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."
Teresa and Teo in denial over vernacular schools By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Thursday, March 07, 2024
Malaysiakini : Fellow in the National Professors Council Teo Kok Seong said this -
“They refuse to integrate. They will only learn the basic (Malay
language) to pass examinations, but object when asked to do more”.
National Professors Council fellow Teo Kok Seong
This
is complete horse manure. All Malaysians communicate in basic Malay
every single day. We communicate in Bahasa Malaysia, not due to
patriotic impulse but rather because this is the language that cuts
through class and race.
Indeed, non-Malays use the language among
themselves more often than they use English, especially when interacting
with people from different backgrounds and education levels where
mother tongues and English are just not utilitarian.
Indeed, it is
the default language among non-Malays for mundane everyday activities.
This myth that non-Malays use English as some lingua franca is complete
horse manure.
And
let us not forget that when it comes to interactions with the
bureaucracy, non-Malays of course have to use Bahasa Malaysia. Moreover,
like the Malays with their regional patois, this pidgin Malay is not a
perfect articulation of the language but, so what?
Vernacular schools also serve Malays
And
really Teo, vernacular schools (despite what I may think of them) also
serve the Malay community, especially in rural or semi-rural areas. Take
this news report for instance.
From reportage, for small
national-type Chinese schools in rural areas, it is common for the
number of Malay students to exceed that of Chinese students. SJKC Ton Fah in Beranang, Hulu Langat, is no exception.
The situation is complex and should not be reduced to simplistic
arguments of integration or assimilation, which brings me to DAP MP
Teresa Kok.
Teresa said, “In a multiracial atmosphere in Chinese primary schools, how can Chinese students look down on and insult Malays?”
This
is nonsensical because kids can be vicious and depending on the kind of
socialisation they receive, never grow out of their juvenile thinking,
which is ably demonstrated on social media when they are adults.
This is not about multiculturalism, this is about human behaviour and what kids learn from their teachers and parents.
Anecdotally
speaking, Malay and Indian parents who send their children to Chinese
vernacular schools, do so because of their belief that a foundation of
vernacular school education for their kids is a better prospect than
what they would get from failing (especially in lower economic areas)
national schools.
More importantly, they want their kids to
understand the mindset of the people they are going to be in economic
competition with. This is especially so in urban areas.
As one
Indian Mandarin-speaking parent related to me, she always wants to see
the response from companies who want “Mandarin speakers” but gets
flustered when she shows up. She and her husband want their children to
be prepared for this kind of treatment.
Keep race out of education
I know this is not the kind of muhibah fairy tale people want to hear but this is the reality of race relations in Malaysia.
Remember when Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim berated that young student
because she wanted to be treated fairly? What do you think this does to
a young person? How do you think this affects how they view their
fellow citizens?
This is why people like me want people like
Teresa and Teo to work to keep race and religion out of the public
education system. Mind you, when young children of different ethnicities
meet, they are going to bring along the baggage of their parents.
Getting an education with kids from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds is not a politically correct experience.
However,
an egalitarian education system and diligent committed teachers can
ameliorate the prejudice that children are taught at home whether
because of religious values, cultural values or they have numbskulls for
parents.
The state of our public schools is the way it is because
of the way democracy is practised in this country. Take something like
local elections for instance. Refer to Kua Kia Soong’s comment in 2018.
He wrote - “Few Malaysians have noticed, for example, that the all-important role of local education authorities in the Education Act 1961 is no longer mentioned in the Education Act 1996.
“Local
education authorities serve to allocate funds and other facilities to
needy sectors, and can serve to dissipate politicisation of education.”
But
nobody cares about this. Why? Because when it comes to racial politics,
political operatives, even those who claim to have a multi-racial
agenda, want to point to issues they can champion for their community.
Rational
people understand that Teresa and Teo are presenting non-Malays with a
false choice. This is not about assimilation or integration.
This is about how neither desires a secular and egalitarian framework for Malaysians to resolve their problems.
