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."
Malaysiakini : He was made mentri besar, then briefly became a special adviser to a former PM, and despite his mediocrity, was made a minister.
Peja
also has exceptional skill in switching sides, and it is difficult
keeping up with his revolving door allegiances. His early career was in
Umno-Baru, but in the run-up to the 14th general election (GE14), he
switched sides to Bersatu which was then part of Pakatan Harapan, and
later Perikatan Nasional following the “Sheraton Move”.
A disastrous MB
The
orang asli in the constituency of Chenderiang felt betrayed by Peja,
who encouraged crony timber barons to encroach onto their ancestral land
in 2018. When criticised, Peja blamed the orang asli for failing to
improve themselves.
As menteri besar, Peja awarded multi-million ringgit forestry projects
to companies with RM2 paid-up capital. No open tenders were involved,
and when netizens attacked him, he brushed aside their criticisms.
Ipoh
folks were furious that Bukit Kledang, overlooking Menglembu was
denuded, and residents who lived lower down the hill were fearful of
being buried in landslides after nonstop heavy rains. The arrogant Peja
ignored residents' concerns.
Malaysians were also
angry that Peja was one of the main architects in the Sheraton Move of
2020. He flip-flopped from one policy to another. He did little to
support athletes when he became the youth and sports minister.
As mentri besar, he was weak and ineffective, wasted money on white elephant projects such as the money-sucking MAPS theme park. He did very little about stopping environmental degradation and was clueless about attracting young talent to return and rebuild Perak.
So, is Anwar up to the task of giving Peja a good thrashing?
At
one time, Tambun, like Ipoh, Kampar, Batu Gajah, and Tapah, was rich.
These towns were built with tin money and were populated by
millionaires.
Along came former PM Dr Mahathir
Mohamad and his Maminco project to corner the London tin market. Almost
overnight, these millionaire havens became ghost towns. Mahathir could
not have cooked up a better plan to rid Ipoh and its environs of the
Chinese tycoons and their influence.
Will Anwar be
able to rejuvenate Tambun and the Kinta Valley? It is an open secret
that there are many officials on the take and many indiscriminate
developments take place in the area.
Environmental destruction for ‘development’
Development is not just about building gleaming structures of concrete and steel. There is also mental and social development.
Will
Anwar get rid of the parochial attitudes of the administration in
Perak? Does he have a creative team who will prevent young Perakians
from seeking their fortunes in other states, or overseas? Our schools
are struggling.
When Harapan was briefly in power in 2018, the destruction of the limestone hills was halted. Umno-Baru resumed this destruction; will Anwar stop it again?
Anwar
should stand in the middle of Tambun town and look at the surrounding
limestone hills. They are fast disappearing. Successive Umno-Baru MPs
and administrations have done little to preserve the beauty of Ipoh, and
its karst hills. These limestone outcrops are what give the Kinta
valley its beauty.
The destruction can be clearly
seen if Anwar were to approach Tambun from the North-South highway
because on either side of him, the limestone hills are being blown to
smithereens. Any caves and archaeological treasures would not have
survived the explosions.
Few developers in the area
care. Their concern is to flatten the hills and erect concrete jungles
and skyscrapers. They ignore the drainage of the area, so flash floods
are common. Further north, illegal sand mining is common.
On the outskirts of Tambun, vegetable farmers
have had several run-ins with the authorities. Farmers, who have tilled
the lands for at least four generations, are being evicted. Malaysia
has a serious problem with food security, but the government pays lip
service to this problem.
Why not help the farmers who
grow cheap vegetables, not just for the local trade, but also for
export to Singapore? Anwar should look into this problem.
We
lack an efficient public transport system. Despite all the promises,
the administration has failed the Kinta Valley residents.
Litter
is also a huge problem. The place lacks a cohesive education campaign
about littering, and enforcement to punish fly-tippers is haphazard at
best.
Politics is a nasty business in Malaysia and it
is particularly bad, in Perak Look at how the convict Najib Abdul Razak
destroyed the state’s democracy in 2009. Corruption and tribal politics
have become a way of life.
Anwar can accomplish a
lot in Perak, but he should do less talking. He should show us what he
is capable of. Show, not tell. Act, not talk.
Prove it in Tambun and even his worst sceptics might back him all the way to Putrajaya.
