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."
Save the country or give in to the mob By Kee Thuan Chye
Monday, August 29, 2022
Malaysiakini : A kleptocracy through and through – that’s what it will turn out to
be. A country in which the law would be applied differently to people in
the ruling party and to common people like us.
To be sure, that had been the case before – in the years of BN rule before Pakatan Harapan took over in 2018.
The
BN political bigwigs invariably got away with pocketing big bucks
illegally and even committing murder then, whereas common folk went
straight to jail for minor crimes.
As a result, many of us saw through that chicanery and rejected BN in GE14.
Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
After all that, do we now want BN to make a comeback in GE15 and bring back its culture of decay, filth and corruption?
Imagine
someone like Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in a high position in government (as
prime minister, who knows?), alongside the others of the so-called court
cluster who are currently facing charges for wrongdoing.
If they
now show that they are more interested in forming the government out of
wanting to save their own skins, can we expect them to provide clean and
good governance eventually?
Can we expect them not to borrow more from the Trump playbook to twist future truths to their advantage?
Can we expect them not to favour their own base instead of caring for all the people in the country?
Ismail Sabri at the crossroads
If
that’s not enough, imagine Najib being summarily pardoned once Umno and
BN get into power and being subsequently given a place in such a
tainted administration.
Malaysia would roll downhill even faster. The whole world would have no confidence in us.
Speaking
of Najib, if he were truly the man who recently said he was only
interested in doing his best for the country, if he truly cared for the
welfare of the country, shouldn’t he have come out with a statement
after last Saturday’s Umno meeting to advise his party colleagues that
they should not cast aspersions on the institutions of the country and
eroding trust in them?
Shouldn’t he advise them to be more careful – and caring?
One man can stop the country from going the way of the kleptocrats.
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob
Ismail
Sabri can hold off calling early elections and wait till Zahid and a
few others of his ilk are convicted of their alleged crimes so that they
will be disqualified from standing in GE15.
He is thus at the
crossroads of his political career. He has to decide if he wants to be
associated with the kleptocratic culture.
Ismail Sabri has to decide if an Umno mob should call the shots in deciding the timing of the elections.
He has said before that it is more important to ensure that the economy is improved first before going to the polls.
That shows good, positive thinking. That shows caring for the people and the country.
Does he want to foul it up by heeding the desperate call of people with tarnished reputations?
Does he want to appear weak and lacking in prime minister material by giving in to them?
He has, therefore, an important decision to make. One that will impact not only the present but the future as well.
Ismail
Sabri can choose to save this country from an Umno that is shaped in
the likeness of Zahid and the court cluster or give in to them and be
part of an Umno that does not respect the rule of law and cares only
about keeping its leaders out of jail.
