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."
We continue to be
bombarded with all kinds of information except the truth, and in its
absence, reliance on social media rubbish has become a Malaysian trait.
There are cures - tested and proven - but the powers-that-be are not interested in dispensing them - depending on the status.
Instead,
the carriers are advised or counselled, and in more severe cases, there
have been warnings and admonishment, hoping at least one will work.
These non-invasive remedies have exacerbated the problem, and other strains have emerged and are spreading uncontrollably.
Most
of the carriers are politicians, and for some reason or another, they
are not treated and are not allowed to continue spreading the disease.
Thatās because they are afforded preferential treatment.
āFavourititisā,
equally contagious, is spread when two or more people suffer from the
same disease and are all treated differently.
One is put in
isolation immediately, while the other is counselled and sent home to
continue the spread, and the third with tender-loving parting words:
āPlease do not spread the disease.ā
Hence, without dispensing the cure, the virus tends to reproduce faster and further, infecting people throughout the country.
Under
these circumstances, it becomes an uphill task to contain the virus.
The manner in which the āmovement control orderā (used five years ago
during the Covid-19 outbreak) was enforced must be replicated.
A police roadblock during the MCO in 2021
The
disease can be spread nationwide by individuals sitting in the comfort
of their home or office, using their fingers on the keyboard, or
speaking on the screen before them.
Only one part of the body is affected - the mind. Containing the spread is not tricky, but there is a problem.
Law
enforcers, for reasons better known to themselves, are refusing to
prescribe the bitter bill that will isolate infected persons, preferably
in a small cell.
Politicians the biggest offenders
Disease
carriers must be rounded up and isolated, and access to gadgets should
be denied. But will there be political will to do this?
Especially
so when an annual study on racism by civil society group Pusat Komas
recorded 28 cases involving federal lawmakers in Parliament, the highest portion out of a total of 73 cases recorded last year.
The incidents were monitored based on live parliamentary proceedings and the official Hansard.
āBased
on the incidents, it was found that the MPs have used racial and
religious sentiment in their speeches, placing subtle and/or overt hints
of racial superiority, stereotyping, prejudice, and misinformation of
existing laws,ā according to the Pusat Komas Malaysia Racism Report
2024.
After
the socks and ham issues, for which hundreds of man-hours were wasted,
we are still embroiled in another problem these days - the relocation of
a Hindu temple in Kuala Lumpur.
Anwar did no one any favours by
claiming that the temple was occupying the land illegally. This earned a
rebuke from certain quarters who put the present imbroglio on the Kuala
Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).
Anwarās diatribe included a scathing attack on lawyers representing the temple.
āThe problem is when (there are) those who take advantage of religious sentiments, including those who are Hindu.
āFor
example, there are lawyers who were never involved in Hindu religious
affairs who also became champions and made rash comments, such as
(suggesting that the temple would be) demolished.ā
Then, taking
Anwarās words to be the truth, Umno Youth leader Dr Akmal Salleh joined
the charade by making an idiotic statement and shooting his mouth.
Malaysians want the truth
This
issue, even if resolved amicably, is a prime example of our
administrators - the DBKL is remaining silent or trying to point fingers
to avoid taking the blame.
Many differing explanations have been provided to dispel the notion that the temple is occupying the land illegally.
Why
canāt an official statement outline the events that led to the sale of
the land? Or is it under the impression that it can avoid opening a
Pandoraās Box of land deals and other disreputable transactions by
remaining opaque?
While Anwar advocates and continues to talk
about transparency and accountability, DBKL has retreated into a cocoon,
like a guilty party.
Malaysians want to know the truth from the
horseās mouth, not rely on half-baked news and half-truths on social
media and from blinkered politicians who have been not generous with the
truth.
