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."
Malaysian politics - who dares win? By Commander (Rtd) S THAYAPARAN, formerly of the Royal Malaysian Navy
Thursday, December 06, 2012
"I am concerned for the security of our great nation; not so much
because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces
working from within." - Douglas MacArthur COMMENT I am no great fan of MacArthur but a noteworthy sentiment should not be ignored. In my last piece
I was sympathetic to the call for the military powers-that-be to
reaffirm their commitment to an impartial peaceful transition of federal
power. I have written of how the Armed Forces has been dragged
over the decades into the Umno political quagmire (not to mention
numerous articles on Umno malfeasances), so don't mind the Pakatan
Rakyat, specifically DAP apparatchiks, who froth and distort any
criticism leveled at their precious alternative coalition. You
would be surprised at how many retired armed forces personnel support
the aims of the alternative front and are themselves concerned with the
current state of disrepute of the security apparatus of this country. Anecdotally speaking, PAS would seem to have the most support from
retired service members (this no doubt because of the racial make-up of
the armed forces and the fact that the piety offered by PAS is an
antidote for the corruption some have witnessed in the military, or so
they tell me), whereas PKR and DAP draw a quiet but determined group. Brigadier General (rtd) Mohd Arshad Raji (left) who blogs under the perceptive headline'Mind No Evil'
is one such patriot and retired army officer who cast a cold
unsentimental eye on the politics of Malaysia and offers an insider
perspective on the military, its history and future. Understand now,
that I make no claims of the brigadier-general being an opposition
supporter and merely use his ideas as a frame to articulate my own. In 'Malay disunity - a cause of Malaysian disunity',
the general writes of the turbulence in the Malay polity as far as the
emergence of opposing views in his community. But of the military and
racial politics he writes: "And throughout my years in the Army, I
have been working alongside my non-Malay compatriots, and again our
racial and religious differences and my Malay status does not make me
any different from them. "I had even served under a non-Malay
superior officer, and my loyalty towards him as my superior is no less
than any other Malay superior officer that I had served with. I only
know that he is to be respected and obeyed, and regardless of my Malay
status, my loyalty towards my non-Malay superior is not to be
questioned." I have no idea if these days such "loyalty"
regardless of race is practiced in our armed forces these days; perhaps
loyalty is merely reduced to apple polishing? As I have written in
numerous pieces, the monopolisation of one ethnic group of the armed
forces has resulted in a skewered view of the role of non-Malays as far
as their patriotism is concerned. 'Re-engineering' of the military Indeed, in a piece entitled 'Lack of non-bumi participation in the army',
the brigadier-general reasons that religious and racial polarisation in
the political landscape which seeped into the schooling system
contributed to the racial imbalance in the military, specifically the
army. Whilst this is true, I am of the opinion that the
deliberate ‘re-engineering' of the military to favour of one ethnic
group over the other is the main reason for this imbalance. Add to this the indoctrination programmes like the Biro Tatanegara (BTN) and lecturers like Ridhuan Tee Abdullah (right),
the associate professor at the National Defence University, who
contaminate the military with ideas of racial/religious supremacy and
allegiance to political parties and not institutions, and what we have
is an imbalanced security apparatus which thinks that they are
extensions of political parties involved in a life and death struggle
for the fate of a particular ethnic group. This sad state of affairs is exactly if not the same issues that face the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), which I wroteabout in the aftermath of the Bersih 2.0 demonstrations. I had written yesterday
of the intersection of Umno power and military complicity (with regards
to financial scandals) but what I would like to convey is that I do not
believe (or hope, unlike Penang Opposition Leader Azhar Ibrahim) of a
military coup d'etat. Umno's indoctrination process has been far too
effective in neutering delusions of military rule amongst the current
crop in the military establishment. This is a good thing. However the mutually beneficial relationship between Umno and the Armed
Forces does present a set of problems that should raise concerns. I alluded to this relationship in my 'Armed Forces in Umno quagmire'piece
but the "mutually beneficial" relationship in this context is the
willful erosion of institution and political party lines practised by
the current government. High ranking officers it would seem don't have
no qualms about presenting government aid/obligation as Umno/BN
aid/obligations. As reported in Bernama in 2004, former
Air Force chief General Abdullah Ahmad said that officers and men of the
RMAF should not bite the hands that feeds them. Quote - "We can analyse
the situation ourselves. Are we that unreasonable and are we that
ungrateful to oppose the government that provides us livelihood?" he
said. This and the fact that Umno has never been shy of using or
attempting to use the armed forces for situations which are beyond the
scope of military operations. A good example of this was the Umno threat
of using the militaryin the Bersih 2.0 demonstrations.I will quote General Arshad Raji, as what he wrote (in Bersih and the role of the army) were the silent angry thoughts of many retired armed forces personnel: "I
believe orders (hopefully not from Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein)
are out for the military to be prepared for deployment; should serious
and uncontrollable rioting breaks out during the rally. "I am
firmly against the use of the military, and they ought to be steadfast
in remaining neutral. The police have enough resources, and after all it
is their primary responsibility to ‘battle' a public order situation. "The
military today is not geared nor equipped for public order. In the days
gone by, we even had a camera to be used for public order in the
‘equipment table' in all infantry units. Today, that item is out, and
along with it, the gas mask, the stretcher and the banner. Even the
Public Order Manual is today a museum piece." GE depicted as a 'war' The worst part of the Umno threat to use the military is that they used
it at a time when right-wing pressure groups were spewing the most
vitriolic of venom against a section of the Malaysian public wanting
free and fair elections. This gave the impression (which Umno seemed to
have no trouble with) that these right-wing hate-mongers, the police and
the military were all on the same page. In
an atmosphere such as this, is it any wonder that the perception of the
armed forces and the police by the admission of their top brass is at
an all-time low? But it gets more interesting. The emergence of
para security groups conflates national security issues with Umno
political concerns. As articulated by General Arshad in 'Rela - PM Najib's final line of defence?': "And
what really scares me was when PM Najib said that "when the chips are
down, Rela will be with this government to defend the country".
What‘chips' is he referring to, and what is the threat that the
government is trying to defend ... external or internal security threat
or a political threat from the opposition?" (Mind No Evil has
been dormant for some time, but the general assures me that he will be
writing again once the date for the general elections is announced). The
problem with Umno is that by defining the upcoming general elections as
a ‘war', the obvious question is who are the soldiers who will fight
and die for Umno? However because Umno has never made a distinction
between institutions and political parties, the role and credibility of
the security apparatus in this country will always be in question. Now you may argue that what Umno really means is a metaphorical war,
then why the constants references to May 13? Why the forgone conclusion
that the opposition will riot if they lose the elections? Why do we have
politicians acting like the armed forces is Umno's to control? If there is a fear of military intervention however unwarranted, it is
up to the federal government to reassure the population that the
military is subservient to its civilian master. However in this case,
this won't be very reassuring. As
I said, I don't fear a military coup d'etat but I am partial to the
theory (and in no way am I accusing any political parties of anything)
that various power groups through proxy agent provocateurs would
manufacture ‘trouble' which would necessitate police and then maybe a
military crackdown. The level of violence over the years the
opposition has had to face which has normally been met with indifference
by the state's security apparatus or even as the cow-head fiasco shows -
sanctioned by it - no doubt has many questioning, the police, the
military and other institutions of law/security. Some would
consider these two pieces alarmist or perhaps even seditious, but the
cold hard fact is that these ‘fears' are founded on decades of abuse
which has gone unchecked by the Umno powers-that-be and I would argue
that Umno has nurtured this impression. And why is asking this question an exercise in futility? The reason is simple. What
possible answer (taking into account, the long Umno watch) could the
top brass of the military or police give you, which would reassure you
of their impartiality? And this perhaps is a most damning answer. In a
functional democracy, everyone should know the answer to this question.
In fact, this question should not be even asked. Malaysiakini Part 1: In defence of our realm
You
would be surprised at how many retired armed forces personnel support
the aims of the alternative front and are themselves concerned with the
current state of disrepute of the security apparatus of this country.
Brigadier General (rtd) Mohd Arshad Raji (left) who blogs under the perceptive headline 
Add to this the indoctrination programmes like the Biro Tatanegara (BTN) and lecturers like Ridhuan Tee Abdullah (right),
the associate professor at the National Defence University, who
contaminate the military with ideas of racial/religious supremacy and
allegiance to political parties and not institutions, and what we have
is an imbalanced security apparatus which thinks that they are
extensions of political parties involved in a life and death struggle
for the fate of a particular ethnic group.
"I
believe orders (hopefully not from Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein)
are out for the military to be prepared for deployment; should serious
and uncontrollable rioting breaks out during the rally. "I am
firmly against the use of the military, and they ought to be steadfast
in remaining neutral. The police have enough resources, and after all it
is their primary responsibility to ‘battle' a public order situation.
In
an atmosphere such as this, is it any wonder that the perception of the
armed forces and the police by the admission of their top brass is at
an all-time low?
As
I said, I don't fear a military coup d'etat but I am partial to the
theory (and in no way am I accusing any political parties of anything)
that various power groups through proxy agent provocateurs would
manufacture ‘trouble' which would necessitate police and then maybe a
military crackdown.
