Rudyard Kipling"
“When 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 soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It 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."
Zahid appears to be jostling to seize power By Mariam Mokhtar
Friday, May 05, 2023
Malaysiakini : If, for some daft reason, Najib is pardoned and released, don’t
for one second imagine that Zahid is willing to step aside and allow
Najib to take the top spot.
He (Zahid) is only a
whisker away from becoming prime minister, and of the two men, Najib
probably has more character, is less thuggish, has more finesse, and
speaks better English than Zahid.
Like his former
Umno colleague, Muhyiddin Yassin, Zahid has for decades played second
fiddle to others, but once these men tasted power, they simply hungered
for more. Living in the shadows of their former bosses forced them to
suppress their political ambitions.
Umno on the move
Zahid, who faces 47 charges - 27 for money laundering, 12 for
criminal breach of trust, and eight for corruption - has managed to
delay his trial by four months to give ample time for the attorney-general to study new evidence.
Meanwhile,
he is plugging all the gaps and has positioned his closest allies in
key positions. Former Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki is Mara’s
chairperson, Kelantan Umno chief Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub is in charge of
Felcra Bhd, Wanita Umno chief Noraini Ahmad heads Risda, and former
minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican is Matrade chairperson.
Reezal Merican Naina Merican
Didn't Anwar (top picture) promise the rakyat an end to political appointments?
It appears that Umno disregards these promises to the people in the same dismissive manner PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang ignored warnings
by the Terengganu sultan to stop making political speeches in mosques.
They are aware that no action will be taken against them, and so they
continue their wayward ways.
Zahid knows that Anwar
needs him more than he needs Anwar. That explains his strong-arm tactics
to bully Pakatan Harapan and running rings around Anwar. The PM should
be firm with Zahid.
When Amanah’s Khalid Samad urged the king to reject Najib’s bid to be pardoned, Zahid was furious and demanded an apology from Amanah.
The great pretence continued with Kelantan Umno claiming that it would reconsider
its cooperation with Amanah. This was followed by Umno supreme council
member Mohd Puad Zarkashi expressing doubts about the government's
survival because of “allies such as Amanah”.
Puad
said that Amanah’s actions failed to inspire confidence, that it had
exhibited disorderly behaviour, had shown disrespect to the king, and
had questioned his wisdom.
Mohd Puad Zarkashi
Has Puad no sense of right and wrong? Najib is a thief. He
almost bankrupted the nation and our children and grandchildren will be
paying off the national debt even when we are long gone.
The king is aware of the consequences for the nation and for the future of the monarchy if Najib were to be pardoned.
How
foolish will we look, if we were to release one of the main architects
of the 1MDB scandal when around the world, governments are charging and
jailing those who played a corrupt role in 1MDB?
Shutting down critics
So,
who calls the shots in the government? Is it PM Anwar or is it the
wannabe PM Zahid? Which party/coalition wields greater power? Is it
Harapan or Umno? Has PKR forgotten its reform agenda? Has DAP been told
to shut up?
People are told not to criticise Anwar's
administration, or else the government will collapse. They warned the
critics that without the fragile alliance, the Green Wave will conquer
Putrajaya. Really?
They merely don’t want the critics
to say out loud what needs to be said. They claim that this will give
ammunition to the opposition PAS or Bersatu to topple the
administration.
“They”
remind us of our elders in the 1980s, who told us to keep our heads
down and focus on our careers because things will eventually right
themselves in the end.
Most of us did just that and
kept quiet. Forty years later, look at the mess we created and all
because we refused to speak out at the time.
Amanah was wrong to apologise. Zahid knows that in any coalition or partnership, having a difference of opinion is perfectly acceptable.
To
their shame, the party of political veterans (Amanah, DAP, PKR) failed
to stand up to the bully, Umno. Have they not learnt their lesson that
Umno cannot be trusted?
At least, Muda, the party of
political novices, has a backbone, more courage, and more integrity
than these established parties.
Muda is right to reject corruption and kleptocracy and they deserve our praise for not apologising when objecting to Najib’s pardon bid.
If the old guards refuse to speak up, we can depend on Muda to do the right thing.
