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."
Independence at 55: Form over substance by Commander (Rtd) S THAYAPARAN, formerly of the Royal Malaysian Navy
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
"The proverb warns that, ‘You should not bite the hand that feeds
you.' But maybe you should, if it prevents you from feeding yourself." - Thomas Stephen Szasz COMMENT
For some, Merdeka day was the day we matured as a nation. For others,
it was marred by political one-upmanship and the disgraceful behaviour
of certain celebrants. Unfortunately, the truth rarely rests somewhere
in the middle. Never forget when it comes to politics, the middle is all
about compromise. For the past 55 years, we lived with
moderation and tolerance. If you are non-Malay, you were told to be
grateful to the hosts of this land for being allowed to live here in
peace and harmony. The so-called social contract (sic), a nebulous
figment of political imagination, was conflated with certain elements of
the Malaysian constitution which then become the barometer of how
racial relations were governed in this country.
This
Merdeka day celebrations was the harbinger of the shape of things to
come. What it demonstrates is that ‘Janji Ditepati' has fallen apart and
the Umno centre cannot hold. For a certain section of the
Malaysian voting public, it was a jubilant moment of redefining the
Malaysian centre from one of appeasement and tolerance to that of unity
in racial and economic diversity, and the hope of a more egalitarian way
of Malaysian life. Understand now, that I think the
‘opposition' is not there yet in fulfilling those expectations, seeing
as how they are playing the same race game but for a certain section of
the ordinary rakyat who believes in that ‘hope', it was a night of
brotherhood and affirmation that the tsunami of 2008 was a watershed
moment that heralded a new Malaysian dawn.
Predictably Umno
stayed true to form. The events leading up to Merdeka eve was the usual
partisanship of Umno/BN malfeasances and Pakatan Rakyat showboating.
From hijacking the national day theme to alternate slogans, the whole
thing was a shadow play of self-serving politics masquerading as
patriotism. Of
course, since our history is that of the manufactured kind, most people
seemed more interested in form than substance. I have always been
deeply sceptical of shows of patriotism because mostly it's jingoism in a
cheap dress, but this year there was an undercurrent of genuine
sincerity of love of country.
For a certain section of the
Malaysian polity, it was more than just a day of remembering
independence from colonialism but it was also day of declaring
independence from Umno hegemony.
For others who view the current
political discord as something of an aberration in Malaysian politics -
in every country in the world political differences are the norm but
here in Malaysia, after years of Umno/BN haranguing its considered
anathema - it was a night that the ‘opposition' hijacked an event which
was supposed to be an opportunity for national unity for political
mileage. Change of leadership
The fact that Umno for one night could not bring these two opposing
forces together in a symbolic show of national unity is just further
evidence that the first step for a new Malaysia is for the people to get
used to the idea that a two-party alliance competing for stewardship of
this country is the panacea for years of BN rule.
Bear in mind
that this is not an endorsement of Pakatan (although admittedly I am a
reluctant partisan) merely my belief that the first step for all of us
(pro-BN and pro-Pakatan) to progress after years of apathy is to
practise the most basic of democratic principles - a change of
leadership. Merdeka
eve provided much amusement. Take this whole mooning pictures of our
glorious leader and his wife tempest in a tea cup. The term "biadap"
(how I loathe that term seeing as how it is loaded which the usual
Malaysian hypocrisy that passes as "values") has been thrown about to
describe the action of the dumb kid who found it necessary to make an
arse of himself by exposing his ass.
Commenters in Malaysiakini and
elsewhere either praise the action as the frustrated howl of a young
person appalled at the excess of the Umno regime or heap scorn on him as
someone who is rude and out of Malaysian character. For the
former, spare me the uber liberal chest thumping of freedom of
speech/expression and thumbing the nose at authority. It was an example
of both, but it is a dumb example at best which tarred the better
example of those attending the event despite the fact that the rally was
declared "illegal" and the always present threat of violence when it
comes to defying this regime.
And thank you Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat for pointing out that engaging in such acts "... is not the work of Malays and Muslims. "This is very shameful and saddening, the photograph that I saw was not
of Malay (the perpetrators of the act). We Muslims are taught not to
disturb others. If others do it to us, we will get angry."
Perhaps Tok Guru was not furnished with pictures of those Malay/Muslim
university students who engaged in an orgy of hate against the LGBT
(lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) community, certain opposition
personalities and social activists, burning and shredding pictures and
engaging in the most hateful of rhetoric. And then of course, there are the never ending disruptions by Perkasa and their ilk of opposition ceramahs. Remember folks, the red paint on the bus is probably the work of "biadap" non-Malay/Muslims because it's not in the culture of the Malays to engage in such activity.
And
this exemplifies the hypocrisy of the latter when it comes to the
action of that dumb kid. Pro-regime blogs have drawn attention to the
"jambu-ness" of the dumb kid, which fits in nicely with the homophobic
narrative and the disdain of the ‘other' which Umno peddles, which is
more often than not ignored by the so-called inclusive majority of
Pakatan.
Arresting
the mooning kid when there are a slew of politically motivated acts of
disruption against Pakatan which goes unnoticed should be embarrassing
to the PDRM but as is, it is just business as usual for a police force
compromised by Umno. There really is nothing more to say except
to see how it plays out for a kid who got caught up in the heat of the
moment while the outsourced thugs of Umno are free to spread their hate,
secure in the knowledge that the Umno state will never lift a finger
against them, all part of ‘janji ditepati', I suppose. This is why when an example of a true spirit of Merdeka is presented to Malaysian partisans in the form of those four transsexualschallenging Islamic doctrine in the courts, it is met with silence or hate.
Honestly,
what they are doing (dare I say it?) takes cojones and to me is an act
of defiance against the established social order, and regardless of
one's views on sexuality and gender, a hardcore example of fighting for
one's rights. If this does not exemplify the spirit of Merdeka, I don't
know what does.
Manufactured controversy But what really made the night memorable for me are those kids who hoisted the Sang Saka Malayaflag. Not
only were they drawing attention to the history of this country which
has been deliberately buried, they were also challenging the ideological
status quo by reminding anyone who bothered to look that the ‘Malay'
polity was never a monolithic entity made up entirely of Umno or PAS.
Now that, my friends, are symbolic gestures worthy of praise depending
on your political bent. The fact that the PDRM and the home minister are
painting this episode in the bright Umno colours of political
subversion - hey it is - and accusations of flag changing (so what if it
is) just proves that BN will manufacture any controversy on the
filmiest of foundations to fire up the indignation of its supporters in
the hopes that this would translate to legitimacy. I have
written about the destruction of the Left by Umno/BN but what is really
was, was the destruction of the idea of a polychromatic Malay community
and the creation of the myth of the monolithic Malay community under
siege by the avarice of the non-Malay "pendatangs".
What those
kids managed to do was for a brief moment remind Malaysians that there
has always been a diversity of opinion in the Malay community and the
Malaysian political and social landscape, and that is where our possible
salvation lies. Merdeka for a long time was a rote exercise
with everyone going through the motions either in apathy or secure
self-entitlement. For the first time in decades, people were forced to
question their own beliefs and put in the hard work of actually
committing to principles they took for granted or to which they only
paid lip service.
With all the controversies and the bickering,
with all the partisanship and acrimony, Malaysians for the first time no
matter which side of the political divide they were on, were confronted
with the reality that people have different ideas of how best to chart
the future of this country.
The greatest thing about Merdeka this year was that for the first time since Independence, it truly was about something. Malaysiakini
Sir-- all the mess n problems are created BY WHO== the coalition clowns>>economic destruction, poverty ,corruption n social division<< etc.. so what is the solution then,, in the CORPORATE world-- the answer is simple-- sacked them>> the solution for our nation is simple-- unseat BN in GE 13,, let the sea water from south china sea washed away the corrupted leadership n bring forth fresh HOPE n anew dawn for our nation>> all malaysians should see the bigger picture for the nation future<< a rich nation plundered by the corrupted leadership.. enough lah
Sir-- all the mess n problems are created BY WHO== the coalition clowns>>economic destruction, poverty ,corruption n social division<< etc.. so what is the solution then,, in the CORPORATE world-- the answer is simple-- sacked them>> the solution for our nation is simple-- unseat BN in GE 13,, let the sea water from south china sea washed away the corrupted leadership n bring forth fresh HOPE n anew dawn for our nation>> all malaysians should see the bigger picture for the nation future<< a rich nation plundered by the corrupted leadership.. enough lah