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 faux outrage of The 1975 By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Saturday, July 29, 2023
Malaysiakini : “The way towards simplicity is through outrage.”
- William Golding, Darkness Visible
COMMENT
| To be clear, I know next to nothing about current popular culture. I
had never heard of the band, The 1975 nor its lead singer Matt Healy.
So, when this issue came up, I did what any rational person would do before commenting - a little research.
Muda deputy president Amira Aisya Abd Aziz said something really queer. She advised businesses affected by the cancellation of the Good Vibes festival to sue the band.
Really?
Here is a band whose frontman is a vocal LGBT advocate, drinks on stage
as part of a rock star persona (which he claims his fans are in on the
act), was banned from Dubai for a similar incident and generally engages
in various provocations on stage.
And we are to believe everyone
is shocked about this? That the numerous people who are saying that they
don’t need Healy white knighting for them are shocked by this incident?
That the festival organisers and The 1975 fans are shocked by the
antics of this band’s frontman?
Everyone was totally clueless
expecting a chaste show, for local consumption free from rebellion or
social disruption, in concert with a group whose frontman has been vocal
on what he thinks about regimes which demonise the LGBT community.
