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."
Madani's nightmare about to begin By Mariam Mokhtar
Saturday, July 05, 2025
Malaysiakini : What this saga has done is to paint a more negative picture of him
and his administration. Sadly, the reputation of the judiciary will also
be dragged down.
Anwar’s inaction has also highlighted a lack of
leadership, signalled to the rakyat an institutional breakdown and
reflected poor management practices.
This will only lead to a
further loss of trust and erosion of confidence in the coalition
government and a decline in our faith in the judiciary.
Only an irresponsible leader will think that the power vacuum in the judiciary is not dangerous.
Fearless, balanced, fair
More’s
the pity, especially as Tengku Maimun has, through her own stellar
leadership in the past six years, managed to restore our trust and
confidence in the judiciary. She was fearless, balanced and fair in her
judgments.
Tengku Maimun, who was appointed Malaysia’s first
female CJ in 2018, has been described by Universiti Malaya’s Prof
Emeritus Shad Saleem Faruqi as “transformative” with her independence
and landmark judgments.
PM Anwar Ibrahim arriving in Rome, Italy for an official visit
Anwar may have thought that he had avoided the rakyat’s opprobrium because he had to attend to matters of state, on his official visit to Italy, France, and Brazil.
But
as his visit coincided with Tengku Maimun’s official day of retirement,
his absence was all the more jarring and only fuelled further
speculation.
We may recall that the convicted felon, Najib Abdul Razak, would also plan overseas trips to avoid various crises at home.
Nevertheless,
Anwar’s failure to extend Tengku Maimun’s contract by six months, which
incidentally is stipulated under Article 125(1) of the Constitution,
was highly irresponsible.
On the defensive
Stung by the criticisms, Anwar went into defensive mode and accused his critics of politicising the appointment of judges. He even had the brass neck to claim that the prime minister plays no part in judicial appointments.
He
said, “... regarding civil servants, or judges, when any official
reaches their retirement age, there is a procedure in place. One does
not get their tenure extended automatically upon retirement.”
MACC chief commission Azam Baki
He failed to explain how the MACC chief’s tenure was extended thrice.
It is disingenuous of Anwar to claim that the PM has nothing to do with judicial appointments. Of the nine members of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), five members are the PM’s appointees.
Of
the five, one is a Federal Court judge, whilst the remaining four
non-judges are selected after prior consultation with the Malaysian Bar,
the Sabah Law Association, the Advocates Association of Sarawak, the
attorney-general of the Federation, and the attorney-general of a state
legal service.
None are from the executive or public service.
It
is clear that the PM’s five appointees have the majority and decisive
vote, and can exert considerable influence in recommending who becomes a
judge.
Just imagine these appointments as a version of Najib’s
“You help me, I help you” axiom. It is something we know that happens in
everyday life. A boss and an employee. A benefactor and beneficiary.
The politician and his constituency. A lecturer and his pupil.
Think power, position, perks and promotion. Why bite the hand that feeds you?
Why not extend Tengku Maimun’s tenure?
Acting Chief Justice Hasnah Hashim
Two days after the former CJ’s retirement, the chief registrar of the Federal Court announced that the Chief Judge of Malaya, Hasnah Hashim, would temporarily serve as the chief justice until the vacancy was filled.
Why
overload her work with both the powers of the CJ and her own? This
preposterous decision appears as if it were a knee-jerk reaction to our
criticisms.
It would have made perfect sense to allow Tengku
Maimun to continue for another six months without disrupting both
women’s roles and the smooth functioning of the courts.
In the judicial/constitutional crisis of 1988, the judiciary was emasculated by the erstwhile prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
After
an internal Umno dispute about election rigging in 1987, High Court
judge Harun Hashim declared Umno “an unlawful society”.
A livid
Mahathir sought revenge, with the forced suspension and removal of the
Lord President of the Supreme Court, Salleh Abas, and two other senior
judges.
In the second scandal, 19 years later, the VK Lingam video clips showed how Malaysian justice was sold to the highest bidder.
The
nation was in turmoil, and a royal commission of Inquiry was set up. In
2009, the Malaysian Bar proposed the formation of the JAC to vet
judicial candidates.
These judicial scandals sent shock waves throughout Malaysia and the world.
Last March, Tengku Maimun spoke at the 24th Commonwealth Law Conference in Malta and urged the removal of the role of the PM in the appointment of judges.
Removing the PM’s role had also been echoed three years earlier by Negeri Sembilan Yang di-Pertuan Besar Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir.
Malaysians
desperately yearn for judicial independence and constitutional
supremacy, but as recent events have shown, are we at risk of another
judicial crisis?
