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."
3R laws will benefit PAS and PN By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Friday, July 28, 2023
Malaysiakini : The Harapan-led government has promoted the idea of hate speech laws
ever since they came into power. Harapan politicians are always talking
about the hate speech of the opposition.
Numerous advocacy groups,
which at one time believed in free speech, are now clamouring for hate
speech laws that would ensure that our "fragile" peace remains intact.
Harapan
politicians, with the exception of certain DAP members, always talk of
hate speech in the abstract. It is the same when it comes to religion.
These politicians always talk in platitudes and bromides.
Hate
speech is causing disunity or hate speech is used by the opposition.
Very few, certainly not the Malay politicians, especially on the
ministerial level, call out or single out individuals who have made hate
speech part of their political rhetoric.
Political deflection
Have
you noticed that whenever political and religious operatives say they
have received numerous complaints on certain issues, they never give
examples as to what constitutes censure-worthy speech? It is always in
the abstract.
People are going to get upset when they read this
but the main reason why some political operatives in this unity
government want 3R laws is because they do not have the majority Malay
vote.
What they hope to achieve with these laws is to restrict PN
from campaigning on such issues. Former prime minister Dr Mahathir
Mohamad is currently running riot indulging in the most heinous of
speeches against the non-Malay communities.
We know that all this is merely political deflection because the
Malay establishment has failed the Malay community. We know that all of
this is horse manure because his son Mukhriz has already admitted that
whenever Umno could not deal with issues they blamed the DAP and the Chinese community.
"Looking
at Umno, when there were big issues which we could not address, we
would talk about DAP, Chinese chauvinism and how Lim Kit Siang becoming
prime minister would destroy Malaysia, that the Malays would disappear,
and the mosques can no longer air the azan.
"I admit that
I too have said such things, in front of a 100 percent Malay audience.
Thinking back, I feel guilty and a sense of regret."
Keep in mind that Mukhriz also said that Malaysia would be better off
with a non-Malay prime minister who was not corrupt - “A Malay
leadership that dabbles in kleptocracy will make the Malays’ claim on
the premiership indefensible.
“Without hesitation, we must choose a
non-Malay as PM over a Malay leader who is corrupt. There is nothing
worse for anyone, regardless of their ethnicity, than to tolerate a
corrupt leader simply because of their ethnicity.”
So you see, the
political establishment understands that this country is for everyone
but it is merely a political ideology which uses the 3Rs to ensure that
the Malay polity is narcotised into believing that this is their country
and that the non-Malays are attempting to usurp their position.
Communications
and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil may have his 3R coordination force
patrolling social media, but the reality is that it is impossible to
restrict ideas that are fundamentally embedded into the political system
of this country.
Ideas such as Malay rights. Ideas such as non-Malays are mere pendatang
(immigrants) in this land. Ideas such as religious supremacy. Do people
really think that mainstream political personalities and religious
operatives who peddle such nonsense are going to run afoul of these
laws?
Sanction legitimate discussion
Furthermore,
what these laws will do is further sanction legitimate discussion on
the 3Rs and this will only politically assist the narratives of PN.
Have
you noticed the speech about the 3Rs which is rooted in facts and
censored by news organisations? Have you noticed how rebuttals against
provocations by religious extremists are sanctioned by news
organisations?
Keep in mind the numerous artists, activists and
ordinary rakyat who have been charged with these types of
speech-restricting laws while the political and religious elites have
the freedom to define narratives in this country.
You can never
tell what you say or do is illegal because these laws are there for the
convenience of the ruling elite, rather than any kind of traditional
normative values or reasoning of a functional democracy.
When
someone like lawyer Fadiah Nadwa Fikri writes a piece about the
institution of royalty, what she is attempting to do is introduce more
democracy in the country. When Hadi and PAS openly defy the royal
institution, what they are doing is attempting to supplant the
institution with a religious bureaucracy.
This is why any form of
3R laws will ultimately benefit the extremist forces in this country.
Firstly the laws will not affect them and secondly, they will sanction
legitimate speech questioning the foundation of race, religion and
constitutional power in this country.
"PAS has chosen the peaceful
path, even when there are other countries that took a more hardline
approach against their governments, we chose democracy," claimed Hadi.
As usual, PAS is hoping that the Harapan government will use democratic instruments to assist in their fascist endeavours.
Non-Malays should not be bamboozled into thinking that these laws will ameliorate the toxic discourse in this county.