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."
Party's over, now focus on CJ's replacement By Mariam Mokhtar
Friday, July 11, 2025
Malaysiakini : Never before has the Madani administration looked more unstable, and Anwarās failure of leadership intensely scrutinised.
If
a suitable candidate had yet to be decided, then surely the six-month
extension to the CJās tenure would have provided ample breathing space.
Weāll
never know if the cackhanded manner in which the Chief Judge of Malaya
Hasnah Hashim became the acting CJ was just another Madani knee-jerk
reaction to a hostile public response.
Anwar returned yesterday to
face growing public anger ranging from the opposition to members of his
own party, from the Malaysian Bar to Bersih, and from the Center to
Combat Corruption and Cronyism to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who, in an unprecedented move, issued a royal statement urging Malaysians to stop politicising the judicial appointments.
So,
what are the reasons for Anwarās failure to present to the king the
name of the CJās successor? Had the Judicial Appointments Commission
(JAC) failed to make their short-list? Had Anwar disagreed with their
suggestions? Or was the stumbling block. -the king - who had his reasons
for rejecting the name(s)?
Or, once the king had decided, did the Conference of Rulers then object?
Promise yet to be fulfilled
Didnāt
the Anwar of a few years ago, when he was leader of the opposition,
impress upon us that if he were to be made prime minister, his
administration would be transparent and we, the rakyat, would not be
left in the dark? We have yet to see this promise being fulfilled.
If
Anwar was really serious about reform, he would take on board Tengku
Maimunās suggestion, and perhaps salvage a bit of his reputation.
Last
April, when she was in Malta for the 24th Commonwealth Law Conference,
Tengku Maimun gave a speech in which she urged the removal of the PM in
making judicial appointments.
She said that this would
ā...reinforce the impartiality of the selection process, ensuring that
judicial appointments remain firmly grounded on merit and free from any
perception of political influence.ā
Naturally, Umno-Baruās Nazri Abdul Aziz grabbed the wrong end of the stick and displayed to perfection, the Malaysian art of ampu-bodek (currying favour).
The
former law minister described Tengku Maimunās remarks as
āunprofessionalā before accusing her of shaming Malaysia, for implying
that Anwar had meddled in judicial affairs. He demanded stern action to
punish her for tarnishing Anwar's image.
Former law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz
Worse was to follow, when Nazri told The Scoop
that Tengku Maimunās tenure had not been extended, because of her
speech at Malta. He claimed her mistake was that she failed to voice her
concerns privately.
Unsurprisingly, Nazri will forever remain a
two-bit politician-cum-lawyer with his outdated Umno-Baru
lack-of-transparency methodology, unlike the fearless, principled and
upright Tengku Maimun who, upon retirement, would probably be
head-hunted by the Commonwealth or other global body, to advise them on
legal matters.
On June 30, Anwar said that he had not interfered in judicial appointments, but when the AGC
said that āthe PM can ignore the Judicial Appointments Committeeās
(JAC) recommendations for the sake of āprotectingā the judiciary,ā what
does this suggest?
On one hand, the AGC is stressing the PMās
right to interfere, but this contrasts sharply with the PMās remarks,
when he had claimed non-interference. Why the contradictory messages?
Moreover,
why was the AGC acting as if he were the PMās spokesperson? The AGC is
in charge of the legal business of the government. He is not the PMās
personal mouthpiece.
To
add to Anwar's woes, the Malaysian Bar has organised a march from the
Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister's Office on July 14, to submit a
memorandum containing four urgent demands on judicial independence.
Former economy minister Rafizi Ramli, now an ordinary backbencher, has added his voice to the simmering discontent.
Together with eight other PKR backbenchers, he has demanded an RCI
to get at the truth. He fears that this crisis could be bad as the VK
Lingam video tape scandal of 2007, about fixing the appointment and
promotion of judges.
It is also alarming, that with several PKR politicians openly expressing dissent, the newly installed deputy president of PKR, Nurul Izzah, has remained extraordinarily quiet.
Surely, it is within her remit to rein in the dissenters, while her father was overseas?
Concerned public
Malaysians
are concerned. Tengku Maimun and her teamās stellar efforts to act
without fear or favour to implement the law, in the past six years, have
restored our faith in the judiciary, especially after the damaging judicial crisis of 1988 and VK Lingam scandal of 2007.
The
failure to fill the CJ and other senior judgesā posts has made a
mockery of all her efforts. Are we to return to the bad old days of when
we mistrusted the judiciary?
More importantly, foreign
governments will view unfavourably the attacks on the judiciary and how
easily we dismiss the supreme law of the land, the Constitution, which
lies at the heart of our democracy.
At a time when we need to
rebuild our economy, attract foreign investors, and present a successful
democracy to the outside world, our politicians decide to play politics
with the judiciary. How self-defeating!