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."
They can take their ONE Malaysia and shove it right up where the Sun does not shine! Bah , a bunch of hypocritical arseholes - edit
Retribution is quick if you're sex bloggers RK Anand
COMMENTIn a flash, the authorities cracked their whips when a non-Muslim
couple, infamous for their exhibitionist sexual trysts, posted a
photograph of themselves dining on pork (bak kut teh) soup. Next
to the photograph was a caption that linked the consumption of the
forbidden meat to Muslims breaking their fast in the holy month of
Ramadan. The move courted an uproar and numerous quarters
clamoured for the heads of Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee to roll for being so
blatantly and brazenly insensitive to Muslims.
The couple later apologised but this fell on deaf ears. One
minister warned that insulting Islam on the social media is becoming
rampant and this must be curbed while another declared that repentance
will not absolve the offenders of their callous deed. The authorities are now considering charging the lovebirds under the Sedition Act. The
indignation is understandable. The posting was downright ridiculous and
offensive. There is no excuse to belittle a faith and the couple should
have been aware of the repercussions when trampling on what is
sacrosanct to others.
However,
there appears to be two diametrically opposed approaches to such
matters in Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's 1Malaysia.
The same authorities, politicians and religious leaders did not even squeak when Perkasa vice-president Zulkifli Noordin (right) degraded the Hindu religion or when university lecturer Ridhuan Tee Abdullah derided the Thaipusam festival.
This
begs the question whether Muslims have the right to be offended while
others should just accept the blatant disparagement of their respective
faiths as a fact of life in Malaysia.
Zulkifli, in a video
recording of his sermon posted on YouTube, had ridiculed the Hindu
belief that the Ganges River in India is sacred. He also mocked Hindu deities for failing to prevent a flood from ravaging a shop that sold statues of these deities. Ridhuan,
on the other hand, saw red over the attempts by certain organisations
to lift the temporary ban imposed on a Tamil film, which critics claimed
equated Islam with terrorism. In his argument that appeared in a
Malay-language daily, the associate professor, who ironically teaches
ethnic relations, penned derogatory remarks about the Thaipusam festival
in Batu Caves.
He also complained about the proliferation of Hindu temples and shrines since the 2008 general election. In
both cases, there were calls to take stern action against Zulkifli and
Ridhuan, including charging them under the Sedition Act. However, these
voices went unheeded.
For Hindus, an apology is sufficient?
And what about Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali's incendiary remark to torch Malay bibles which contain the word ‘Allah'? Mahathir, who is the patron of Perkasa, later defended Ibrahim, stating that it is common to burn banned publications. Once
again, there were the familiar calls for Ibrahim to be dragged to
court, including from outraged Christian leaders and clergymen, but the
firebrand continues to roam free to commit verbal ethnocide. And
as if to rub salt into the wound, Najib, who fathered the 1Malaysia
slogan, named Zulkfli as the BN candidate for the Shah Alam parliament
seat in the last general election.
To make matters worse,
Zulkifli is the vice-president of Perkasa, the right-wing movement with
an unenviable track record of stoking racial and religious flames. Defending his candidature, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had described Zulkifli as a man with calibre.
Muhyiddin (left in photo) also reminded the people that Zulkifli had since admitted his mistake and apologised for insulting the Hindu faith.
So in the case of slighted Hindus, an apology is sufficient.
There
is no justification for Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee's action as freedom of
expression cannot be used as a shield to rattle religious and racial
ties.
But the same rule must also be extended to those Muslims
who insult the faiths and beliefs of others. In short, 1Malaysia needs
one approach on issues concerning religious rows. There should be no
double standard. Failing which, it would prove that 1Malaysia is
the most hollow, superfluous, deceptive, insidious and deceitful slogan
ever coined to hoodwink a nation. RK ANAND is a member of the Malaysiakini team.