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."
Anwar waited 24 years to be PM, but some can’t wait for him to go By Mariam Mokhtar
Friday, November 24, 2023
Malaysiakini : Although his public appearances are akin to a superstar on stage,
Anwar is basically insecure. Has he been conditioned by the premiership
being snatched away before?
Should we lower our expectations
of him? He could rebuild our trust and confidence, by working on three
major opportunities before the next general election but will he?
The first of these is to work on the last election’s manifesto. However, one of the first failures was the anti-corruption priority.
Having
a deputy who is allegedly corrupt reminds us of the hypocrisy of the
entire Umno-Baru cabinet which swore that the convicted felon, Najib
Abdul Razak was innocent of the 1MDB wrongdoings and the Arab prince’s donation was not a fairy tale.
This unity government’s hypocrisy stinks to high heaven.
The second is to work on the narrative for the 2Rs, but thus far, Anwar has only pandered to the ultra-Malays and Muslims.
After
one year of the unity government, does anyone think that there is a
clear distinction between Perikatan Nasional’s “Green Wave” and the
Madani “Green Wave”?
Anwar accomplished what PAS and Bersatu wanted, had they won the 15th general election outright.
He is aware that his supporters will not drop him because their bogeyman is the “Green Wave”. Ironically, the Malay bogeyman is the DAP.
Malaysia’s tragedy is that Anwar’s supporters are equally insecure and desperate, so they tolerate his flaws.
They
will say, “If not Anwar, then who?” or “Do you want a ‘Green Wave’
government?” Are they aware the Constitution does not say that a Malay
or Muslim must be PM?
The third opportunity is the economy.
However, Anwar cannot make major inroads into the economy if he refuses
to deal with the 2R problem. Anything that is “touched” by the influence
of the 2Rs is doomed.
The lop-sided New Economic Policy (NEP), the affirmative action policies, lack of meritocracy, the quota system in education and desire to “out-Islam” PAS. The 2Rs hold us back.
When
he was sacked by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1998,
Anwar rebranded himself as the leader of the reformasi movement. Fast
forward to 2023, where are the promised reforms?
“Time, give him time,” his supporters demand, but a few weeks into his rule, new doubts were beginning to emerge.
“He cannot undo what took decades to fester”, they add, but how do you explain some of the things that he did?
He gave the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim)
more muscle and a financial boost, despite knowing how we despise the
agency for micro-managing both Muslim and non-Muslim lives.
Some
people said that the ministers, MPs and departmental heads had no choice
but to follow Anwar’s orders. Did you notice anyone resigning out of
principle?
For Anwar, election day and his re-election prospects
loom large in all his calculations. The Indian student who solicited his
views about meritocracy and quotas in education was rebuffed several times.
He was coarse and abrupt, and told her that abolishing the quota system would not be good for elections.
Much
as we’d like to give him a chance to restore stability in this country,
his arrogance with the student suggests that Anwar has no desire to put
the long-term interests of the country in front of the short-term
interests of his party, or himself.
The people who voted for him should also shoulder some blame.
When
I asked someone why he thought Anwar should be made PM, he said, “He
went to jail for us, and suffered on our behalf. He was deprived of his
family and freedom, just for us. He deserves to be PM”.
Double standards
This
“substitutional atonement” reminds one of a certain religious figure.
Why should a period of incarceration be sufficient justification for the
premiership? Otherwise, we’d have convicts running the country.
Ironically, we do, but he’s still in Kajang.
When Nurul Izzah Anwar was sneaked into the Finance Ministry as a special adviser, Anwar acted as if was not guilty of nepotism.
It was also to remind us to “Do as I say, but not as I do.” Anwar failed to uphold the standards that he demanded from others.
Malaysians
love freebies, including a PM who will serve for free. How do we value
the work of the person who claims that his time and effort are not worth
anything?
If his performance deteriorates, some will be unwilling
to sack him because who else will work for free? These people have
fallen into the false economy trap, which in the long run costs more.
Anwar can avoid a humiliating exit if he were to groom a successor. Not family members, but younger able politicians of any colour or creed to gain experience to lead.
We, and not any third party, will decide who becomes our next PM at the 16th general election.
