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."
It is clear and simple that both Suaram and Malaysiakini
have done nothing wrong in uncovering and reporting on all the critical
information surrounding the Scorpene submarine deal, potentially among
the top corruption scandal cases in the history of Malaysia. What
can be so wrong for an NGO and an independent media to expose political
trickeries and economic mismanagement of a government? On this, I must
salute Suaram secretariat members Cynthia Gabriel (left in photo) and Fadiah Nadwa Fikri (centre in photo) for their flawless and passionate pursuit of the case, and the Malaysiakini
team for their faithful coverage of the news. In doing so, they are
just like any decent Malaysians who desire a homeland that is just,
fair, transparent and caring.
Their biggest ‘transgression’ is,
however, the fact that it involves the current prime minister, backed by
a coalition that makes no excuses for its ambition to be government for
life. Ever since the farcical Sodomy I scripted and directed by
Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his cohorts back in 1998, Malaysia has become a
byword for corruption, judicial injustice and political intolerance.
This
terribly unfavourable image has remained even long after Mahathir
stepped down, because those who came after him have failed miserably to
reform the state. Instead of redressing the damage left by Mahathir,
they have only accentuated it. Worse, we even allowed a man who is so
tainted with corruption and implicated in a murder case to assume the
highest office in the country!
It is by now abundantly clear that
Najib Abdul Razak is not the reformist that many of the mainstream
media pundits made him out to be. His
ridiculous remarks that Malaysia needs no women’s rights movement and
that the country has become a more vibrant democracy on his watch are
only contradicted by the lack of women’s leadership in both the public
and private sectors, unless he means his wife Rosmah Mansor (above), the self-styled First Lady and the condos-for-happy-cows Sharizat Abdul Jalil, whose Ministry of Women he has taken over.Not on equal footing. Najib has also turned a blind eye to the demonisation of both Suaram and Malaysiakini by his mouthpieces such as Utusan Malaysia and The Star. If
foreign funding is really such a sinful thing to do in Malaysia, I
would challenge all the government bodies and government-linked NGOs to
open their accounts for the whole nation to scrutinise. Now
that Umno is caught with the RM40million funding controversy, all that
the government can do is to dispatch a minion by the name of Abdul Rahman Dahlan (left) to pen a paltry argument as a counter-attack.
What
Umno and the Barisan Nasional as a whole have conveniently forgotten is
that the people are acutely mindful of the fact that the ruling
coalition and the opposition pact do not compete on an equal footing,
and this a home truth that continues to fly in the face of Najib even if
he wants to repeat his self-aggrandising claim to make Malaysia “the
best democracy”. Throughout Malaysia’s electoral history, the BN
has done everything to ensure that the race would not be too close for
comfort. As of today, the opposition has no access to the mainstream
media, and their public rallies are often harassed and even aborted due
to thuggery.
Anyone, practically anyone, who dares to stand up
against the big bully would only end up asking for trouble, ranging from
being barred from leaving the country (as has happened to several
Bersih committee members) to merciless judicial persecution (as Suaram
is now facing). Stigmatisation and even demonisation using the
issues of race and religion is only part and parcel of the price to pay
for demanding greater democracy.
BN spending like there is no tomorrow Meanwhile,
the government would resort to the national coffer in dishing out
goodies and subsidies especially in the rural areas in exchange for
votes. Day in day out, the rakyat are told to be grateful and contented,
while the powers-that-be indulge themselves in posh cars and impressive
condos. If any of their younglings gets on the wrong side of the law, such asMohd Nazri Abdul Aziz's son (right), the government is to the rescue, while a poor imam who flung a shoe at a judge in protest of the flawed judicial process was sent to jail.
The
wasteful manner in which the ruling coalition is handling public
monies, clearly indicated in the Auditor-General’s Report recently, only
confirms that the government has been spending as there is no tomorrow
for them, which is most probably true. Given the massive discontent and the ceaseless scandals, I would not be surprised the days for the BN are numbered. Ending this irresponsible and authoritarian regime is now the only way to save the country.
BN
politicians should therefore be wise to halt their indiscriminate
attack against those who are seen to be against them because, who knows,
one day that they may find themselves in need of Suaram and Malaysiakini, too, and that day may not be too far in the future. Malaysiakini JOSH
HONG studied politics at London Metropolitan University and the School
of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. A keen watcher of
domestic and international politics, he longs for a day when Malaysians
will learn and master the art of self-mockery, and enjoy life to the
full in spite of politicians.