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."
Through the looking glass: Losing one's religion by Commander (Rtd) S THAYAPARAN, formerly of the Royal Malaysian Navy
Sunday, July 22, 2012
We face problems of great magnitude, so how can they be resolved
by the application of Sharia's Law, since these problems did not exist
in the early centuries of Islam? - Dr Farag Foda (The Absent Truth)
COMMENT
By now readers are probably wondering why S Thayaparan is going on
about the ‘Islamic' issue when obviously there are bigger fish to fry.
After all, hudud will never come to pass in Malaysia, so there's nothing
to worry about. Never mind that under Umno, Malaysians have
been witness to a slow process of Arabisation that has seen the civil
service decimated in terms of its racial and religious components.
Never
mind that since race and religion are not mutually exclusive here in
Malaysia that the history taught to successive generations is nothing
more than propaganda meant to remind everyone of their place in the Umno
social order. Never mind that books are banned and that silence
is the only response by the so-called alternative front to Umno
hegemony. Never mind that Malay culture has changed so radically over
the past decades that anyone viewing Malay cultural artifacts from a
bygone age are amazed at how different the ‘Malays' were, or at least
how ‘Malays' were viewed.
The manipulation of the feudalistic
nature of Malay society combined with toxic forms of Islam from abroad
has resulted in a Malay society where a class of people based on
patronage and money live a life far removed from the shackles of Islamic
piety, but also a non-Muslim class living in the shadow of the prophet,
to steal a Milton Viost title. It's as though people don't
realise that you don't really need the official stamp of hudud for our
lives to be so constricted by the dictates of Islam.
Every
time the hudud issue comes up online under the cloak of anonymity,
Malaysians let vent on their ‘Islamic' fears. Pakatan supporters bury
their fears under the belief or faith that Malaysians have nothing to
fear when it comes to the hudud issue with the reformed PAS and PKR.
Of course when we get down to it, if we really objectively analyse this
issue, the only real difference between Umno and Pakatan is that Umno
is willing to overtly use Islam as a weapon in the political game and so
far the Islamic members of this alliance has dodged the issue without
voicing any radical departures as far as Islamic policies are concerned.
A cursory listen to the Pakatan tune will reveal that when push comes
to shove, Pakatan has no problem coddling Islamic bigotry all the while
appeasing the Christian variety when Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim
says that there should be laws that "discriminate against homosexuality"
but archaic laws that punish the innocent should be reviewed. There's a
joke in here somewhere, but I am too pissed off to deliver the
punchline. Some would argue that the "RM600 for housewife
pledge" shows that there is not much of a difference at all with regard
to any issues except maybe that Pakatan has more finesse when it comes
to political "cajoling".
I mean surely there are other ways to
address the extremely important women's issues in this country,
especially where religion has been hijacked by the patriarchy (in the
words of Karen Armstrong) rather than throwing a measly 50 bucks a month
at housewives who are not the only "women" in this country.
Official and online discourses
What got my hackles raised this time about the Islamic issue, was a comment piece in the Malay Mail by Yushaimi Yahaya titled 'Slam the brakes on religious, racial remarks'.
(Reading the mainstream media at a newsstand is a good thing because it
allows one to see how critical the discourse is in the alternative
media) I have taken my shots at Yushaimi in my 'Press Gangs of Malaysia'comment piece but since then, he and I have been communicating online and I believe his heart is in the right place. However I do think that more often than not we should not be too quick
to follow the dictates of our hearts and instead place emphasis on what
our minds tells us.
In his ‘Slam the brakes' comment piece,
Yushaimi related how his ‘limits' were breached as far as racial or
religious remarks were concerned after reading online comments which he
thought (and no doubt were) bigoted about Malays and Islam after the
samurai sword wielding duo and their ill-fated attack on Putrajaya. Yushaimi may have to trawl the Net to discover his breaking point, but
all readers have to do is read the local dailies to discover mine.
Yushaimi may dismiss racial or religious rhetoric from politicians as
mere attempts to garner brownie points but I would think elected
officials stirring up racial sentiment for the survival of their own
political parties would be the more egregious sin than the most often
anonymous commenters on the Internet. If Yushaimi is concerned
that Islam is getting a bad rep from acts of violence attributed to
them, then perhaps he should condemn those who perpetuate the racist or
bigoted acts that seem to go unnoticed by mainstream political/social
commenters.
When
we have ‘undercover' journalists spitting out the holy sacrament and
concocting lies about conversion, this gives Islam a bad name. When we
have students rallying against LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender) citizens and other ‘ethnicities', this gives Islam a bad
name.
When we have small business holders cooking beef burgers in
front of a Hindu/Brahmin social activist's house, this gives Islam a
bad name. When an elected representative opines that hudud law be
implemented on non-Muslims, regardless of whether they agree or not,
this gives Islam a bad name. When we have the home minister sitting with
the ‘cow head' protesters (who were later charged with sedition and
illegal assembly), this gives Islam a bad name.
These are just a few recent examples of how my limits have been breached by the forces of Islamic extremism in this country. The Net is the last tenuous bastion of free speech. Since the
mainstream press is unsuitable for whatever reasons for the general
public to air their views in an open and sometimes racist/bigoted
manner, then the only haven left is the anonymity of the Internet. Yushaimi asks why the bashing on one segment of society?
The answer is simple. When ‘that' majority segment has been exposed to
the racist and bigoted doctrines of the BTN (Biro Tatanegara) courses
for example, do you blame the ‘other' segment for viewing ‘them' with
hostility? When that majority ‘rights' are trumpeted by the ruling
coalition and their counterparts as supreme to all ‘others', do you
blame the minorities with viewing the majority with a cynical lens? And this is the problem right here. When the discourse is confined to
the online world or quiet religious forums (which sometimes gets
disrupted by the defenders of the faith) nothing is going to change. Maybe
that's the plan. The only people who can change the way how Umno
perpetuates Islam in this country are the political parties that claim
they are an ‘alternative' to the current ruling coalition.
Grab the bulls by the horns
When we talk of the handout culture or how certain communities are
demonised, what we are really talking about is a culture that is
intimately entwined with the way Islam is practiced in this country. Here,
take a look at what Puteri Umno chief Rosnah Abd Rashid Shirlin said
when giving her support to the proposed implementation of hudud law,
"Muslims are obliged to support regardless of party, and refrain from
making negative comments or say something that will stir up doubts." This kind of thinking which has been cultivated by Umno to buttress any
argument it makes when it comes to Malay ‘rights' or anything which
threatens their hegemony should be actively discouraged within the
Pakatan coalition.
Of course, Pakatan has a poor track record
when it comes to dealing with internal dissent, Latheefa Koya's
departure from MBPJ (Petaling Jaya City Council) for whatever reason is
just the latest example in a slow burning issue of the way how Pakatan
handles dissent. Then we have cretins like Ridhuan Tee Abdullah
who claims that as a Muslim he "has no choice" but to group himself with
the Malays because constitutionally speaking the ‘Malays' are the ones
who ‘profess' Islam.
Forget
about the fact that the premise of who is a Malay is a loaded question
as far as the constitution goes, but why the Umno sycophancy on
Ridhuan's part? Surely identifying oneself as Malay does not
automatically include being supportive of the policies Umno? Would not
the Islamic impulses of PAS be a more appropriate avenue for Ridhuan (a
Chinese Muslim) to express his own religious preoccupations? After all
aren't they ‘Malay', too?
And when we get down to it, the
discourse as far as Islam is concerned is dominated by the voices of
those who ‘get angry', that their religion is not accepted by those who
don't practise it. That's the ugly truth. Like I said nobody
wants to grab the bulls by the horns, certainly not Pakatan which can't
afford to offend the sensibilities of its voting Muslim demographic,
even though radical political and religious thinking or better yet
policies is what is needed if we are to solve the ‘problems' that Umno
is often blamed for.
Of course, ignoring deeper issues and
concentrating on short-term communalist gains is what this election is
all about for both sides of the divide. ‘Wait till the election is over
and give Pakatan a chance' is what I keep hearing. Maybe I would
find it credible if there was some evidence that Pakatan intended to
address the ‘Islamic' issue and all that it has wrought in some
meaningful way, but as it is all I hear is the platitudes of the
faithful that things will change when they come into power. Nobody wants
any real constructive discussion on this issue with the election so
close.
I have said my piace and won't be revisiting this issue
any more but when the dust clears and things remain the same, with the
way how the crescent is wielded here in Malaysia, ever a deleterious
presence in our lives, I'll remain silent. After all, ‘I told you so'
has always been a poor rejoinder. Malaysiakini
Every
time the hudud issue comes up online under the cloak of anonymity,
Malaysians let vent on their ‘Islamic' fears. Pakatan supporters bury
their fears under the belief or faith that Malaysians have nothing to
fear when it comes to the hudud issue with the reformed PAS and PKR.
When
we have ‘undercover' journalists spitting out the holy sacrament and
concocting lies about conversion, this gives Islam a bad name. When we
have students rallying against LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender) citizens and other ‘ethnicities', this gives Islam a bad
name.
Forget
about the fact that the premise of who is a Malay is a loaded question
as far as the constitution goes, but why the Umno sycophancy on
Ridhuan's part? Surely identifying oneself as Malay does not
automatically include being supportive of the policies Umno? Would not
the Islamic impulses of PAS be a more appropriate avenue for Ridhuan (a
Chinese Muslim) to express his own religious preoccupations? After all
aren't they ‘Malay', too?
