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."
Covert Islamisation Part 2: What the bishops found out by Bob Teoh
Sunday, February 24, 2013
In
Part 1, the Catholic Church in Sabah has exposed a covert ploy to
convert under-aged students to Islam in Labuan and complained that
non-Muslim students at the Labuan Matriculation College between 17 and
18 years old, āare constantly subjected to various forms of harassment,
ridicule and pressure to change their religion.ā What the bishops found out shocked them. Some teachers there were
proselytising Christian students resulting in some converting to Islam.
The called for full probe after which a strongly worded letter jointly
signed by the four Catholic bishops of Sabah together with a report
prepared by the Sabah Catholic Diocesan Centre was despatched to the
highest levels with copies to Education Minister Muyhiddin Yasin, who is
also the Deputy Prime Minister as well as two Sabahan Christian
ministers, Bernard Dompok and Dr Maximus Ongkili, as well as to Murphy
Pakiam, President of the Bishopsā Conference of Malaysia.
More poignantly, the newly established Vatican Embassy in Malaysia
known Apostolic Nunciature was also notified through its Chargeā
dāAffairs Monsignor Marek Zalewski. In their joint letter dated 5 October 2012, the four Bishops claimed
that some lecturers at the Federal funded Labuan Matriculation College
āare abusing their position as teachers/mentors by imposing their
beliefs on (non-Muslim) students during classes and through the
activities of the college. Some lecturers have made offensive remarks
about Christianity with intent to hurt the religious feelings of the
students.āāIn the light of the above, we trust that the college will uphold our
constitutional rights as Malaysians and ensure that any infringement of
the studentsā rights is stopped immediately,ā they added.
According those close to the case, the college has transferred a
teacher identified by the students as one of those involved in the
covert ploy has been transferred back to Peninsular Malaysia to placate
the Catholic Church of Sabah. The matter came to light when on 16 July last year, the Catholic
Church received information through Catholic students at the
matriculation college that some of the Muslim lecturers there attempted
to influence their faith and as a result several students have embraced
Islam.
A full probe was conducted by the church and written evidence was
gathered from the students. The college has 2,771 residential students
from Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan of which half or some 1,232 are
Christians, the rest being Muslims. There are also 77 Buddhist students
there. The probe report said some Muslim lecturers disparaged Christianity,
make comparison of Christianity with Islam, ridiculed (memalukan)
Christian students, infused Islamic teachings during lessons even those
which had nothing to do with the subject matter, and holding classes,
activities and forums in suraus.When two Catholic teachers tried to intervene in the case of an Iban
Catholic girl who had converted, she was advised by an ustaz to make a
police report against them for harassment. She made two police reports
and another was also made by another Muslim lecturer.
According to the probe report, the modus operandi of the covert ploy
to convert Catholic students is to spot students who are weak in their
faith and those from poor families. They also look out for students who
do not attend church regularly as well as those from broken families. The two case cites in the report fit this profile. One is an Iban
girl from a longhouse in Kanowit, an old Chinese trading post on the
Rejang River, Borneoās second longest river. Her father is unemployed
while her mother is a farmer. She has five other siblings. She converted
to Islam when she reached 18 years of age and changed her name to a
Muslim one.
I managed to speak to her mother through mobile phone. She said her
daughter didnāt ask them for permission to convert. She just told them
when she came back wearing a tudung or the Muslim head covering. She
said her daughter seldom went to church. Asked why she didnāt intervene
she replied, āApa boleh buat.ā (What can we do). The other girl is a Melanau from Miri who converted she was just two
months short of the legal age of 18. She asked both her parents to
accompany her to the religious department to give their consent. Both
didnāt agree but went nevertheless to the department. I asked the father
why he did that. āTak tahu lah.ā(Donāt know). He gave the same reply
to my other questions or ādia sukaā (she likes).
According to current issue of Catholic Sabah, the fortnightly
newsletter of the Sabah Catholic Church, following the expose by the
four bishops and publication of their letter, the education authorities
responded by sending a senior delegation last month led by Dr Sariah
Abdul Jalil from the Ministry of Education which included Sawan@ Rizal
bin Amil, the director of the college and its deputy, Kamarudin Mansur,
and five other key personnel from the college for a discussion with the
Sabah Catholic Church to āthrash out certain issues.ā Subsequent to the meeting, the bishops were invited to submit a
letter to Dr Sariah, outlining their complaint which she would include
in her report to āhigher authoritiesā, the newsletter added. MYsinchew
