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."
Muda’s old tactic of hooking up with Harapan - Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Thursday, September 08, 2022
Malaysiakini : If you look at the experiences of young political operatives around
the world who have amassed power, they did it by taking political power,
either from within established parties or breaking the mould and
bleeding legacy parties of support.
Whatdoes Muda stand for?
In
other words, they articulated what was wrong with the system, willing
to slay sacred cows and take power away from the established political
class.
They did this with the support of citizens who may not
necessarily be from the same generation but who bought into the proposed
policies of these operatives.
What these "radicals" – for lack
of a better term – did not do was attempt to latch on to existing power
structures for personal gain.
Those young people who want to do that enter mainstream politics, through established parties and toe the party line.
You
have a preponderance of those kinds of politicians in our political
landscape and if they remain true to party ideals and balance the
expectations of moving up the ladder with principled policies, this is
not a bad thing.
Of course, from within the party, they sometimes stage coups, especially if the leadership is weak and abandons its principles.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. This is how legacy parties
rejuvenate and remain relevant but sometimes, such coups end up
destroying the base.
But who exactly does Muda stand for and what
do they gain by joining Pakatan Harapan? Okay, suppose you are a young
Malaysian who thinks that the system stinks and it is pointless to vote
because things are not going to change.
How exactly does a youth
party which supposedly represents the possibility of change – understand
that we are not talking about age but about change, possibilities and
the future?
And how is teaming up with old timers who are part of the problem going to make that happen?
I
get that Muda needs to establish its brand and build relationships but
what exactly is their game plan here? Winning a couple of seats and then
becoming part of a coalition mired in the kind of paralysis that a
party like Muda is opposed to?
Pakatan Harapan’s top leaders
And
how exactly are young people from the majority community, who not only
have to contend with a system that cripples them but also partisan bases
that vilify them, going to coalesce around a political party which
seems only interested in winning seats by latching on to the established
parties?
These people are better off voting for the establishment, right?
Yes,
Muda needs to highlight issues facing young people in Malaysia but as
the rise of young leaders all over the world has demonstrated, youth
issues are part of larger community concerns that voters who reject old
leaders want the young leaders to address.
This is an important
point. In countries, districts, towns and villages all over the world,
where young leaders have taken power away from the old, they did it with
the support of everyone as a rejection of the old ways.
I am not
talking about how Harapan is going to attract the youth vote here but
rather the underlying philosophies of Muda which prides itself on being
the voice of young people.
Keep in mind that young people include
young parents – a huge demographic – who understand the need for
stability especially when it comes to looking after large families and
being constrained by racial and religious expectations.
In essence, the youth vote is not simply about young single adults at the mercy of an uncaring system.
We
have a generation of young people who were brought up in mainstream
oppositional discourse. There is history there but the future is built
on a rejection of the old ways.
‘Cosmetic change’ won’t work
Establishment
and opposition coalitions talk about fielding young candidates in the
last Johor state election but what is the point if young candidates
merely ape the rhetoric and policy failures of their elders?
In other words, young candidates are just cosmetic changes to age-old problems.
I
could be wrong but wasn’t Muda supposed to reject this kind of
politics? And I am not talking about Muda biding its time until it gets
seasoned or any of that nonsense.
I am talking about real radical
change which is supposed to define a youth party. If you think that
radical change is not what most Malaysians want, then you really should
not be running on a platform that necessitates such.
No doubt,
Muda will be embraced by Harapan and if they win the seats given to
them, they will just further the established political norms in this
country.
And voter apathy and disenchantment will continue in a
possible fractured political landscape, depending on the upcoming
general election's result.
