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."
COMMENT - Sombre, sober reflections on Johor election By P Gunasegaram
Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Malaysiakini : The question is why Umno/BN was so strong and Harapan so weak, and
whether it will translate in some way into parliamentary polls.
Bersamaās poor performance was disappointing if expected, showing a
lukewarm response to multiracialism right now.
The negative
factors for Harapan going forward are its declining support from both
Malays and non-Malays, Umnoās increasingly strong ties with PAS, and the
ability of Bersama to split votes and even get MPs elected from urban
areas in the next polls.
DAP the biggest loser
But before that, a quick recap of the main results to show how the major parties fared:
Umno/BN
surged strongly from 40 seats in 2022 to 48, up a fifth. Of the eight
new seats, MCA secured four, doubling its tally to eight, while MIC
increased its tally by three to four. That implies Umno gained three
seats only.
Harapan suffered,
reducing its number from 12 to eight. The main casualty was DAP, whose
number of seats was reduced from 10 to six. PKR and Amanah maintained
their tally of one each.
It is not as if Umno made major
progress in terms of Malay support, although the increase is still
significant. But the more significant and damaging sign is that Chinese
and Indian support for Harapan has reduced considerably.
DAPās
loss of support has been particularly marked and prominent - from 10 to
six seats, an erosion of two-fifths. If this is replicated, even on a
much smaller scale across the country in parliamentary polls, the effect
on the number of seats for Harapan will be devastating.
DAP is
the largest partner in terms of seats in Harapan with 40 seats. A
two-fifths erosion will take the number of seats down by 16, to 24. A
reduction by a fifth can take it down by eight to 32.
If this is
coupled with a substantial erosion of Malay support for PKR and the
effects of Bersamaās presence as an alternative, PKRās 31 seats now may
be reduced considerably. It likely spells a fatal blow to Harapanās
lofty ambitions to lead a coalition after the GE16.
Full term and retire
With
that, chances for Anwar Ibrahim to be prime minister for a second term
too. If Anwar reads the tea leaves right, he will want to go full term
and retire. This may get pushback from Umno/BN now on a roll. It will be
interesting to see how this plays out.
Anwar Ibrahim
Other
reasons why Umno/BN is strong in Johor include Johor rights, with both
the menteri besar and the Johor royalty asking for a greater share of
revenue produced in the state, ala Sarawak.
A recent ranking of
gross domestic product (a measure of output of goods and services) by
state places Johor at number three, below Selangor at number one and
Kuala Lumpur at number two, just pipping Sarawak at number four.
This
āJohor for Johoreansā clarion call seems to have struck a chord with
voters, as it has for Sarawakians and Sarawak, many of whom are happy
with the apparent support that the Johor royalty gives to the current
state government and its chief minister.
More than any other state
in Malaysia, Johor has benefited much from Singaporeās proximity. The
stateās closeness, not just proximity but in terms of economic and other
ties with Singapore, helps drive incomes higher, making Johoreans
happier.
These are some factors that will not be replicated
elsewhere in Malaysia and will be unique to Johor. But do they form the
main reasons why Umno/BN is so powerful in Johor? Difficult to say.
DAP, PKR under threat
In
addition to this, the erosion of support for both PKR, among the
Malays, and for DAP, among the non-Malays, is a serious threat which
will undermine Harapanās strength in other states even if Harapan
stalwarts say otherwise. The question is by how much.
The other
key factor which will affect outcomes is the Umno/PAS alliance. Despite
Umnoās strength in Johor, PAS is likely much stronger than Umno almost
anywhere else other than Pahang or Sabah.
They will ally for
mutual benefit and make way for each other where the other is stronger.
This would mean PAS would be the stronger of the two with 45
parliamentary seats now, against Umnoās 26 and BNās 30.
BN leaders
And
then there is the possibility of taking another 25 at least with Hamzah
Zainudinās new Parti Wawasan Negara. Wawasan Negara already has 19
seats after its MPs broke away from Bersatu, which has the remaining
six. Bersatu seems only to have a ghost of a chance of retaining them.
With
PKR on the decline, some of their seats won with Malay support may be
fodder for PAS or even Umno. Thus, it is likely that a PAS/Umno
combination may have the most seats post GE16, as I explained in this article.
The Najib factor
That combination towards power seems more likely post the Johor polls. But if Umno thinks this is a licence to give Najib a āget out of jail cardā, they are mistaken - I am not saying it, the numbers say so.
Umnoās
support declined from 88 parliamentary seats in 2013 to 56 in 2018 when
they lost power following the 1MDB scandal to 26 in 2022 when they kept
harping on a pardon/house arrest for Najib.
How
could a move to pardon or put under house arrest a person responsible
for billions stolen from borrowed money in 1MDBās coffers get public
support anywhere? What is it that Umno wants to achieve? I am at a loss
for answers.
Like Harapan, Umno also needs to pay attention to
public sentiment over certain things. By now, it must be quite clear why
an increasing number of people, barring non-Malays, are leaning towards
PAS as their saviour. I donāt support it, but thatās the way the curry
puff crumbles.
Bersama may make some headway in terms of a handful
or two of MPs at the general election, but it is very difficult to
predict their performance except to say they will take votes away from
PKR and DAP, especially in urban areas.
It will take them at least
until the next polls before they can become a threatening third force
with their laudable and very reasonable Malaysian approach - the only
one likely to give long-term benefit to all Malaysians.
