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 : COMMENT | On Wednesday night (Nov 16), two events showed me the winds of change.
The
first was a town hall meeting by the Friends of Bukit Dinding, a group
trying to save a beloved hill from dangerous development. All the
candidates standing in the Setiawangsa parliamentary seat of Kuala Lumpur were invited to come and state their stand on the project.
As
I approached the venue, I could see a majestic hill looming above me.
No wonder they call the place “Wonder Wall”, a more imaginative
translation of the word “dinding”.
Yet,
in the usual Boleh-land way, some dubious project had been approved
just months before, perhaps in an unholy haste before the elections.
Five of the six candidates came. They spoke up and signed a
pledge to do their best to protect the hill. They were from Pakatan
Harapan, Bersatu, Pejuang, plus two independents.
The
only candidate missing was from BN. Perhaps the “Datuk Seri” involved
knew it would be too hard to answer questions about why Kuala Lumpur
City Hall (DBKL), controlled by an Umno minister, had approved the
project.
Highland Towers repeat?
There
were steep slopes here where several landslides had already occurred.
And how could the area’s narrow roads handle the traffic from the
project, which included two 26-storey condos?
ASarawakian : 509 2018 I was at 30,000 feet, flying MAS night flight from KL to Melbourne, after casting my vote that morning. Was asking the flight a steward about the GE14 results at around midnight, since I know the captain must have contact/news from the ground.
He told me Pakatan has won but cannot confirm. At about 2am,the captain of the plane announced that Pakatan had won the GE14 and many passengers clapped! We are really at "cloud nine" then. Let's hope we can celebrate again this Saturday night - this time on solid ground!
