970 onwards were factored into the colossal amount.
Who is responsible?
The question is: who is responsible for the present mess with the Sulu heirs?
Was it the BN government under Najib or the Harapan government?
It is not about the quantum of compensation, but the sovereignty and future of Sabah.
The
letter from the state secretary of Johore in September 1953 to the
colonial authorities in Singapore might have been a death knell to
Malaysia’s sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh.
But I am not sure
whether the letter written by Thomas to the Sulu heirs offering better
compensation could be interpreted as of similar significance to the
letter written to the British.
One was about giving up sovereignty and the other was in the direction of resolving the sovereignty issue.
