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."
And the resentment is slowly
bubbling to the top. This is why we have articles in the foreign media
about how once-welcomed refugees are being harassed online and in the
streets of urban areas in Malaysia.
And stateless or refugee children are open to all forms of abuse and
because they do not have the protection of citizenships, they become
fodder for political operatives.
Remember
two years ago, when MCA Beliawanis (Wanita MCA Young Women Bureau)
chief Ivone Low Yi Wen called beggar refugee children aggressive, arrogant, and ungrateful?
Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said claimed that we should not blame the children because it was the country that failed them.
Well
actually, no, the “country” did not fail to protect them. The political
apparatus of this country failed to protect them as it has failed with a
great many issues.
Depending on the racial and class structure of
the country, a certain section does not want them here, another section
is using them for political mileage, and another section probably
thinks that open borders are a good thing.
The costs of statelessness
But
make no mistake. What these amendments do is create a permanent
generational underclass in this country. What do you think happens to
these children and foundlings when they are not granted citizenship?
Well,
the first thing is that they are not accorded the full protection of
the law as regular citizens of this country. When this happens they
become prey to all manner of interests.
Saifuddin talked about costs a lot. He talked about how much the
rakyat are paying to house and feed undocumented migrants for instance.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail
What
he did not mention is how much it would cost the rakyat when these
stateless children advance in age and when they are denied rights that
could make them economically independent and productive members of
society. Think of the costs then.
Not only will the state feed and
house them for whatever reasons, ranging from criminal to civil, but
also this generational underclass would fuel a black economy which would
involve not only big business, the political class, and of course, the
state security apparatus.
What we are dealing with here is an
underclass which would enable the worst excesses of the political class
and culture of this country.
How much money has been spent taking
care of these stateless peoples, especially in the urban areas, while
the Malay heartland has been left to its own devises beyond putting in
more stringent regulations and enforcement?
Ideal for human trafficking
But
of course, the greatest danger stateless people and children have in
this country is being preyed upon by human traffickers with the
complicity of state actors.
Keep in mind, stateless people are
easier to move than citizens of a country, and does anyone really think
that the state security apparatus would care for trafficked stateless
people?
And in this country, as Wang Kelian reminded us, everyone
gets touched. In 2019, then executive director of the human rights NGO
Tenaganita, Glorene A Das, reminded the powers that be to also
investigate the individuals (including those who may be politically
linked) who were behind the cover-up of Wang Kelian.
“The reported
cover-up of the activities of human trafficking syndicates and the
annihilation of vital evidence needs to be explained; those involved in
it should be brought to justice, without fear or favour,” she said.
Of
course, if these stateless children and foundlings are of a specific
religion and would be entitled to certain entitlements if they were
citizens, the cost could go down.
We live in a country where race
is defined constitutionally and you can bet your last ringgit that the
money train is running low, hence the need to cut back on unnecessary
expenses.
As it is, the religious apparatus that is riddled with
corruption has, over the years, been taking on the additional burden of
minding and using various Muslim migrant communities.
Indeed this
generational underclass is perfectly suited for cheap labour and other
kinds of work that do not attract the interest of regular citizens. And
because they do not have the protection of citizenship it is not as if
they could complain to anyone, right?
Who knows there may come a
day when we do not look to other countries for cheap labour, because we
have homegrown cheap, disposable labour here.
Anyone who knows me understands that I fall into the Malaysia First camp when it comes to these types of issues.
When
we have stateless Orang Asal, Indians, Chinese, and not to mention
children of one immigrant parent born out of wedlock, the system is
rigged against those fighting for these children and people but even I
am horrified by these proposed amendments.
