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."
Tengku Razaleigh : Mahathir Squandered From Petronas RM 529 Billion Since 1970s – Bailed Out Mirzan & Mokhzani
Monday, March 20, 2023
The Coverage : The founding chairman of Petronas and its first CEO, Tengku Razaleigh
Hamzah said that the federal government in Putrajaya under Mahathir has
been treating the oil and gas corporation as a cash cow, especially in
bailing out government-linked companies in financial trouble.
Petronas provided the money to build some of former Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamed’s most grandiose projects, including the KL Twin
Towers, the Putra Jaya administrative capital and to bring Formula One
racing in Malaysia.
Petronas was used to get Malaysia out of an RM31.5 billion forex
scandal perpetrated by Mahathir in the early 1990s in which the
financier George Soros outfoxed Bank Negara, making billions and earning
Mahathir’s eternal antagonism. It paid off US$800 million in losses
from Mahathir’s ill-fated Perwaja Steel project.
In 1998, it bailed out
Mahathir’s eldest son Mirzan, purchasing his Konsortium Perkapalan for
RM226 million and assuming debts of more than RM324 million. It also
awarded in 2012 a RM700 contract to a firm in which Mahathir’s other son
Mokhzani was a vice president.
Tengku Razaleigh, or Ku Li, said that since its inception in 1974,
Petronas has paid out RM529 billion to the government in the form of
dividends, taxes, petroleum revenue and export duties.
He also said the government’s reliance on Petronas to rescue
financially floundering government-linked companies (GLCs) had been
going on since 1985. Ku Li was the Minister of Finance from 1974 to 1984. In 1985, Petronas bailed out Bank Bumiputra with a Rm2.5 billion
infusion. In 1991, Petronas shored up the banks’ finances again when it
pumped in an additional RM1 billion.
In 1997, he said Petronas had to rescue the troubled Konsortium Perkapalan Berhad for RM2 billion. He added that Petronas was made to underwrite the construction of the
KLCC Twin Towers for RM6 billion and the construction of Putrajaya for a
further RM22 billion.
“This amount could have been used more productively to fund a
national pension programme for Malaysians, as has been done by a certain
Scandinavian country,” he said in his speech at the launch of the book
“Rich Malaysia, Poor Malaysians” at the Sultan Sulaiman Club in Kuala
Lumpur last night.
