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."
Expressing opinion on Najib's pardon bid is no crime By R Nadeswaran
Tuesday, May 02, 2023
Malaysiakini : His speech then veered to statements with racial undertones.
āThe
largest drug dealers are Chinese, the smaller ones are Indians, and the
users are Malays. In internet gambling, the bosses are Chinese,
operators are Indians, and the patrons are Malays,ā he declared.
A year later, he was it again, this time stating that āhe knew what to doā if TheSun did not retract a report about him. As I was preparing a rebuttal in my column, the instructions trickled down.
āDonāt need to write about it. Let him be. Donāt agitate him,ā was the message from upstairs.
Given that the home minister has the power to suspend or revoke the
licences of newspapers under the Printing Presses and Publications Act, I
complied with the order.
The tirade against the media and
journalists continued unabated until his government was unseated in the
14th general election. Yes, that is when his arrogance was contained ā a
once all-powerful minister had joined the ranks of the unemployed.
But
last year, a resurrection of sorts ā propping up the new government
brought him back into the limelight and power as the countryās one of
two deputy prime ministers.
1MDB scandal āa lieā
Ahmad
Zahid Hamidi was then the cheerleader and headed the propagandists when
the 1MDB scandal made headlines the world over. He and his Umno cohorts
tried to pull the wool over the eyes of Malaysians.
By claiming
āthe scandal is a lie perpetrated by the opposition and foreign agents
trying to overthrow a democratically elected leaderā, his belligerence
and pugnaciousness were exposed.
He even ventured into talking
about meeting the Arab donors who supposedly sent billions to his former
boss, Najib Abdul Razak, who is now serving a 12-year jail term for his
role in siphoning RM42 million from SRC International.
Najib
has been incarcerated for less than a year but the war drums began
beating even before he stepped into the Kajang Prison. His supporters,
including Zahid and Umno, have been pushing for a royal pardon.
Most right-thinking and law-abiding citizens are opposed to him being
freed, at least for the moment, and believe that the process should
only start after Najib has served at least one-third of the sentence, as
well as after he expresses remorse and apologises for his misdeeds.
Well,
that is not what Zahid and Umno want. They want Najib on the streets ā
pronto. They are not worried that this would be a contempt of the
law-and-order system and above all, a slap in the face for the
judiciary.
Rightly, Amanah communications director Khalid Samad
called for a rejection of the application for a pardon for the former
Umno president.
And thatās when Zahid showed his colours, yet
again ā he wants all quarters to stop making inappropriate comments on
the Umnoās bid to seek a pardon for former prime minister Najib.
Who
says making comments that Najib does not deserve a pardon or asking for
the rejection of a pardon is inappropriate? (In his parlance,
āinappropriateā means saying anything contrary to Umnoās desires and
wishes.)
All are entitled to their opinions
Can
ordinary Malaysians express an opinion on matters like these? If Zahid
and his supporters can disagree (loudly with demonstrations) with the
findings of the court by making spurious statements, why canāt Ah Chong,
Ahmad, or Muthu say his piece?
The
right to freedom of expression is guaranteed under Article 10 of the
Federal Constitution. Such freedom of expression may be restricted but
such restrictions must always be grounded in law, necessary, and
proportionately enforced to achieve legitimate aims.
Since when
has Zahid been vested with the power to shut us up and seal our lips? No
one is questioning the special rights accorded in affirmative policies
like the NEP. People are simply saying the law must take its course and
that if you do the crime, you must do the time. Period.
I had
previously offered some advice to Zahid and his ilk: Think twice before
you open your big mouth or act irrationally; respect the law and pay
heed to common sense; use your judgment and retain your self-esteem; and
stop resorting to disgusting levels of popularity-gaining efforts.
Apparently,
it must have fallen on deaf ears. We continue to hear and read
statements from him and his party stalwarts that border on absurdity.
Let
me reiterate that I will continue to write and speak against the pardon
(or any other issues), and this does not make me a lesser Malaysian.
There
are no provisions in the law to stop or prevent me from expressing my
opinions. On the contrary, the law accords freedom to do so.
This
is not a challenge to Zahidās diktat but to tell those bent on using the
system for their own advantage, or for their friends to stop making a
mockery of the tried and tested system we have in place.