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."
This government should walk the talk By R Nadeswaran
Monday, January 09, 2023
Malaysiakini : What is legitimately being questioned is the manner in which the
whole transaction took place and the accusations that are being made
against the government, which owns the tower.
A simple analogy of the trader in a government-owned complex can be used to illustrate where the government had gone wrong.
When
the trader who makes about RM25,000 annually does not want the renew
his lease, that spot, rightly, ought to have been given to the highest
bidder after a proper selection process.
Instead, it was given to
someone for a paltry RM3,800. Besides, the whole transaction was done in
secrecy and no open tenders were called.
We are now told that there was indeed a closed tender for the lease
to operate KL Tower and three companies had made a bid. How did this
happen?
Annuar Musa, the former multimedia and communications minister, under whose watch this was done, deflected accusations that his ministry was involved.
Instead, the finger was pointed at the
Public Private Partnership Unit (Ukas) in the Prime Ministerās
Department (Economy), which was then helmed by former minister Mustapa
Mohamed.
Last week, Telekom Malaysia (TM) said that it has
decided not to renew the KL Tower concession in October 2021 and had
informed the government of its decision.
The selection process
for the new concessionaire was taken by the government and TM was
informed of the newly appointed company to take over the shares of MKLSB
and the MKL concession in 2022.
The sale of 100 percent shares in MKLSB for RM3.8 million was announced during TMās Q3 2022 financial update.
Many issues not addressed
Annuar
said the power to approve the tender of the concession was in the hands
of the Ukas. He said that initially there was only one company and he
told them to open the selection to more companies. He added that two or
three people came to him with their letters of the proposal, which he
passed to the administration.
To date, there has been no word from Mustapha or Ukas. The immediate
reaction by Annuarās successor, Fahmi Fadzil, was to assure the public
that his ministry will investigate the acquisition of the ownership of
KL Tower management.
The minister was supposed to have had a full
briefing on the acquisition from TM on Tuesday after having received an
update from his ministry.
All details are open to being
investigated, he said, adding he views the issues raised on social media
on the acquisition very seriously.
Former multimedia and communications minister Annuar Musa
But
the question is: Why are such million-ringgit contracts being handed
out on a platter instead of calling for open tenders? Why are there
public announcements or notices on such tenders?
Annuarās
admission that ātwo or three people came to him with their letters of
the proposalā is a reflection of how the government had conducted its
business.
Let it be stated that no one is accusing Hydroshoppe or
TM of wrongdoing, but why two or three? Why not 10 or why was it not
open for interested parties to submit their bids? Let us not forget the
tower is owned by the government and TM is a government-linked company.
How
did these two or three companies know that TM was not renewing the
lease? How many were privy to such information? Was this news restricted
to just three? How was the figure of RM3.8 million arrived at?
No one has addressed these issues. Even Fahmi, whose government has been advocating an open tender system, remains silent.
Ministers,
civil servants and corporate leaders need to be reminded of Anwar
Ibrahimās ethos. Questionable procurements and approval without tender,
he said, must no longer be practised.
There cannot be any room for
leakages and corruption to take place in the public sector and this
could no longer happen, Anwar said at a session with staff of the Prime
Minister's Department on Nov 29 last year.
No one is accusing any party of corruption. Yet we are told that the MACC is on the case.
But tracing the course of the process and events that led to the
selection of the new lessee, irregularities have surfaced and the body
of people involved in the evaluation and selection has to address the
issues.
Malaysians need to be assured that Anwar means business
and this is the perfect opportunity to practice what he preaches. If
nothing is done, he will join the ranks of his predecessors who were all
full of talk without any action.
