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."
Merry Christmas to all Malaysians By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
Malaysiakini : āThe teacher did not do anythingā, he said. His children who were
brought up in an extremely mixed neighbourhood didnāt have this problem
when they were growing up.
But yet days like these are a respite
from such realities. On days like these either by religious observance
or by brotherhood, we remember that if things can change for the worse,
they can revert to the better.
We must always remember that
however much the forces of divisions in this country attempt their dark
arts, it is the average rakyat who resists and continues to interact
with their brethren with as much charity as the situation allows.
Weāre still together
PSM
political operatives always remind me that on the ground, people still
want to connect. They want to play well with others and they rarely bear
animosity towards their countrymen.
A young social activist
reminds me that the desperation of factotums from the state to decree
things āharamā is directly related to their fear of how easily
Malaysians come together on most occasions.
A self-described
āpondok educatedā small-town preacher told me that he and his small
congregation wished people a Merry Christmas even though they were not
sure if the non-Malays they greeted were Christians. But always they
were met with smiles and outpourings of camaraderie.
āToo much, politik, commander,ā he intoned over the phone and wished me a Merry Christmas as he wishes me a Happy Deepavali, every year.
The problem with these small gestures of solidarity is that
eventually the forces of the state will clamp down and people will be
too scared to act beyond what is sanctioned by the state.
This is
why urban centres which reflect the slowly decreasing diversity of the
Malaysian experience are terrifying to the theocratic forces of this
country.
And that is the thing about the non-Malay experience in
Malaysia. Throughout all the various provocations, race and religion
baiting, we still manage to thrive and celebrate our festivities which
really means we are celebrating life.
The reason why the
political class weaponises the religion of the state is because it wants
to keep people apart. The reason why they want to keep people apart is
because when people discover they have more in common than what has been
propagandised to them, they realise who the real enemies of unity are.
I tried to ignore the whole Christmas cake brouhaha
and all the other nonsense this season seems to inspire in the
feeble-minded but cunning forces that seek to divide citizens of this
country.
And of course, people forget that this seeps into every
institution of this country. Can you imagine the outcry it would cause
if our public services put up decorations and celebrated the Christmas
season?
This
is what we as a country have been reduced to. Do not for one moment
think that we were always headed for a theocracy. The political class
rejected everything that made Malaysia truly Asia.
The problem
with this Madani government is that it cannot have it both ways. It
cannot claim to want to be an inclusive society while pandering to ketuanan (Malay supremacy) first principles.
The
fact that the religious bureaucracy, various independent preachers and
an assortment of rabble-rousers attempt to determine how the majority
community interacts with minorities, is the fault line that any rational
inclusive government would seek to overcome. It may be too late now.
How does it go again? Peace on earth and goodwill to all men.
We may not have any influence on the former but as a community, we should at least try to accomplish the latter.
