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."
Gaslighting with education quota system By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Monday, September 15, 2025
Malaysiakini : So, no matter how emissaries from Madani attempt to gaslight the
non-Malays about the merit-based foundations of university admissions,
the reality is that this is a political strategy to win elections. I am
not saying this - the prime minister is.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
And this is nothing new. In 2017, then-Klang MP Charles Santiago, responding
to then-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s Diwali gift to 745 Indian
students, wrote- “If I may ask, why weren't they given a spot in the
first place?
“Why do politicians and the prime minister have to
interfere, if the system offered places based on meritocracy and not
other considerations, such as race and religion? Vulnerable students
from all communities should be given priority and not offered places as
an afterthought.”
Lowering tensions?
In
2017, that was a strategy by Umno to appease a minority community.
Similarly, last year, when Anwar announced the lifting of barriers for
top-scoring non-Malay students to matriculation programmes was to
“…lower tensions the Education Ministry faces every year.
“Sometimes,
in such matters, the controversy heightens political temperature and
causes social and racial tensions. Hopefully, the announcement can
help,” he added.
This was also a strategy to appease minority
communities. However, the greater strategy, the one aimed at the
majority community, was not to be ditched.
And here is the thing.
When Anwar talks about the quota system, he frames it as a class issue,
as if all Malays are disenfranchised, as reported in the press.
Anwar
stressed that the decision would not compromise bumiputera privileges
as per Article 153 of the Federal Constitution. He noted concerns about
minority rights and bumiputera guarantees, especially for those in
poverty.
This is why advocates of the quota system and
matriculation system attempt to frame the discourse as one of class
instead of race, which is gaslighting on a whole new obscene level. And
this quota system for matriculation is a political tool.
In 2019, then-education minister Mazlee Malik told
Universiti Sains Malaysia students during a question-and-answer session
- "If we want to change, if we say in 'Malaysia Baru' there is no need
for a quota system and so on, then we must also make sure job
opportunities are not denied to bumiputera just because they don't know
Mandarin," he said to a round of applause.
"We should not look at
such issues in isolation – we harp on (the quota system in)
matriculation without considering that people are being denied jobs
because they don't know Mandarin, for instance.
"If we can make do without all that, if we can give equal and business opportunities, then we can talk about being fair to all."
Resentment among youths
The
quota system for public universities has created a generation of young
people who are resentful of each other because one side benefits from a
tax ringgit-funded education, while the other has to scrimp and save to
receive tertiary education in the private sector - reflecting grievances
against public education.
This is about disenfranchising a
certain section of society merely to demonstrate that the larger segment
has rights which are denied to others.
So, it is not a question
of why the government does not do more for underprivileged non-Malays
when it comes to education but rather the point of the quota system is
to demonstrate racial and religious superiority as defined by the social
contract.
There must be some sort of disparity if special rights mean something. Otherwise, it would not be special.
Perhaps,
the system was originally not designed to marginalise the non-Malays,
but it evolved into a system where the main purpose is to see to the
“uplifting” of the Malay community at the expense of the non-Malay
community.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad (left) and Lim Guan Eng
After all, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when he was prime minister, said that more tax ringgit was used for the Malay community, but he couldn’t say anything because the non-Malay community would get angry.
And
remember, Lim Guan Eng was the finance minister then. He said: "We
still have to give them, but what we gave to them was very small
(compared to what the Malays got). But we could not say it then, because
then the Chinese would be angry".
Keep in mind, policies slanted
towards the Malays were accepted by DAP and what is the quota system if
not a policy slanted towards Malays? Mind you, these policies have not
served the people they are intended for.
‘Apathy, lack of interest’
According to Free Malaysia Today,
last year’s Bumiputera Economic Congress secretariat surprisingly
pointed to the dysfunction of Malay uber alles policies of successive
governments.
Collating data from 8,600 respondents on issues faced
by the majority community when it comes to education, the secretariat
found that apathy, lack of interest in Maths and Science, and lack of
family support led to the majority community or at least a large segment
of it, being left behind.
Respondents who made it overseas were
very clear in what they thought of as traits which made them successful,
and of course, the need for a rethink when it came to education and
yes, life:
It stated: “They all agreed that for Malays to
progress, they need to get rid of such apathy and study hard… They said
Malays should not depend on assistance but should take the initiative.”
This
is not about democracy but rather majoritarianism. This is how an
ethno-state exists but what it always attempts to do is hide this
reality behind terms like social contract and gaslight people into
believing that the system is just and fair to all tax-paying citizens.
Do not fall for the okey-doke. (an African American slang in the 1930s for trick, deception, or to mislead someone)
