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."
The tragedy of the non-Malay dilemma - Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Thursday, September 09, 2021
Malaysiakini : “Any real change implies the breakup of the world as one has always
known it, the loss of all that gave one an identity, the end of safety.” - James Baldwin
COMMENT | In a recent interview with Malaysiakini, Chandran
Nair said that in order to dismantle institutional racism, the
non-Malays “... do not need to believe that the only way to dismantle it
is through the political system as that is a sham and the events of the
last two years have shown us that racism is what runs through the
corridors of our entire political system.”
What Chandran advocates
are good old fashioned liberal civil action and disobedience as a kind
of grassroots alternative to mainstream politics in this country.
While
I think that people advocating for change on personal and localised
levels are always constructive, the reality is that institutional change
can only come about through the political process.
I think many
folks would be surprised as to how many personal and professional
testimonials about institutional racism exist in the private sector if
we really had a race reckoning discussion in this country.
