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 | Home Ministry scores own goal in citizenship for footballers By R Nadeswaran
Sunday, September 04, 2022
Malaysiakini : However, on Aug 5, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision
stating that children born overseas to Malaysian mothers can be denied
citizenship by operation of the law.
In the appellate court, judge Kamaludin Md Said and judge Azizah Nawawi took the view that the word āfatherā
in the Second Schedule of Part II of the Federal Constitution meant
biological father and cannot be extended to include mother or parents.
Naturalised footballers
While
waiting for the Federal Court hearing, a turn of events took place on
Merdeka Day when British-born footballer Lee Tuck announced that he had
become a naturalised citizen.
He is a footballer playing for Pahang FC since 2017, and his citizenship application appears to have been fast-tracked.
But
Tuck is not the first. Before him, fellow Briton Sam Somerville,
Guilherme de Paula from Brazil and Liridon Krasniqi from Kosovo were
granted citizenship. All three arrived in Malaysia in 2016-2017 to play
in the national football league. In short, like Tuck, they have been in
Malaysia for about four to five years.
British-born footballer Lee Tuck
Here
is the shocker: From 2014 to 2021, 25 players have been naturalised,
eight of whom had no stints with either Harimau Malaya or junior
national teams.
This means football officials have apparently used
their influence or pulled strings to get citizenship for players
without meeting the basic prerequisites for their applications to be
processed.
Article 19(3) of the Federal Constitution states that: āThe periods
of residence in the Federation or the relevant part of it which are
required for the grant of a certificate of naturalisation are periods
which amount in the aggregate to not less than 10 years in the 12 years
immediately preceding the date of the application for the certificate,
and which include the 12 months immediately preceding that date.ā
According
to the Home Ministryās website, citizenship by naturalisation is for
those who fulfil the minimum residency requirements and have adequate
knowledge of the Malay language (the residency requirement has been
outlined above).
Close one eye
I raised this issue in a column on the three
last year and asked: āSo, did the ministry breach its own rules and
fast-track their applications? Was it not a dereliction of their duties
or was it a case of tutup satu mata (close one eye)?ā
So,
whatās the beef with the 52-year-old grandmother who has lived in
Malaysia for 47 years? Why canāt she be given citizenship? What about
the mothers who want their children to be recognised as citizens?
If the explanation is that the footballers are professionals and are in the same league as Ronaldo or Mo Salah, it is gibberish.
The
footballers who come to our shores seeking to make a fortune are
journeymen who can find a place in leagues in their own countries. Most
are represented by agents who peddle their wards to minor leagues in
Asia.
Neither the Home Ministry nor its officials responded to the
article last year because they could not provide plausible explanations
for the decisions.
This was despite my adding of a footnote that
the minister cannot sit on a pedestal and remain silent and should
provide answers for the many wrongdoings in his ministry.
I donāt expect any response this time around, but I hope lawmakers will continue pushing for answers.
Hopefully, during the next parliamentary sitting, some light will be shed on the double standards practised by the ministry.
