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."
Malaysiakini : “Once a country is habituated to liars, it takes generations to get the truth back.” - Gore Vidal
COMMENT | DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang says that 2020 is the make or break year for Pakatan Harapan. Kit
Siang is correct because the vagaries of a political milieu have always
been defined by time. However, so far, Harapan’s messaging has been
absolutely abysmal. Add
to this, Harapan seems intent on shooting itself in its foot and what
we are witnessing is a coalition that seems to exist only for the power
brokers to manoeuvre themselves into positions of influence.
Harapan
officials have been making a big deal of Malaysia’s improved ranking in
Transparency International's (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI)
2019. Kit Siang wrote: “If there had been no change of
government, Malaysia will be sliding down the CPI score to the thirties
bracket, to find new company among the more corrupt nations of the world
in the lower rankings.”
Now, whether you choose to place any
faith in these rankings is beside the point. Some folks may ask, isn’t
anyone bothered about corruption? I think they are but the
reality is that Malaysia has always struggled with its corruption
issues. There are two aspects to this issue. The fist is that the
average rakyat believes that politicians are corrupt, so perhaps
Harapan political operatives are less corrupt than the regime that was
kicked out, but the point is the average's rakyat's expectation is
extremely low.
