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."
What to make of Parliament of apes, owls and vultures? By R Nadeswaran
Friday, September 22, 2023
Malaysiakini : What do owls, pardoners and primates have to do with us ā the millions of Malaysians who elected our lawmakers?
Hell breaks loose
What
happened in Parliament this week, not for the first time, saw yet
another display of the (mis)conduct of some of our lawmakers.
If previously, it was one MP making derogatory remarks
on women or making racist remarks, both of which were unparliamentary,
this time around, the collective loud voices made what was supposed to
be a healthy debate into a farce.
Instead of supposedly wise owls,
the chambers became the venue for a shouting match with the speakerās
patience being tested and eventually ordering the Putrajaya MP out of
the house with the rest of the opposition walking out in support.
Was it spontaneous, engineered or just a misunderstanding of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahimās reference to Putrajaya?
Would
all of this have been necessary if the prime minister had not waded
into the powers vested in the attorney-general, which among others,
gives him unfettered powers (at his discretion), to institute, conduct
or discontinue any proceedings for an offence?
Speaking at the Milken Institute luncheon in Singapore last week, he spoke extensively of his meeting with the AG and what transpired.
Wouldnāt a one-liner have sufficed in answering the question on his
deputyās discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) by saying: āIt
was the decision of the AG and I have accepted his reasonsā?
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
The
explanation in Singapore and the ruckus in Parliament could have been
avoided. The 11 reasons outlined by the AG were already in the public
domain.
Then again, why did Anwar choose to address the issue
again in Parliament? Shouldnāt the minister in the Prime Ministerās
Department (Law and Institutional Reform) have been the right person
especially since the Attorney-Generalās Chambers (AGC) comes under her
purview?
Anwar, when explaining the issue, said: āWhen the AG made
the decision, I asked him (about it), yes. I did not discuss his
decision, I asked him for justification, for clarification.ā
After
all, the AG is supposed to be independent and relies solely on the
evidence that has been collected to prosecute. Why does he have to make
clarifications to anyone but the courts?
This was done by the
deputy public prosecutor in the case, Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar to High Court
judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah, who had succinctly remarked that
taxpayersā money would be wasted if the prosecution later dropped the
case.
The reasons were explained in court proceedings and why
should he have thrown the AG under the bus in front of an international
audience?
Now, the question is: Will Anwar ask for clarification on every contentious issue or decision made by the AG?
Precedence set
Muda
president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman provided an insight and
remarked on X, previously known as Twitter, that the prime minister has
set a āclear precedentā when it comes to the dismissal of corruption cases in court.
Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman
āAfter
this, when corruption cases are dropped one by one, the AG - who is
appointed by the prime minister ā will be the main shield,ā he said,
implying that the AG would be a scapegoat.
His words were crafted
thoughtfully and we ordinary citizens must ponder the repercussions of
what Anwar said and what followed in Parliament.
If there is a
repetition, then our lawmakers who can be collectively termed as a pride
of lions will be reduced to a skulk of foxes. Or worse still, it will
turn out to be hunting grounds for a wake of vultures who prey on the
vanquished.
