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."
2021 - Harapan’s reckoning - Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Thursday, January 07, 2021
Malaysiakini: “Totalitarian solutions may well survive the fall of totalitarian
regimes in the form of strong temptations which will come up whenever it
seems impossible to alleviate political, social, or economic misery in a
manner worthy of man.” - Hannah Arendt
The Origins of Totalitarianism
COMMENT | Mukhriz Mahathir said that corruption is the "number one enemy"
of the Malays, which is somewhat queer for many reasons, the most
important of which is that he is wrong. Forget about who is saying this
for a minute but the number one enemy of the Malays is religious
extremism.
Recall
that great photo of the old maverick standing shoulder to shoulder with
Zakir Naik. If a picture says a thousand words, that photo probably
said millions.
Zakir said it is better for Muslims to vote for
corrupt Muslim leaders instead of honest non-Muslim leaders. Now if a
preacher who said this – and he has said worse – is embraced by the
political establishment, what message does it send to the fractured
Malay polity, especially when it comes to state-sponsored religious
dogma?
Malaysians have voted in successive corrupt regimes for
decades and the opposition by first breaking the two-thirds majority and
winning certain states demonstrated that it had an alternative
narrative which resonated especially amongst the urban and semi-urban
polities.
Since then, political attitudes for whatever reasons
have changed. So this idea of working with kleptocrats is just so
noughties.
The fact that Pejuang borne from the treachery of
Bersatu can declare the demise of Pakatan Harapan is demonstrative of
how ineffectual Harapan is.
