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."
GE15: The forgotten issues – education and corruption By R Nadeswaran
Monday, November 14, 2022
Malaysiakini : We have scores of universities and a few hundred university colleges
and other institutions of higher learning - but what kind of graduates
are we producing?
Some of them cannot string two sentences in
English and not surprisingly, our graduates are working as garbage
collectors across the Causeway.
Isn’t anyone going to highlight
this issue or are they content with keeping young Malaysians to accept
what the government thinks that they ought to learn?
Doesn’t anyone give a toss about placing language and religion above science, technology and other related subjects?
No, even the most ardent candidate does not want to speak up and perhaps, has taken a cue from Rafizi Ramli’s ”guard Malay feelings”.
Umno chief Ahmad Zahidi Hamidi
Have they all concluded it is best to fold their arms and watch educational standards deteriorate?
Umno
chief Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced free tertiary education for M40
students and tablets for deserving students, but that’s just the
hardware. What about the operating systems and the software?
1MDB scandal forgotten?
Has
anyone some thoughts on the syllabus and educating our students in line
with the market demands? Little wonder we have a few hundred thousand
unemployed graduates.
Are they satisfied with graduates coming out like garments out of an assembly line?
Has
everyone forgotten the 1MDB scandal? Has everyone forgotten the casino
visits, the art collections, properties across the globe and the yacht
and former prime minister who is now in prison?
Outgoing Finance
Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz told the Parliament in March that the
1MDB debts of the government were RM32.3 billion in principal and RM6.5
billion in interest.
Has everyone forgotten how the nation was
brought to its knees and citizens will continue to pay for the
imprudence of those responsible?
This and the next generation will continue to pay the bill for what has been described as the biggest theft of public money.
All
parties have taken anti-corruption stands in their respective
manifestos. But how are they going to be fulfilled? Zahid could only say
that no BN politician would head the MACC.
Saying this was a
clear signal of BN’s efforts to weed out corruption and misperception
and that it was involved in corrupt practices.
Really? His defence
has been called on 47 corruption charges in relation to Yayasan
Akalbudi, a foundation that he leads. Of the total, 12 are criminal
breach of trust charges, eight are for graft, and 27 are for money
laundering.
“Once BN becomes a strong government (after GE15), we
will take action against anyone, including those from BN or any party
that is involved in corruption,” Zahid said. Written on running water or
yet another election gimmick?
Caretaker Prime Minister Ismail
Sabri Yaakob said the government has taken appropriate action on the
procurement of the littoral combat ship (LCS) issue and did not ignore
the matter.
“Those who were accused to be involved in
misappropriation and so on had been investigated by the MACC and some
people had also been brought to court, so the matter is ongoing and we
did not ignore it,” he said.
Ismail Sabri has not been generous with the truth. What he claimed was not exactly true or accurate.
Only one - former Bousted Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) managing director Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor - was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust totalling RM21 million.
Former BNS managing director Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor
By
a long shot, these charges against Ramli have nothing to do with the
LCS scandal, as they predate the issue of the letters of award for the
RM9 billion LCS procurement, which were issued on Dec 16, 2011.
Ramli
was alleged to have approved payments of RM13,541,140; RM1,360,716; and
RM6,182,295 to three Singaporean companies without BNS' board of
directors’ approval. The payments were allegedly made between July 26,
2010, and March 25, 2011.
But what about the others who were,
directly and indirectly, fingered in the forensic audit report (which
highlighted all manner of financial irregularities) on the RM9 billion
littoral LCS procurement?
But Ismail Sabri could be looking for
another hail of “bullets” to use against detractors who claim he had
done little to combat corruption.
After all, not too long ago, he
gave his party members “bullets” to be used against former
attorney-general Tommy Thomas who brought charges against his party
bosses – Najib Abdul Razak and Zahid.
Is this campaign limited to
highlighting opponents’ scandals, misdeeds and possible criminal acts?
No one wants to focus on a better life, more reasonable prices of
essentials, a world-class education system or even a stronger ringgit.
Is mud-slinging the new mantra for winning elections?
