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."
Malaysiakini : Remember how during a Goods and Services Tax (GST) briefing in
February 2015, she tried to portray herself as an ordinary citizen by
complaining about her hairdresser and tailor overcharging.
And Rosmah said, āFor those who can afford it, itās all right. But what about housewives like us with no income?ā
That she has āno incomeā line was repeated by her lawyer Jagjit Singh, when he criticised her hefty fine of RM970 million.
Someone should have told him that excuse didnāt work the first time either.
And
that certainly was not how Rosmah presented herself in her 180-page
glossy eponymous biography published in 2013 where she omitted certain
aspects of her life like her first marriage, but made impressive claims
that she was a ānaturally gifted accountantā who had saved up to buy
some of her bling and dresses.
She boasted in the biography that
she could afford her luxuries from the millions earned from an album she
recorded. It wasnāt released to the public but was snapped up by
government ministers who were her fans.
Well now, if Rosmah is so
talented at handling money, then she would have no problem paying that
RM970 million fine. Perhaps, she could sing her way out with another hit
record?
What I also found laughable was her claim about making
great contributions to the nation. The biggest feather in her cap is the
Permata Pintar National Gifted Centre she founded in 2009.
Rosmah Mansorās lawyer, Jagjit Singh
Itās hard to say how much of an impact the centre ā renamed Pusat
GENIUS@Pintar Negara by the Pakatan Harapan government - has on
nurturing gifted children because there is very limited information
available.
Still, it provided Rosmah with a modicum of bragging rights.
In
her court statement, she also laid claim to her clean leadership at
Bakti (Welfare Association of Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers)
from which she did not take a dime and that she was the patron of the
Badminton Association of Malaysia.
As far as I know, the prime
ministerās wife always chairs Bakti, beginning with third prime minister
Hussein Onnās wife Suhailah Mohd Noah, who founded the association.
It
was followed by Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali and the late Endon Mahmood.
Siti Hasmah and Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail both served as patrons of BAM
and neither got booed by fans.
What else? Oh yes, this wasnāt
mentioned in court but Rosmah was the patron of Islamic Fashion Festival
(IFF) whose mission was āto connect Islam with the Western world
through fashionā.
In hindsight, it was really a convenient and
glamorous vehicle that took her to New York, London, Nur-Sultan
(Kazakhstan), Dubai and Milan.
Like Permata, it is not known how much benefit IFF brought to the Malaysian fashion industry.
Narcissistic
So
much for Rosmahās outstanding service to the nation. If she indeed
earned millions from her album sales, did she donate any of it to
charitable causes? We can only presume she didnāt since there is not a
squeak about it.
Itās a pity that she didnāt take a leaf from
Imelda Marcos, another wife whose extravagant lifestyle ultimately
helped topple her husband, former Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos
from power.
But for all Imeldaās personal excesses, she actually
made some lasting contributions to her country. She set up the
international convention centre and the national culture, heart and lung
centres.
Rosmah, who was granted a stay of execution, has another
court date later this month to reclaim 2,436 pieces of jewellery and 29
luxury bags from the May 2018 police raids on her residences.
We
can assume among them are a custom-made Hermes Birkin bag with an
estimated value of RM1.6 million and a Chanel watch, which Najib
admitted during his 1MDB trial that he paid RM466,000 for as Rosmah's
birthday present in Hawaii, in 2014.
If she succeeds, maybe Rosmah can sell the goods to help pay the fine, if itās not quashed or reduced by the higher courts.
Even
if that happens, like Najib, she has more charges, like the 17 counts
of money-laundering and tax evasion related to the 1MDB scandal, to
answer.
And if found guilty, there will be more jail time and
fines. Stay tuned to courtroom drama, āThe Najib and Rosmah Showā, which
will be a long-running series.
Four years ago, Rosmah was already
a hugely unpopular public figure who was greedy, manipulative and
unpleasant that she seemed unreal, like an evil witch right out of a
fairy tale.
Wait for more drama
Since then,
she hasnāt improved at all. From her well-documented actions and
behaviour, I think there is a psychological complex that fits her to a
T, narcissistic personality disorder.
Rosmah ticks off all the symptoms as listed by mayoclinic.org, as follows:
An exaggerated sense of self-importance
A sense of entitlement and require constant, excessive admiration
Expect to be recognised as superior even without achievements that warrant it
Exaggerate achievements and talents
Preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate
Believe they are superior and can only associate with equally special people
Expect special favours and unquestioning compliance with their expectations
Take advantage of others to get what they want
Arrogant, conceited, boastful and pretentious behaviour
Insist on having the best of everything ā for instance, the best car or office
Experts
say narcissism is often viewed as a permanent personality defect and
impossible to change or cure because for that to happen, narcissists
must take responsibility for their actions and have a sense of humility.
When
her guilty verdict was announced, Rosmah beseeched the judge to ālook
at me as a woman with compassion, with some humanityā.
But there
was no remorse, no regret, no admission of wrongdoing from her even with
the overwhelming weight of evidence against her.
I had no sympathy or compassion for Rosmah in 2018 and none still in 2022.
