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."
Harapan should campaign on its manifesto, not anti-Zahid rhetoric - Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Thursday, November 10, 2022
Malaysiakini : For the Malay uber alles establishment, this is one of the least uber
alles manifestos they have come up with. Why? Because they are
desperate and realise that every vote counts.
For partisans, this
does not really matter. Both sides view the other's campaign promises as
pie-in-the-sky propaganda but for the undecided and fence-sitting
voters, the way how candidates transmit their messages is important.
Nobody
is really going through the manifesto but rather they are waiting for
political operatives to tell them how they are going to make their lives
better.
BN-Umno has a track record of running the country with
stability ā and yes, people forget the plundering when their lives are
good ā and this makes it easier for them to sell the stability message
to people who are sick and tired of the shenanigans of the political
elites.
But the most important takeaway from both manifestos is that inclusivity is a major theme.
When
it comes to healthcare, Harapan edges out its competitor by addressing
issues that the country will face and making some firm commitments,
especially our ageing population. And remember older voters make up the
numbers (so far) more than younger voters.
And yes, young voters
are extremely important, which is why they need to be told how Harapan
is going to make their lives better.
BN-Umno is already doing that
by aggressively courting the young vote by highlighting certain aspects
of their manifesto on social media and beyond the echo chambers, and
this is playing very well.
Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
Donāt
fall for echo chambers politics. Harapan political operatives may feel
secure that the anti-Ahmad Zahid Hamidi sentiment will pull them through
but the reality is that with a fractured Malay voting block, people are
looking for not only political stability but also how the government
will improve their day-to-day lives.
This is why it is vitally
important that soundbites of how the manifesto would improve their lives
should be the talking points and not how the existential threat facing
this country is Zahid.
Vague on certain promises
Most
people think the system is corrupt. They understand this on an
instinctual level, that religion or race cannot totally sublimate. But
their economic concerns are more immediate.
With this in mind, Harapan should rely on its manifesto instead of
banging the anti-Zahid drum. This works for the base but it really does
not do anything for the demographic you want to get.
You may have
good ideas but if nobody hears them, especially those that really need
to, it means bupkis. And it really does not matter if some of the
promises are vague.
Harapan political operatives I have talked to
are worried that while BN has made some concrete promises, especially in
terms of education and other entitlement programmes, the coalition is
vague on certain promises.
That is not a problem, in fact, it is
an advantage. An old-school Republican strategist once told me that the
best type of campaign promises were the ones which informed the audience
that you were aware of the problem but to keep it vague so they cannot
nail you down on specifics.
Let the other guy talk in detail, and
then you can point out the flaws in the solution. When you come into
power, if the other guy's ideas were good and had popular support, steal
them. That is how you win.
Look, politics is about getting the
votes, keeping them and then most importantly expanding the pool of
people who would vote for you (not including the base).
PSMās messaging is good. It is not saying that BNās ideas are bad but rather that BN has no track record of implementing them.
This
way, it normalises these so-called āredā ideas, while informing the
voting public that fat cats BN political operatives have no intention of
implementing these ideas.
Go to the social media feeds of PSM political operatives and you would discover a similar theme.
People
need to be inspired to get out to vote. People need to believe that
their vote would make a difference in the way they live. Or they may
just decide that voting for what they know is less risky than voting for
the unknown, especially in these trying times.
Furthermore, each
state is different. The messaging should be tailored to reflect local
sensibilities. All politics is local and is a truism for a reason.
Always
be simple in delivering the message. Harapan should tailor its message
according to the needs of the people of individual states, instead of
shoehorning a grand national narrative that does not resonate on a state
level.
Harapan political operatives when campaigning should link
local issues with what they have got in their manifesto. This way you
are reminding people that you understand their local problems, and the
national narrative is geared towards them.
The talking points,
especially in the urban areas because these talking points flow towards
the heartland, should not be about a corrupt politician like Zahid but
rather how Harapan is going to make their lives better.
