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."
Year in year out, we hear the same thing, the cry of our young, marginalised, top performing students of minorities.
Here is a reminder of my experience. I wish all the best to the these students who are appealing. A parent can only wish for the best outcome, it is the defining moment in one's life. Life will never be the same after this.
Your vision of your country will become all the more clearer. You decide. I have decided. Pakatan wants scholarships for all top scorers, which is only wishful thinking and will not materialise. Wanna bet?
I have a daughter, I am very proud of. That is like, all the fathers the world over. She has a grand Uncle, who holds the Pingat Gagah Beraniand a father, me, who served the country faithfully, leaving the service after 26 years. My daughter did her SPM in 2003, where she obtained 8A's, she applied to all the Public Universities and asked for everything available, which was of interest to her. She got nothing......but she saw her friends with lower grades get all that were handed on a silver platter. She was disheartened, I told her not to worry and that life was not a bed of roses. She got over it with the support of her mum, her sibling, uncles, aunts, cousins and of course me. She went into Form 6 for two years, you know the classes that equate Matriculation programs to it. Matriculation which is a one year sail through course, for you know those "special people", what I mean is not the handicapped ones which people normally equate with the word "special".
Well, in her second year of slogging through her Form 6, she saw mediocre former classmates getting into Universities pursuing medicine and other nice courses served on a platter, you know those "high merit achievers in Matriculation" who did the one year course culminating in a class assessment. Well, she slogged and sat for her exam, whilst her "meritorious friends" were already first year University students. Her results came in this year where she got, not all that wonderful results an A, a B+, a C+ and a C. The people in power in our much vaunted higher academic selection committees decided that she was not good enough for what she had as first choice, second choice or whatever the choice only the 8th choice! You see, most of the matriculation and SPM students had already filled up the choice niches in higher education. The majority of STPM students being the "not so special people" end up with the left overs. Food and Community Nutrition, that was what she was offered. An amazing and wonderful opportunity to move up in life. Guess there may be more left overs, worst than that.
Those who did very well in their STPM and picked out all 8 choice courses would probably not have got them.STPM is the toughest exam in the Malaysian Education System, period !
The stoogestry and spin this through their propaganda mouthpiece...The Star.(*Placed in 7th Rangers Articles for posterity)
The majority of them did not get their first choice. Do not believe anything that the authorities tell you, telling about extra curricular activities, go check those students who went into Unis via matriculation they do not give a shit or rat's ass, all that is a load of crock about extra curricular activities. Okay my daughter, I know this is boring you, she was active in Tae Kwan Do, she has the first dan, a black belt, participated in numerous competitions all over Malaysia, suffering numerous injuries. She was the Malaysian Remaja gold medalist when younger.She represented the state of Perak for the SUKMA games in 2003, whilst Captaining the Perak State's Women Tae Kwan Do Team.If that is not extra curricular, I wonder what is ?
Here is at least some semblance of the truth.
Well, thank you for making my daugher who is still full of promises, despair for her future. No amount of National Service would ever instill love for this country, when despair sets in the the hearts of promising young Malaysians. I guess she will be going somewhere else....and I have to sell something. Oh yes...this is what happens to all when meritrocracy is bastardised through matriculation.The latest...Yearly, the pro-BN media publishes statistics of successful applicants into the ‘crucial courses’ of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, engineering and law, broken down into bumiputeras, Chinese and Indians.
