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."
Solidarity week has backfired - time to end it By R Nadeswaran
Saturday, October 28, 2023
Malaysiakini : Yesterday, we saw the result of that bird-brained idea. In a primary
school in Klang, Selangor, we saw “freedom fighters” dressed in Arab
garb “capturing” a school where pupils sat on the floor and watched in
awe as unwilling witnesses.
It may have been a mock exercise but what message was conveyed? Pictures and videos of children carrying guns with green headbands and the black and white “Palestinian scarves” have gone viral on social media.
What are we teaching the young? We are teaching them violence and hatred.
Instead
of a programme of sympathy and support for the human race and humanity,
this was a classic case of transporting them to the war front and
making them come face to face with violence.
On Tuesday, I penned a piece after a teacher ordered primary school pupils to stomp on the Israeli flag.
I
asked: “But why are schools turning out as breeding grounds of hatred?
Why are teachers sowing the seeds of hate and divisiveness?”
The stomping of the flag was condoned and declared acceptable. What then would the authorities do about today’s incident?
I
now repeat what I asked four days ago: “Is this what our education
system breeds? Is this not sowing the seeds of hate and discord? Is it
not the worst form of religious education for young minds?”
Who is responsible for toy guns?
Solidarity does not give anyone a carte blanche to break the law and teach children wrong concepts and values.
Expressing solidarity does not mean poisoning young minds and inculcating wrong values – hatred and abhorrence.
Who
is going to take responsibility for this? How were the toy guns
acquired and then brought into the school? Even being in possession of
such items is an offence under the Penal Code.
Photos circulated on social media show there were at least a dozen weapons.
Isn’t
it the head of the school’s responsibility to keep such items away from
the school? Did he or she approve of this and the drama that followed?
Amid protests by parent groups, the ministry said in a statement that the Palestine Solidarity Week in schools will teach students about humanitarian values.
This
includes teaching them how to be colour-blind when it comes to empathy.
This programme will teach students humanitarian values which also cover
human rights and courtesy.
In the same statement, the ministry
said because of modern technology, children are already exposed to all
sorts of content, including international conflicts and humanitarian
crises.
As
such, the ministry said there needs to be intervention to clarify
things with the students - hence the Palestine Solidarity Week.
But,
showing solidarity with a nation several thousand kilometres away is
not part of the curriculum and yet the ministry argued it was part of
civics education.
Propaganda of hatred
Utter bunkum. It has done the opposite.
It has backfired stunningly and the eggs have scattered spectacularly on the faces of those who initiated and supported this.
Let
me be blunt. This was part of propaganda created by politicians who
sought to instil hatred, bigotry, and fascism in young minds.
And there was also a side benefit too. It is for all Malaysians to judge whose shade of green is brighter.
So, what next? The ministry should order all schools and colleges to stop such activities immediately.
So
much damage has already been done and many young minds have already
been filled with hatred. There’s no shame in retracting a circular that
has done more harm than good.
The police have the work cut out for
them. While they are quick to stop peaceful protests, they should
investigate the incident and bring the culprits to book.
Leniency should not be shown just because they were answering the prime minister’s clarion call for massive protests.
It
should be remembered that this incident was neither to show solidarity
nor a protest over what is happening in Gaza. In short, to put it
crudely, the organisers just turned one school into a breeding ground
for hatred.
