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."
Dear MB, do you think
this is merely a āgreenie issueā about forests? Or a deeper one about
political trust, integrity and honesty?
4. Political donations?
Politics is not a cheap business. It needs funds. But the problem is that we lack real laws against political donations.
Dear MB, you deny receiving any money personally from developers.
Fair enough, surely you are not like Najib Abdul Razak who put such
money straight into his own bank account. And luckily, your denial was
done without any āsumpah laknatā.
But dear sir, can you also
please confirm that no (potential) developers have paid ādonationsā to
any ācharity foundationā or other funds linked to you or other state
leaders?
5. Why such dubious tactics?
Why have your people been giving repeated half-baked excuses? At first, Hee said the forest reserve was degazetted (stripped of legal protection) in 2006.
But activists found this was invalid, and the former president of the Malaysian Bar Council AG Kalidas confirmed this.
Then
your people quietly tried some legal gymnastics to backdate the
degazetting by 22 years! This forced two eco groups to sue your
government to stop this amazing ātime travelā. The court has since ruled that the forest will remain protected pending the case hearing.
Dear MB, donāt you think all these legal problems are a signal to change direction?
6. Why the hush-hush?
There
was no official media statement about the 22-year backdating. If alert
activists had not spotted an obscure entry about this on the Lawnet
website on May 5, the three-month limit for legal objections may well
have passed by unnoticed.
Dear MB, was this what your government was hoping for?
7. Why destroy treasure?
Are you aware that Bukit Cerakah still has its original million-year-old forest? Itās rich with wildlife such as gibbons, hornbills, slow loris, mousedeers and tapirs. Yes, tapirs.
This
is a mini Taman Negara right in the Klang Valley. Its hills are great
as a green lung for residents, hikers and tourists. So why donāt you
want to preserve this place for public benefit?
Dear MB, are you
aware that the steep slopes here are terrible for development because it
will mean soil erosion and flash floods? Has Selangor learned the
lessons of Baling and Sri Muda?
8. Why repeat Umno mistake?
The
406-hectare chunk of the forest at Bukit Cerakah (about the size of
1,000 football fields) was first degazetted by Umno MB Mohd Khir Toyo 22
years ago (he was later jailed for corruption over his āpalaceā
mansion).
Dear sir, as the leader of a āreformasiā Harapan state government, shouldnāt you be reversing the bad deeds of Umno leaders?
As PKR-related Otai Reformis secretary Abdul Razak Ismail said,
āWhat does it mean when the people elect Harapan in Selangor for almost
three terms, but state excos are still blaming the previous government
to cover up their inability to resolve the issue?ā
9. Backdoor tactic?
Why did your officials try to do all this backdoor backdating business?
Dear
MB, is it because you want to ājump backā in time to avoid a state law
of 2011? A law that says any degazetting of the forest must go through a
public hearing?
One of several scenic forest lakes at SACF
10. Why hide?
In April 2021, a bantahan
(objection) session was held by the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA). This
dealt with the Local Plan (involving a graveyard and road) in this
area. Yet journalists were barred from the āpublicā hearing.
Dear MB, what was there to hide? What happened to Selangorās 2011 Freedom of Information law?
Official
minutes of the session were requested but not given. MBSA also ignored
the peopleās objections and went ahead with its plans.
Dear sir, is this what you call a ākerajaan mesra rakyatā or āpeople-friendly governmentā?
11. Cured of Azmin?
In
2018, you were not Harapanās real choice to become MB, it was Ijok
assemblyperson Idris Ahmad. But you got in because the palace picked
you, based on Azmin Ali's recommendation.
Azmin still seems to like and support you. Dear sir, have you been totally ācleanedā of your past association with him?
Former Selangor MB Azmin Ali
12. Who is benefitting?
After
the court suspended the ridiculous backdating attempt, you still
stubbornly insist on degazetting the Bukit Cerakah forest. Your excuse now is to avoid being sued by companies that will ālose business opportunities approved by the former state excoā.
āWe
canāt do anything because it was a decision by the previous
government,ā you added. Ah, there you go again, blaming everything on
the ābad oldā BN guys.
Okay, since PKR and Harapan are all about
ātransparencyā, you should reveal which are the companies that will
ālose businessā. Who was given such lucrative land?
Dear MB, are they linked to Umno and ex-MB Khir, or to current state leaders?
13. Cannot take land back?
Dear
MB, are these dubious RM2 companies? What land premiums have they paid?
Surely you know that they cannot do anything if their projects are not
approved by the state?
So what is stopping you from getting the
state to buy back their land (with a small profit to them)? Especially
since the degazetting was wrongly done in the past.
Dear sir, you
blame āthe previous governmentā for this problem. But why are you
protecting their decision, instead of reversing it?
14. Was there corruption?
Or have projects already been approved here? By who? Lawyers note that any such approvals on forest reserve land are illegal.
Dear MB, why donāt you investigate possible corruption by āthe previous governmentā?
15. Why roads and graveyard?
You
recently said that any state subsidiary involved will be asked to stop
their project unless it involves āpublic interestā such as building
roads or graveyards.
Hopefully, this means PKNS will stop their hush-hush Bandar Sierra Alam development which was disguised as āconservationā.
But dear MB, why build roads if you want to save the forest? Are you trying to make future ādevelopmentā easier?
And why do you want to chop down an ancient forest rich with wildlife to bury dead bodies?
Dear sir, donāt you know there are already two huge graveyards nearby at Fairy Park (Meru) and Nirvana Klang?
16. The MB jinx?
Several
former MBs - Muhammad Taib, Khir, Khalid Ibrahim and of course Azmin -
have all been hit with big controversies. Itās almost like... a curse.
Is it because Selangor is the richest state in Malaysia, rife with temptations?
