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."
MACC chief due for retirement or extension? By R Nadeswaran
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Malaysiakini : But Azamās tenure has been clouded by allegations of a āconflict of
interestā situation involving his ownership of corporate stock.
In
December 2021, economist Edmund Terence Gomez quit as a member of the
MACCās Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel citing the ānexus
between business and law enforcementā.
He raised concerns about
Azamās alleged ownership of close to two million shares in a public
listed company. When Gomezās resignation letter was made public, the
issue became a hot potato of sorts.
At a press conference, Azam claimed that he allowed his share trading account to be used by his brother.
The Securities Commission (SC)subsequently clarified that the trades were executed by Azam himself and not by any third party.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
Has he been cleared?
In a previous column, (March 29) I wrote:
āIt is no secret that Azamās integrity came under severe questioning 16
months ago. While he may have āsurvivedā, thanks to (previous prime
minister) Ismail Sabri Yaacob who indirectly cleared him of wrongdoing
by insisting the decision of the SC on Azamās trading account should be
accepted by all parties.ā
To put it bluntly, the SC never cleared
Azam. The reason for Ismail Sabriās reason to name-drop is left to oneās
imagination but then, Azamās action breached government regulations on
shareholdings.
(The Service Circular Number 3/2002 ā Ownership and
Declaration of Assets by Public Officials, prevents a public servant
from owning more than RM100,000 worth of shares in any company.ā)
Since then, there has been no expression of remorse or an apology for having misled millions of Malaysians, except that Azam sued journalist Lalitha Kunaratnam for defamation over two articles she wrote on the share scandal.
In
his statement of claim, Azam said the articles were sensational,
scandalous and offensive, and were written and republished with
malicious intent to give a bad perception to readers that he was a
corrupt civil servant or one who had abused his position as a senior
MACC officer for his or his siblingās interests.
I shall not comment lest I be cited for contempt, but Azam will have his day in court.
In colloquial language, he bikin tak tau and continued as if
nothing had happened. And for good measure, the Public Services
Department has yet to comment on the matter.
While the PM is
shooting himself hoarse on corruption and the need to have people with
integrity heading government departments, shouldnāt he compel a closure
to this episode?
Now that his service is expected to be extended,
shouldnāt he come clean and tell Malaysians the truth about those shares
and how he came to acquire them?
Surely the PM cannot have a head of anti-corruption whose name has been soiled by his own actions and inaction.
Azam
on the other hand cannot go around extolling the virtues of good
governance when he himself is caught in the crosshairs of many good
people who want an end to corruption.
