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."
COMMENT | PAS racists, extremists should not be ministers By Francis Paul Siah
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Malaysiakini : On Aug 7, I wrote in this column that I have often wondered what the tasks of the Religious Affairs Minister Idris Ahmad are.
Whenever
the minister appeared in the public spotlight, he would surely touch on
something negative. It would be about banning this and that, or this
and that are out of bounds for Muslims.
Bon Odori festival in Shah Alam
Last
month, Idris told Muslims not to attend the Bon Odori festival. Come
October, he stated that Oktoberfest, a German beer festival, should not
be allowed in the country. Idris, will you try banning Christmas next? I
dare you to say that Christmas celebrations should be banned in
Malaysia.
Idris, why donāt you do something positive for a change for what is left of the remainder of your term as a minister?
A few days ago, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man stated that all parties that make up the government with BN must be involved in making the decision to dissolve Parliament.
I
wonder whether Tuan Ibrahim is a new PAS recruit and that GE15 will be
his first electoral outing and he is feeling the jitters. Doesnāt he
know that calling for the general election is the sole prerogative of
the prime minister and the prime minister alone?
I am not a
politician but I can safely assume that if calling for elections
requires the consensus of all parties in the governing coalition,
chances are Parliament will never be dissolved and elections will never
be held.
Why? Donāt expect all the coalition partners to agree on a
date. They can never do so, especially the present makeshift coalition.
There are too many camps and loyalty and trust do not exist within the
coalition. There will be no end to the debate on the election date. That
is a given!
And Tuan Ibrahim is the environment and water minister. I concede I
do not know much about his background but I must ask what his
contributions to the ministry were since helming it in 2020.
Racial slurs
Finally,
I feel duty bound to take on the PAS head honcho Abdul Hadi as I am
extremely disgusted with his latest racial slurs that the root cause of
corruption in the country was the non-Malays and not the Malays.
Politicians from all four corners have lambasted
the PAS leader and rightly so. I have to join them as a citizen from
the Borneo corner of Malaysia to express my disgust at Abdul Hadi for
spewing the worst kinds of racism and hatred.
It seems that to the
PAS president and his ilk, they know that racism will help them get
more support from the Malays compared with their abstract version of
religion.
So, itās all politics and power, isnāt it? Nothing to do with religious beliefs!
Abdul
Hadiās brand of politics is using Islam, twisting and turning its
teachings, for his own political interests. I believe that even Muslims
are confused at how he interpreted Islam at times. An example is when he
declared that corruption is not wrong in Islam. Seriously, Hadi! Are
you out of your mind?
As a Sarawakian, I support Parti Rakyat
Sarawak vice-president Liwan Lagang's call on the Sarawak government to
bar Hadi from entering Sarawak for life.
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang
No,
we do not wish such a sick, twisted and mentally deranged politician to
come roaming in our beloved Land of the Hornbills. Do not disturb our
peace and tranquillity. Keep your poison in Malaya.
I have said
previously that I do not normally take on religious clerics because they
have my greatest respect and reverence for doing Godās work.
But
Abdul Hadi wears many hats. He is an Islamic preacher, president of PAS,
a member of parliament and Malaysiaās envoy to the Arab world.
When
you call yourself a man of God and a cleric and also partake in active
politics, then you are also a politician. When you are a politician, you
are fair game to me.
I have also noted that no one in authority
is prepared to tell Abdul Hadi that spewing racial slurs is very wrong
and could create tension and animosity among the people. He is given all
the leeway to be a preacher of hatred, anger and evil.
But I
believe there are many of us who will not hesitate to tick off the
loud-mouth racists and extremists in our midst, Abdul Hadi included.
And
for heavenās sake, whoever is the prime minister, please do not appoint
the likes of Hadi Awang and Idris Ahmad as ministers.
I, for one,
think they are not qualified to represent me in any manner, in any
forum and I do not want to have anything to do with them. I choose to be
indifferent to these species whom I consider alien to me.
