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."
My top five news stories of 2024 By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Monday, December 30, 2024
Malaysiakini : "These wild accusations not only show insensitivity toward harmony in
a multicultural and multifaith society but also ignore the fact that
PAS' views are based on the National Fatwa Council's guidelines."
– PAS Youth information chief Khairul Nadzir Helmi Azhar
COMMENT
| With that little snippet, PAS youth information chief Khairul Nadzir
Helmi Azhar has defined the problem with religious intolerance in this
country and the trouble rational Malaysians are heading into the new
year.
What we will be dealing with in 2025 is economic uncertainty
brought upon by geopolitical upheavals and the reality that because of
these economic uncertainties, the state will attempt to use race and
religion to sustain power instead of utilitarian policies that would
encourage some form of national cohesiveness.
Crude
majoritarianism will be used to justify undemocratic policies, and the
minorities will be scapegoated and cowed into enabling policies which
are detrimental to economic prosperity and regional security.
My
top five news stories reflect the growing tensions between the thinning
line separating Madani's political-religious intolerance and the “Green
Wave”.
Some folks will wonder why there is nary a mention of
the big corruption scandals that defined the year but for this writer,
religious intolerance and intransigence are the existential threat
facing this country.
darmakochi : Commander, thank you for this very relevant article forewarning the negative changes that are taking place in our multiracial nation. To make it worse we have a clueless PM who does not seem to have a proper vision to steer our multiracial nation. He is more focussed on the events taking place in a faraway Middle East.
A country can recover from a kleptocracy but it cannot from a theocracy.
