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."
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's most narcissistic of all? By RK Anand
Thursday, December 29, 2022
Malaysiakini : While narcissism is a common trait amongst politicians, in Mahathir, however, it is personified.
There
is perhaps not a single person in this or other realms whom Mahathir
considers capable of administering the nation apart from himself. And if
the grapevines are to be believed, the latest addition to this list is
his son as well.
His
handpicked successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi failed to meet his
expectations, his handpicked replacement to topple his handpicked
successor Najib Abdul Razak proved to be a greater disappointment and
his handpicked accomplice to oust the handpicked replacement who deposed
his handpicked successor Muhyiddin Yassin turned out to be a
treacherous usurper.
The
handpicked-for-nothing Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who landed the post due to
providence and not design, is the sole prime minister since 2003 spared
the geriatric wrath and whose 15-month rise and fall were devoid of
Mahathirās fingerprints.
Twenty-four years ago, Mahathir
had deemed his then heir-apparent unsuitable as well on claims that the
latterās moral compass pointed south.
Therefore,
if there is one lesson to be gleaned from the past four decades of
Mahathirism is that he is a hopeless judge of character.
In his latest interview, the monarch of doublespeak alleged that Anwar hadfailed to resolvethe economic problems when he became acting prime minister for a few months in the 1990s.
Therefore,
Mahathir is not confident that the new prime minister, ranked amongst
the top four finance ministers in the world during the above-mentioned
period, would be able to navigate Malaysia through the current economic
turbulence.
Despite this
and other so-called transgressions, he had no reservations in working
with the Pakatan Harapan chairperson, agreeing to him being his
successor and freeing him from prison to achieve his agenda during the
2018 general election.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
A
week before the 16th national polls last month, Mahathir, in recalling
the collapse of the Harapan government, rebuked Anwar and his supporters
for blaming him for the PKR presidentās failure to become prime
minister.
He claimed the
finger should be pointed at Muhyiddin, Azmin Ali, Hamzah Zainuddin and
Anwar himself for pushing several PKR leaders to conspire against him.
Mahathir has lost the plot
Mahathirās latest remarks,
however, laid bare his true sentiments. The irrefutable truth is that he
never wanted Anwar to succeed him.
Consequently,
seeing his anointed
successor-turned-nemesis-turned-associate-turned-foe in the seat of
power must be interfering with the circuits in his pacemaker.
Karma is a bā¦. But for the sake of decorum, letās call it a boomerang instead of the five-letter word.
The
recent polls also revealed how Mahathir had lost the plot. It was the
nadir of an illustrious and controversial political career.
The
doctor had failed to feel the pulse of the people, even those in his
home state of Kedah and the island of Langkawi, whose āseven generations
of misfortuneā curse he had been credited with ending.
Before
the 2018 election, the late Mahathir stalwart Zainuddin Maidin had
proclaimed: āIt is confirmed that Mahathir will contest in his 'fixed
deposit' seat of Langkawi to end another curse... If he can end the
curse of Mahsuri, what more the curse of Umno?ā
Last month, Mahathir lost his deposit in the āfixed depositā seat.
On
a horological note, time would answer if Anwar can lead Malaysia
through the economic turmoil but for Mahathir, the clock has stopped
ticking. His fate is not written, but engraved on the wall. He is a
spent force.
Regrettably,
he did not make a gracious exit with his head held high when fate
presented him with a second chance. He overestimated himself,
underestimated the electorate and suffered an ignominious defeat.
Enough. Enough said, enough done.
The
grand old wizard of Malaysian politics must realise that his wand is
broken. There is no magic left in him nor spells to cast. It is time for
the hippophile, who owns close to 40 horses, to ride off into the
sunset.
This is the dawn of Anwarās era.
After
several false starts, the PKR president appears to have secured the
required number of support in the August House which has eluded him
since 2008 but just not as āstrong, formidable and convincingā as he had
hoped for.
Nonetheless,
becoming prime minister is the āhappily ever afterā ending Anwar had
sought since 1998 but it remains to be seen if his reign would be able
to withstand the test of time and pressure from adversaries to herald a
similar climax for Malaysia.
