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."
Will Umno-BN be a legitimate govt if they win GE15? By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Thursday, October 13, 2022
Malaysiakini : Similarly, certain states not holding elections is also a political
strategy, which makes it difficult, if Umno wins the federal government,
to exercise hegemonic control and access to the gravy train (which
certain states are).
Dirty political tricks while reprehensible
are part of the democratic process. So too is gerrymandering,
disproportionate weightage of votes and the numerous other policy
legerdemain meant to restrict the democratic process. This happens in
all democracies in most parts of the world.
Opposition leader
Anwar Ibrahim claimed that holding the election during the monsoon
season amounts to voter suppression. Now that is a bit of a stretch,
especially considering the base which is most affected by the flooding
is the Umno vote banks, and yes, those who have been hoodwinked most by
successive Malay uber alles governments.
Pakatan Harapan leader Anwar Ibrahim
I
could point you to many other issues which affect the voting patterns
of numerous communities here in Malaysia, and nobody really does
anything about it because when you win, it becomes about holding on to
power.
Even when it comes to the moral repugnancy of race-based
parties, the reality is that there are very few examples of
non-race-based parties in Malaysia.
The DAP claiming to be a
non-race-based party is ludicrous because they may be so in theory but
in practice, it is a different story. This is why you will see partisans
talking about DAP strongholds along ethnic and urban lines, instead of
relying on common-ground policies that everyone supports.
Racial and religious policies
This
is why a normally intelligent operative like Syahredzan Johan (who is
criminally wasted in the position he is in) resorts to a dissonant statement
like this when discussing the supposedly multiracial foundation of the
DAP - āIn the Johor state election, we fielded Marina Ibrahim in
Chinese-majority Skudai.
So, this is nothing newā - at the same time saying this - āThis is a
clear indication that we want to explore new areas and demographics, and
not just focus on our traditional support base.ā
This is why the rural Malay vote is the holy grail of oppositional
politics and also why someone like PSM chairperson Dr Michael Jeyakumar
is pilloried when he makes politically incorrect statements about race
and class and prescribes a more nuanced view of politics when it comes to determining electoral strategy.
This
is why the dissonance in the voting demographic of the non-Malay
community when Malay political operatives are allowed to use and indeed
encouraged to play the race card to secure votes, while the non-Malay
have to talk about "inclusivity" when the reality is the people they
vote for will maintain racial and religious policies and candidates who
want to break out this box are accused of being spoilers or proxies for
the establishment.
Partisans zealously guarding political turf is also why democracy suffers.
If
you are the kind who reads, you would understand that political
scientists, philosophers, activists and various other personalities
(throughout the ages) who have an interest in this sort of thing,
broadly define ālegitimacyā as a government/governance which displays
these three broad characteristics - fairness, voice (voting, etc) and
predictability.
Do
not get too caught up in the term fairness ā as in treating all
citizens equally ā because if you did, there would be many who would
argue that affirmative action policies for minorities run foul of this
rule.
Furthermore, predictability of application would mean that
justice and legal systems in most democratic countries would be
illegitimate because money and privilege very often determine outcomes.
You
know, how people say for 60 years Umno-BN destroyed this country but
the reality is for a good chunk of those 60 years, Umno-BN was enjoying
the majority support of the voting polity. So any questions of
legitimacy when it comes to morally repugnant political parties are
moot.
Indeed the people worst affected by the supremacist policies
of successive Umno-BN governments and an opposition that carried on
with such programmes were the majority Malays and through a sustained
programme of Islamisation and nationalism and reactionary discrimination
in the private sector has resulted in a balkanisation of voting
polities.
It is this balkanisation of voting demographics which
further narratives of legitimacy and illegitimacy. Indeed, this is what
causes more problems in the way we deal with others as Malaysians.
And
if oppositional politics operatives really believed that the system was
so compromised, why are they even going along with the process?
So
yes, when the dust settles, we should accept the results and if you
believe this country needs to change, carry on with the struggle.
Iāll leave you with Anwarās clarion call to vote:
We donāt give up, either. We donāt give up, ever.
Are you worried about the price of goods? Then vote!
Are you worried about finding a good job? Then vote!
Are you worried about floods? Then vote!
You want better schools that prepare your children for the future. Vote!
Do you want better healthcare and more doctors? Vote!
I'm going to hold you to that, if you win. This is what a responsible voter does.
