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."
Rude immigration officer, the cowardly tyrant - Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Monday, October 22, 2018
Malaysiakini : “Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate
talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools
whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of
their loyalty.” – Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
COMMENT | People often ask me if I think all these high-profile
corruption cases of Umno potentates are politically motivated. Truth be
told, these cases do not concern me. The political elite cannibalising
each other for taking from the trough is part of the zero sum game of
politics.
No, what bothers me – besides the nurture of religious extremism –
are cases like the immigration officer who was rude to the pregnant
woman and her husband, and which has got Penang Deputy Chief Minister II
P Ramasamy all worked up – and rightly, too. Claiming that I have mostly positive experiences with the bureaucracy
is irrelevant. What is important is that every day, people from
disenfranchised backgrounds, who do not have privileges that come with
being “middle class” (regardless of ethnicity) are at the mercy of petty
tyrants who exercise power merely because they can.
