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."
A postcard from an uprising by Commander (Rtd) S Thayaparan formerly of the Royal Malaysian Navy
Friday, February 08, 2013
"Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred." - Martin Luther King Jr. COMMENT
Before I begin, I make no claims of speaking for "the majority". This
should be read as a personal anecdote of an opposition supporter who was
there to make the numbers, but more importantly - as I have done for
all these ‘pro-opposition' rallies - to mix with my fellow travellers
and listen to their stories. As always, people were willing to talk. In the midst of all the allegations that this was an Anwar Ibrahim
tactic to divert attention from some personal scandal or other, a more
subtle narrative emerged from the people I spoke to.
Almost
all of them were there to show support for Pakatan Rakyat. However, a
good many people I spoke to willingly told me that they believed a
change was crucial but that they were also sceptical of politics and
politicians in general and they were determined to hold Pakatan to a
higher standard if the alternative alliance ever claimed Putrajaya. Many, like the university students I spoke to, were there in defiance
to authority - something rediscovered amongst young people who are
ignorant of the rabble rousing nature of former students turned
politicians who hold sway today.
Young women - their faces
covered in case they were detected by the authorities - were visibly
angry that Umnoputra (their words) children are exposed to ‘English'
education while they are stuck in a rut with degrees that have no value
beyond these shores. One young man said to me in English, "We are here
because we want the chains to be cut. We don't want to be chained to
anyone." I
can understand why the Umno regime so fears a split in the Malay vote.
Although I saw a sea of non-Malay faces wherever I went, without a doubt
this was a majority Malay uprising at least from walking about in the
various meeting points of this rally and then later in Stadium Merdeka.
This should not be of much concern to those of us in the opposition
although perhaps it is a good talking point for pro-establishment types. I argued in some of my very first pieces in Malaysiakini
that the general election will eventually come down to the Malay vote.
Umno knows this very well, which is why it is determined not only to
capture the Malay vote but also redefine the Malay demographic with
constitutionally-created Malays. Venomous propaganda
What
is relevant in terms of gatherings of these kinds and the Umno
propaganda that said gatherings are a threat to peace and stability is
that the non-Malays who were there and in large numbers had no fear or
concern for their safety with the overwhelming majority of Malays who
attended this uprising. For
my part, I would like to thank a few PAS Unit Amal personnel who at
various times helped me navigate through the crowds, access places which
would have been difficult for a senior citizen to manouevre and (all of
them) taking the time to explain the changing nature of PAS to an old
man who had no problem prodding them on points he disagreed with. As far as the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) is concerned, they have
earned the goodwill and respect of the people who attended yesterday's
rally. The PDRM were present but allowed the security personnel of the
various groups to do their job. I personally witnessed many incidents
where the police were helping people get to where they wanted to go.
They projected no malice towards those attending. Some would argue that
credit should go to Umno for this and if we can agree that the
horrendous manner in which they (the PDRM) behaved in past rallies
should be blamed on Umno, then I have no problem crediting Umno with
this turn of goodwill from the PDRM. This
lays to rest the venomous propaganda that only Umno can maintain the
peace when it comes to interracial harmony and returns the power of how
we choose to interact with the various communities (with sometimes
divergent religious and political beliefs) to the hands of the people or
at least the people who chose to participate in this so-called
uprising.
But the split in the Malay vote has a deeper meaning.
It could also point to a split in the Umno bureaucracy. Again,
anecdotally speaking, I met many currently serving and retired Malay
civil, military and police personnel who were there because they were
dissatisfied at the direction this country was heading. There
was also a religious element to some of their grievances, in the sense
that they believed that Umno had become decadent and immoral and this
had no place in the government. I will refrain from quoting rather
seditious comments regarding the royalty. Disapproval and distain
As I have written before, what Pakatan has managed to do extremely well
is harness divergent ideological, racial, social and religious forces
and concentrate them on one objective, which is regime change, as is the
democratic right of every citizen in this country. There were
echoes of past ‘people uprisings' be it Bersih, anti-Lynas, reformasi,
etc. Some would argue that "hate" for Umno was a powerful motivator, and
indeed I sensed from the crowd the disdain they felt towards the
current regime. Whenever scandals or certain political personalities
were mentioned, the crowd roared in disapproval.
I sincerely
hope that this disapproval and disdain for corruption would be reflected
back on Pakatan should they ever come into power and find themselves in
the same quagmire as Umno and BN. I sincerely hope that this disdain
for corruption and political personalities who subvert the noble aims of
a people's movement for personal gain and political expediency, is
reflected back on Pakatan personalities should they ever indulge in such
behaviour. Dr
D Jeyakumar, who was there representing PSM, made perhaps one of the
more inspiring speeches (and one relevant to the point I am making) not
to mention a speech which every Pakatan supporter should take to heart. I
reproduce the most important point here:
"Yang ketiga, dan
ini penting sekali, selepas kita tawan Putrajaya dan menubuhkan kerajaan
baru, kita, rakyat biasa harus meneruskan penglibatan kami dalam proses
politik dan pentadbiran.
"Kuasa boleh merosakkan pemimpin kita.
Ada ungkapan Inggeris - power corrupts and absolute power corrupts
absolutely. Kuasa yang tidak dihadkan oleh proses demokratik boleh
meracuni kepimpinan kita. Hanya dengan pemantauan dan teguran daripada
rakyat jelata bolehlah kerajaan baru terus telus dan bersih.
"Antara perubahan yang kita harus membawa ke budaya politik negara kita
adalah untuk meminta semua calon yang ingin jadi adun atau wakil rakyat
untuk berjanji pada pengundi bahawa dia akan memakai posisi dan kuasanya
hanya untuk kepentingan rakyat biasa dan bukan untuk menjadikan
keluarganya kaya raya.
"Kita tidak halang sesiapa yang mahu jadi kaya tetapi pergilah ke bisnes. Jangan jadi wakil rakyat supaya mahu cari duit."
(“Thirdly,
and this is the most important, is after we claim Putrajaya and set up a
new government, we, the ordinary rakyat ought to continue to involve
ourselves in the political and administrative processes. “Power
can ruin our leaders. There is an English saying - power corrupts and
absolute power corrupts absolutely. Power that is unchecked by the
democratic process can poison our leadership. Only with the monitoring
and reproach from the ordinary rakyat can the new government continue to
be transparent and clean. “Among the changes we need to bring to
the political culture in this country is to require all candidates who
want to be assemblypersons of MPs to make an oath to the voters that
they will use their positions and power only for the interests of the
ordinary rakyat, and not to make their families rich.
“We do not
stop anyone who wants to become rich, but do that through (your own)
business activities. Don’t become a people’s representative just so you
can make money.”) My last walkabout
However, what was evident was the sense of ‘hope'. Taking it to the
streets was an expression of defiance, but more importantly a goodwill
message to all Malaysians. Perhaps
this sometimes got lost in translation because of the current partisan
climate but anyone attending would have noticed that a sense of
belonging far outweighed the rancour that has been a staple in
oppositional politics.
On a personal note, this may be my last
walkabout. Although I saw many seniors, I truly believe that these kinds
of democratic expressions are best suited for the young. We had our
chance. We made our country and now the young people have to change it. As a senior citizen, I will confine my expression to the ballot box. I
know many seniors who I met are rejuvenated by these gatherings and I
wish them the best of luck and more walkabouts in the future.
As for me, as Roger Murtaugh from the movie ‘Lethal Weapon' correctly said, "I'm getting too old for this shit." Malaysiakini
