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."
I refer to Azril Mohd Aminās letter On the Islamic State
last week. While it is pretty obvious and readers have been quick to
point out that the guy betrays his BN-friendly sentiments, and offers no
substantive arguments over what is basically opinionated factoids, I
would like to point out just several issues points he raised that should
be rebutted.
Firstly on the subject of Indonesiaās secularism,
Azril writes as if the Indonesians, all the hundreds of millions of
them, are of the same mind on the matter. Well, I happen to know a fair
number of Indonesians who would disagree with Azrilās take on the
republicās secularism. They have often expressed to me their disdain for
the Islamists who try to force their values on them, and value the
freedom of religion that they, Muslims themselves, presently enjoy.
One
friend from Indonesia once told me the fundamentalists were āa jokeā
while others have in their own way expressed their general antipathy for
Islamists in their midst who are trying to press home their religious
agenda. Another found Malaysiaās official Islamic zeal amusing. These
are Indonesian Muslims I am talking about.
And I would think
their opinions, as citizens of the nation, should be every bit as valid
as that of other Indonesians who might think like Azril. And I am sure
unlike Azril, my friends do not find that Muslims having to take care
that they do not āoffendā fellow non-Muslim Indonesians isnāt such an
outlandish concept.
For a majority group to look after the
interests of someone other than themselves may be an alien concept to
this lawyer, but consider this - in Singapore, when there is an event,
it has become common practice for organisers to cater halal food just in
case any of the guests might be Muslim.
Secondly the writerās
condescending attitude towards the basic human rights of gays (Azril:
ā...demands for legal and public recognitionā) as merely a āsecular
aspects of western liberalisationā is another empty sweeping statement
often repeated without any basis whatsoever, the usual style of such
commentors.
Without going into argument over the matter as it has
been argued to death here, Iād just like to point out the demand of a
Malaysian citizen for basic rights is neither a āwesternā concept nor a
āliberalā one, just a humane and an equitable one.
Humane because
LGBTs (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender) are humans just like the
writer, and equitable because they are citizens and taxpayers just like
the writer, and stand undifferentiated from the writer in the eyes of
our constitution.
Finally, other than mouthing what sounds like
BN-like propaganda about the fantasy Islamic utopia that Malaysia
presently is (Azril: āA large part of Malaysia's recent successes in the
modern world are due to government support of Islamic style and
practice...ā), let me burst the bubble of bliss with just a few examples
to the contrary starting from the most recent.
Just close your
eyes and point to any report: the recent slapping of the Orang Asli kids
in Kelantan and similarly abusive teachers cases last year, the banning
of Irshad Manjiās book and the judicial shenanigans that are playing
out over the matter, the fake āChristian conspiraciesā from the likes of
Hasan Ali and Utusan Malaysia, the countless bodysnatching
cases through the decades from that poor Indian man in Negri Sembilan to
the famous mountain climberās case.Or S Banggarmaās case where
a grown-up canāt even decide her own religion, the numerous child
custody cases, the caning of the beer drinking girl, Lina Joyās case ...
And
what of the thorny Al Kitab and the use of the term āAllahā for
Christians issue? Surely the government is displaying utmost bad faith
in appealing the ruling that the judiciary has already made, one that in
my mind and in that of many Malaysians, is a just ruling fit for
multireligious Malaysia.
And of course the burning of churches, cowsā heads at Hindu temples, and the list goes on.
And
while our friend is touting Malaysia as the model Islamic nation, I
would ask what kind of model are we when we are tottering on the brink
of economic and social collapse, with a country rife in corruption and
crime and economically crippled?
Azril must be either blind, or
just a sycophant and self-deluder. Well, live in your fantasy world,
suck up to the powers that be, while the future of your children and
their children lie at the brink of oblivion because of apologists such
as yourself. Malaysiakini
