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."
Forget about failed state debate, our healthcare system is failing - Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Monday, July 12, 2021
Malaysiakini : “Our government hospitals have been starved for too many years due
to poor funding, and a starving person cannot fight infection.” – Anonymous frontline health worker
COMMENT
| The debate if Malaysia is a failed, failing or going to fail state is
a distraction. The existential threat facing Malaysia at this moment is
that our healthcare system is failing, right before our eyes but more
importantly the political will to battle this pandemic is directed at
the conflict within the establishment.
For
years, our healthcare system was riddled with the usual afflictions
associated with the ethnocentric rule, which meant that incompetent
management, corruption and a general malaise towards the rakyat were
debilitating but the country and the healthcare system managed to limp
around like a befuddled patient wandering the halls of a general
hospital.
What this pandemic has done, what healthcare
professionals and competent leaders the world over had warned, is that
this pandemic exposes the structural weakness of any given system. At
any other time, even under Umno or Pakatan Harapan rule, we would have
at least managed to put up a good if compromised fight. However, with
this backdoor government, all we have are a bunch of brigands more
interested in political survival than running this country, even if in a
flawed manner.
