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."
My New Year wish - leave 'Allah' alone by Bob Teoh
Saturday, December 29, 2012
COMMENT Time flies and we are already at
the doorstep of 2013. But time has stood still for three long years
since Dec 31, 2009 at the gates of justice. It was on that New Year's
Eve that the judiciary gave a flicker of hope for fundamental liberties
when a landmark judgment ruled in favour of the Herald, the Catholic weekly. But
the attorney-general fought back and appealed against the decision. The
Court of Appeal has not set a hearing date nor is it likely to do so
with any urgency. Justice obtained in one of His Majesty's courts is
denied by another one higher up through undue judicial delays.My
New Year wish is that the attorney-general will do the sensible thing
by withdrawing the appeal and let the High Court judgment stand. In
doing so, one of the most fundamental civil liberties guaranteed by our
Federal Constitution will be restored. So too will our confidence in
constitutionalism.
Three years ago, the Kuala Lumpur High Court
ruled in favour of the titular Roman Catholic archbishop of Kuala
Lumpur, who is the publisher of Herald, that even though Islam
is the religion of the federation, this does not empower the government
to prohibit the use of the word ‘Allah' in the Malay edition of the Herald. It also found that the word ‘Allah' was not exclusive to Muslims. The Catholics won but the victory clearly belonged to all Malaysians
because the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion - the right
to profess, practise, and propagate one's faith - was bravely upheld by
the judiciary. This is not about religion but about fundamental liberty.
The Herald
case goes back a long way to the days of the now defunct Internal
Security Act 1960 and the old Printing Presses and Publications Act
1984. Under the Najib administration, the ruling coalition tried making
good its promise of opening up public space by reforming some of the
draconian laws. The ISA was repealed and replaced by the Security
Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 last April while the PPPA was also
amended earlier this year where renewal of annual publishing licences
are done away with, among other things.
The restriction on 'Allah'
But ‘Allah' remains more than just a word. In 1980, the Umno-led
Terengganu government became the first Malay state to enact laws to
control or restrict the propagation of other religions among Muslims. It
decreed a list of 25 Arabic words and 10 phrases that are deemed
exclusive only to Islam. One of these words is ‘Allah'. This was done
under the Hussein Onn administration. Other states, including
non-Malay majority states, followed suit and issued their own fatwas on
usage of Arabic words and legislated them as state enactments. But these
are essentially fatwas or Islamic edicts and are seemingly
unenforceable on non-Muslims under the Federal Constitution.
The
following year, the Alkitab or the Malay-language Bible which uses the
word ‘Allah' to refer to God was banned under the Internal Security Act
1960 on the basis that it is a threat to national security. Two thirds
of the two million Christians in the country are Malay speaking
bumiputeras who use the Alkitab as their daily Bible.This
ban came five months after Dr Mahathir Mohamad became the country's
fourth prime minister on July 16, 1981, after Hussein Onn stepped down
for health reasons. He relented upon appeals from church leaders but the
Alkitab remains under a restricted ban to this day.
His
successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, continued the Alkitab ban. In
addition, he banned the ‘Bup Kudus', the Iban Bible while in his
capacity as acting prime minister and home minister in early 2003 as it
contained the words ‘Allah Taala' (God Most High). The ban was withdrawn
two months later following protests by Iban Christians.
Under
the Najib administration, an attempt was made to resolve the Alkitab and
‘Allah' word problems under a ‘10-point solution'. But this is merely a
superficial attempt as the Alkitab remains under a restrictive ban. The
usage of the ‘Allah' word by non-Muslims is still prohibited even
though the High Court has ruled that this is untenable. This is because
the attorney-general has challenged its judgment.
This matter
affects everyone not just Christians. It strikes at the root of our
constitution that allows us to believe what we believe. The
gangrene has been festering like a thorn in the flesh for far too long;
32 years under four prime ministers. The laws under which the disputes
first arose are now defunct or amended. There is no further need for
such laws that have outlived their usefulness. The
attorney-general would do all of us justice by withdrawing his appeal
against the High Court judgment favouring the titular Roman Catholic
archbishop of Kuala Lumpur and the Herald. Leave ‘Allah' alone, please.
My
New Year wish is that the attorney-general will do the sensible thing
by withdrawing the appeal and let the High Court judgment stand. In
doing so, one of the most fundamental civil liberties guaranteed by our
Federal Constitution will be restored. So too will our confidence in
constitutionalism.
This
ban came five months after Dr Mahathir Mohamad became the country's
fourth prime minister on July 16, 1981, after Hussein Onn stepped down
for health reasons. He relented upon appeals from church leaders but the
Alkitab remains under a restricted ban to this day.
