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."
Anwar Ibrahim has rediscovered his mojo - Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Thursday, November 17, 2022
Malaysiakini : Honestly, I wondered about Saudara Anwar. I am not talking about
whether he really is the kind of visionary Malaysian that could lead us
out of this quagmire.
No, I am talking about if he still had what
it takes to win elections after all his failed attempts at trying to
craft a backdoor of his own.
Anwar’s loyalists tell me that they
were waiting for an election to fire up the old man. Now that Parliament
was no longer in play, he could fully turn his attention to the general
election.
He could finally be free of all “these temptations” to
dethrone the government and take it to the streets, where the fight
really is.
Say what you like about Anwar’s so-called lust for power, but there
have always been political operatives who have stood in his way using
legitimate – but most often, illegitimate – means to hamper his
democratic right to assume the highest office in the land.
To be
fair to Anwar - and I am loath to be “fair” when it comes to politicians
- Harapan has never fully committed to him becoming the next prime
minister.
It was excruciating seeing how many political operatives
were bending the knee to the old maverick while chastising Anwar for
wanting a timetable for a handover of power.
Now that everyone is on board, Harapan has a clear figurehead in which to galvanise diverse voting blocks.
In
a political milieu where some voters do not even know what coalition
their candidates belong to, having a clear idea that Anwar is the clear
choice for the hot seat, is a boon.
It shows that he is a contender and not just a stand-in like Ismail Sabri Yaakob, or has been.
On
the campaign trail, Anwar is earning his keep. He has reverted to his
populist folksy manner of engaging with multiracial crowds in urban
centres that worked well for him in the past and becoming that sort of
paternalistic figure reminding rural folks that carpetbaggers from the
Malay uber alles establishment are stealing from them and making their
lives difficult.
This type of class-race narrative is the kind of
populism that brought Anwar into power in the first place but was
abandoned after political operatives tasted power and the goal became to
retain power.
Always a difficult position
Reforming the
system and uplifting the Malay polity are also not mutually exclusive.
In the early days of reformasi, Anwar used to claim that needs-based
affirmative actions would not disenfranchise the Malay community because
they were the majority in need, but this did not mean the non-Malays
had to be penalised.
Anwar has always been in a difficult
position. He has to maintain a healthy Malay vote bank but also
reinforce egalitarian ideas to satisfy Harapan’s non-Malay base.
This
election is different though. The establishment has screwed up in so
many ways that people, whether in urban or rural areas, are pissed off.
As
that great realpolitik democratic strategist James Carville once said
about the political game, it is not about ideology, it is about
psychology.
For instance, when Anwar says “There are people going around Padang Serai
campaigning (and saying), ‘We want a Malay’ (MP). What is this? It’s
best to pick a principled man like (M) Karupaiya”, what this does, is
that it exposes the racism of those making such a statement but also
rejects the Zakir Naik idea - that it is better to vote for a corrupt
Muslim leader than an honest non-Muslim leader since race and religion
are not mutually exclusive here in Malaysia.
Karupaiya passed away
yesterday and it is disheartening to think that his final days were
spent in a campaign where such racism was still an established practice
here in Malaysia.
The late M Karupaiya
Post-GE15 hookups
Now while it is easy to indulge in conspiracy theories about possible post-election pacts and certain sub rosa moves by PKR and Umno operatives, this really does not concern me at all.
If
there are coalitions hooking up post-election, this is what democracy
is all about. And yes, I believe the groundwork is being laid for
possible hookups post-election and this includes the positioning of
political operatives on the chessboard and normalising certain
narratives.
Having said that, the goal for Harapan is to gain the
most leverage. I get that political operatives are going about claiming
all sorts of things about their chances of making a clean sweep and if
that happens great.
But what is more important is that in case
there are post-election hookups, Harapan needs to be the juiciest pact
on the block and this is only achieved by having the most candidates.
Forget
about the questionable choices of candidates Harapan has put up in
certain constituencies, but what is important is that this is the
straight fight that a certain section of the voting polity has been
waiting for.
What is important, for Harapan, is that they have the numbers to leverage the best deal for the base and for Malaysia.
This
means Anwar getting the mandate he needs from not only his political
operatives but also voters. The Harapan base should be relieved Anwar
has got his mojo back.
