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."
What's the point of DAP remaining in Madani? By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Monday, December 08, 2025
Malaysiakini : At this point, there is a litany of dismal peaks that rational
Malaysians can point to where the DAP has not served the rakyat when it
comes to accountability, the promotion of democratic values, and, of
course, lessening the impact of theocratic imperatives in mainstream
Malaysian politics.
The suspended seven
DAP
politicians, apparatchiks, and online trolls smugly ask if not the DAP,
who can the āNonsā vote for? It is either the DAP or a theocratic
state.
The online harassment of third-party candidates, as well as
the demeaning of so-called mosquito parties and outliers speaking
against the double talk of the DAP, is a testament that the Nons have
shot themselves in the foot when it comes to viable alternatives to
legacy parties.
None of these trolls will ever acknowledge that the DAP, by kowtowing to Madani, is speeding up the Islamic state project.
None
of these cretins will ever acknowledge that while the average rakyat
who supports the DAP does not have the option of leaving this country,
many mandarins and power brokers in the DAP shape party politics and
have the means to leave when the theocratic state comes.
The most
damning thing about the video clip of Karpal Singh that was unearthed
recently was that it demonstrated how the party leadership abandoned him
when he was fighting the right fight.
Some
folks think that was in response to the recent Sabah slap and how DAP
is supposed to be standing up to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, but I
think it is a reminder that the DAPās political class and culture have a
history of not supporting righteous causes and indulging in political
expediency while abandoning right-minded comrades.
This is what
destroys a party, because there are always voices in political parties
who speak up on foundational principles, but they are sidelined by those
who have tasted the perks and privileges that come with power.
DAP candidates in the recent Sabah election
DAP adviser Lim Guan Eng babbles on about how DAP was rejected in Sabah because of taxes,
which displays how out of touch the leadership of the DAP is with the
groundswell of anti-establishment sentiment there is in this country.
The
problem is not that some feel that Anwar has not done enough, but
rather that he has done too much to appease a right-wing, theocratic
state-in-waiting.
And
please do not think of this as solely a non-Malay issue. The fact is,
democratic principles and secular values would benefit a majority of
Malays if only the DAP had the cojones to stay the course.
People
are tired of this Madani nonsense, and they will turn to parties they
think will make their lives better. For the majority community, this
comes with an Islamic imperative, an imperative which should have been
controlled under Madani with the aid of the DAP, but which wasnāt.
Corporate interest over community voice
I
guess the point of DAP remaining in Madani is that the party gets a
property czar, for example. What the DAP should be advocating for and
has done so in the past is local council elections.
Instead of a
local council election, which acts as a check-and-balance to a whole
range of issues, and where communities determine what the places they
live in need, we get the Urban Renewal Act (URA), which concentrates
power in the hands of government and where backchanneling, backroom
deals, and corporate malfeasance get a fig leaf of legality.
Do you know why Malay uber alles politicians play the race card when it comes to local council elections?
They
want to destroy democratic opportunities where the Malays, especially
if they are a minority in certain areas, understand that their welfare
is safeguarded by a non-Malay majority.
Prime
Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Housing Minister Nga Kor Ming with photos of
property that the Urban Renewal Act aims to refurbish.
Because once this happens, all bets are off. This is why politics is always local.
So,
instead of laying the foundation for more democratic engagement, which
would benefit the political party but more importantly the rakyat, what
we get is a property czar working in concert with corporate interests
and the political class, which adversely affects the average Malay
rakyat, who then succumbs to the race and religious dialectic of the
opposition.
Religious overreach
I do not mean to pour cold water on Ramkarpal Singh dressing down
the home minister for that health spa raid, but the reality is that
Madani is playing the religious card by persecuting the LGBTQ+
community. Reportage of the raid indicates how Nons were caught up in
this.
The home minister has the gumption to claim no religion
supports this activity, which basically sets the precedent that Islamic
laws and norms apply to the Nons. See how dangerous this has become?
This
home minister should be under investigation for his role in the
FAM/Fifa scandal; hence, DAP should be pushing for him to be replaced.
Is this a shocking thing to say?
Politicians, especially those in
the ruling party, replacing ministers who are not performing or engaging
in malfeasance, is a shocking thing to advocate? This, of course, is a
normal process in any functional democracy.
And of course, the
behaviour of the Royal Malaysia Police, which is getting iron-clad
support from the home minister, is the reason why this country needs an
Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).
Blind loyalty erodes integrity
Since
the DAP is a stand-in for the Chinese community, they will be accused
of controlling the government and any other racist propaganda the Malay
establishment will throw at them. So what?
Look, the DAP is going
to be demonised anyway. Political opportunists like Umno Youth chief
Akmal Saleh understand that it really does not matter what they do
because the DAP support base will not punish the DAP, unlike the Malay
majority polity, who have demonstrated their willingness to shift their
support to whatever reactionary Malay/Muslim party they think best
serves their interests.
DAP supporters are always asking for
solutions. The problem is that they donāt really want solutions because
DAP, as a party, had the solutions. They had politicians who were
willing to carry them out if given a chance.
What changed? The DAP
realised that they could do whatever they wanted, discard any
principle, kowtow to anything the Malay establishment wanted, and their
supporters would still vote them in.
If the DAP were really
serious about reforming the party and the country, they would be asking
themselves the same question, rational Malaysians are asking: What is
the point of remaining in Madani?
