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."
COMMENT - Why Bersama will be a force in GE16 By P Gunasegaram
Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Malaysiakini : It’s a given that it will contest all Federal Territory seats in the
peninsula (11 in Kuala Lumpur and one in Putrajaya), adding a further
12, to make 34 already.
That
has major implications for the rest of Peninsular Malaysia, assuming
that’s where Bersama’s focus is. If the revitalised party can contest
all seats in Selangor, what’s to stop it from contesting all seats in
mixed-race states?
That
means you can include all seats in Penang (13 parliamentary, 40 state),
Perak (24, 59), Negeri Sembilan (eight, 36), Malacca (six, 28) and
Johor (26, 56). That makes a grand total of 111 parliamentary seats
alone. If they win even a fifth, they are a force to reckon with.
Demand for alternative party
Is
this all up in the air, or is there supporting evidence for probable
support for Bersama? Rafizi said in the interview that there is.
“Bersama
is a political start-up. We need time to validate our hypothesis. This
month, we will examine acceptance. By June, we will be able to measure
acceptance. By the end of June, we can profile the seats we can contest.
We need money - we have to cut our coat according to our cloth,” he
said.
“In Selangor, we can contest all seats. Demographics show
that we have the highest support here, with seats held by PKR, DAP,
Bersatu, PAS, and Amanah. Profiles show we have potential in all seats.
“We
don’t care if it is (Prime Minister) Anwar (Ibrahim), or PKR or DAP,
where we feel there is demand and adoption of us, we will contest.”
Data
until April, he said, shows the emergence and growth of disenfranchised
voters (those who don’t know who to vote for). The percentage support
for Pakatan Harapan, Perikatan Nasional, BN - all came down for all
races.
“We
run a statistically competent national and local poll every month. We
track a question on which parties are supported. Harapan, BN, and PN
have about equal support, plus or minus two percentage points.
“’Not
sure’ (answer) is the most ticked and has been growing since October,
accounting for 32 percent. The remaining 68 percent is divided amongst
the three.
“We wanted to know there was empirical evidence for
our hypothesis (that a new party was needed). By February, we knew there
was a market for a new party.”
He said political analysis is simplistic - historical.
“We
have validated demand and interest in a new segment - it is there. We
will cross 20,000 members in a week - that’s not bad. In PKR, if we got
5,000 members in a week, that would be fantastic.”
The membership
rose to 16,000 over four days. It includes PAS sympathisers, former
Harapan supporters, and some Umno supporters as well.
“We are
getting interest from a wide section. We ask for a declaration of age,
race, previous parties, etc. The majority are those who have not
belonged to a party. We will get a breakdown in a week.
“Many were
unexpected - ex-colleagues from Petronas, one of them a CEO (in one of
the companies), who retired 10 years ago. We can’t use previous figures
to assess our chances. We are sure we won’t lose our deposits,” he
quipped.
The
immediate question is how much progress the party will make in the
coming election. That will decide much of its future. But first, Rafizi
has to secure his former constituency, Pandan, where an interesting
development is unfolding.
Initial panic
The initial panic among PKR and Anwar is already reflected in the party president focusing attention on Pandan, Rafizi’s constituency before he resigned recently as MP. If you get Rafizi down, then the movement is nipped in the bud.
Anwar has brought
former Umno member and investment, trade and industry minister, Tengku
Zafrul Abdul Aziz, to Pandan. Most likely, it will be Zafrul who will
contest against Rafizi, but it does not seem likely that the former has a
good chance of winning.
Harapan's Dzulkefly Ahmad retained his Kuala Selangor
seat in November 2022 after a tough challenge from Zafrul. The former
health minister polled 31,033 votes to Zafrul's 30,031 for a majority of
1,002.
Remember, Zafrul was in Umno at that time. But Anwar let
him continue as a minister through an appointment to the Senate. He was
forced to step down when his six-year term with the Senate expired in
December 2025.
Despite that, Zafrul was appointed senior political
adviser to the prime minister for a two-year term starting in March and
Malaysian Investment Development Authority chairperson, serving a
two-year term that began in December last year.
Ex-minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz
Zafrul’s rapid rise
Zafrul
became a PKR member in July 2025 following his resignation from Umno
shortly before, in a move, together with a rapid rise in party ranks,
that attracted animosity and criticism from long-time PKR members.
Zafrul
has been cultivating Pandan already, now with Anwar’s direct help, with
the clear intention to topple Rafizi in the next election and get
himself a parliamentary seat.
But that’s not going to be easy
with Rafizi’s popularity increasing and many seeing him as the last hope
for an equitable Malaysia.
A lot will depend on election timing.
If it is at full term, that will give Bersama time to organise, get
members and raise money, which will mean it can gain considerable
strength and contest many seats.
For that reason alone, an
election is likely to be early despite public pronouncements that
component parties have committed to supporting the Madani government to
the end of the full term.
Bersama has the potential to take things
far. It is extremely unlikely to win this round of elections, but it is
likely to build a base, perhaps up to 30 seats. Anything much above
that seems unlikely, although not impossible.
Cultivate Pandan
Rafizi and Nik Nazmi have captured the imagination of many Malaysians with their grand, some will say grandiose, visions. But one piece of advice, Rafizi should make sure he cultivates Pandan to ensure he is there to fight the battle.
Remember Nurul Izzah Anwar, against all expectations, lost in Permatang Pauh,
thought to be a PKR and Anwar stronghold, to PAS’ Fawwaz Jan at GE15,
defeated by a majority of 5,272 votes, securing 32,366 votes against
Fawwaz's 37,638.
Ex-ministers Rafizi Ramli (left) and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad
Rafizi
needs to be there to fight the good fight, but he has to win at Pandan,
where PKR will put all its resources into defeating him. At the same
time, he needs to work to put in a significant number of MPs to be,
hopefully, kingmakers at least.
He is saying all the right things:
“We can’t continue as before, there has to be change - in the economy,
education, wages and others. Anwar has not succeeded in handling racial
issues because he is tiptoeing around Umno.
“We need a unity dept
to handle this, the PM must chair this and do things. We have it for the
economy, why not here? Bring everyone down to common ground.”
Rafizi
said that there are 10 MPs with “our own views, we hold the 10 MPs
card”, referring to how the bloc can be used to stop legislation and
gain concessions.
“We know the leverage of a small party. You have
to know your strength and leverage it to pressure the government.
Pushing our agenda is more important than going for seats. We intend to
disrupt, not to take control,” he added.
If anybody can disrupt,
Rafizi can. But in the long run, we hope that he can do more than that.
Let’s have some patience. Malaysia won’t be rebuilt in a day.
