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."
Goal of Malaysian education is to divide us By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Monday, September 19, 2022
Malaysiakini : What we are dealing with here and I know Nik Nazmi understands this,
is political hegemony through race and religion, which is transmitted
through the education system.
Look, even a subject like history,
for example, is modified to fit ethnocentric narratives and submerge the
contribution of non-Malay/Muslim citizens of this country.
And
history is important. Our shared history and subaltern narratives bind
young people together and this is the last thing the state wants.
Sure,
pablum and political bromides by the establishment and the opposition
feel good but the reality is that shared history binds young people
together like the language of science and math.
This is why teaching science and math in English is always a political and religious flash point.
Learning
science and math in English, the perceived danger is of course that
people will move beyond just science and math and start engaging on a
whole other level.
This
is why race hustlers and religious zealots despise such “Western”
concepts and the political apparatus of this country - establishment and
opposition - seek to profit from divisions in their own ways and never
really attempt to correct the systemic imbalances that have produced a
generation of young people who are either mired in religiosity or
apathetic to the future which is their birthright.
Academic types have offered a plethora of reforms for our education system but I am a simple man.
Colonialism left us with a pretty decent education system before religious and racial politics infected the system.
So
to me, it is going back to basics with modulations that take into
account contemporary realities that changing geopolitical landscapes and
economic markets necessitate.
Meanwhile, a quota system for
public universities has created a generation of young people who are
resentful of each other because one side benefits from a sub-standard
education while the other has to scrimp and save for a better education
system which creates a private sector which is a reflection of the
grievances of the public sector.
And while I get this was just an
education forum where people just throw out talking points but if
Pakatan Harapan really had any intention of reforming the education
system, they would be putting out talking points to demonstrate such
instead of just blaming the system they are a part of.
I have a
feeling though that the only thing Harapan will do is create or extend
more entitlement programmes when it comes to the education system while
giving more cash to vernacular schools in some sort of misguided attempt
at parity.
This is exactly what defines mainstream Malaysian political ideology, the racial trade-off to sustain political hegemony.
