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."
Chinese M'sians, too, have died for one Malaysia by K Temoc
Saturday, March 30, 2013
When I read ‘Sabah Incursion: Hang the Traitors’ by A Kadir Jasin, a
pro-Umno blogger (a former group editor-in-chief of New Straits Times
Press (M) Bhd and at times also a Berita Harian columnist), I was disappointed by his tone in the opening paragraphs of his blog post, which stated:
“As
has always been the case, when we send our policemen and soldiers into
battle and are killed or injured, the chances are they are Melayus and
bumiputeras. “Perhaps there is wisdom in getting more Chinese and
Indians to join the armed forces so that they, too, can die for one
Malaysia.”
I would like to draw his and your readers'
attention to the huge sacrifices Chinese Malaysians have made for their
country while serving in the Royal Malaysian Police. But before I
come to that, it may be worthwhile to ask ourselves why in the recent
tragedy in the Lahad Datu and Semporna areas in eastern Sabah, there has
been no Chinese police death. Not that I wish for Chinese deaths or for
that matter, any Malaysian deaths, but we, especially Pak Kadir, must
be honest and ask ourselves why the casualties have been confined to the
Malay policemen.
But then Pak Kadir answered that himself when
he suggested that “Perhaps there is wisdom in getting more Chinese and
Indians to join the armed forces so that they, too, can die for one
Malaysia” but in a regretful tone that sounds caustic, unfair and indeed
morbid.
All right then, who’s to be blamed for the Malays
bearing all the greatest sacrifice to their nation? Surely not the
Chinese for in 'less divisive' days, we depended heavily (though not
solely) on mainly Chinese policemen (and women) in the Special Branch to
win our war against the insurrection of the Communist Party of Malaya
(CPM). Thus we should remember our Chinese Police heroes, people such
as:
Yeoh Chew Bik (killed by communist terrorists (CTs) at Sebarang Perai);
Koh
Ah Cheng (killed by CTs at Bukit Kepong police station; ironically the
communist assailants were led by a Malay communist, Muhammad Indera);
Loh Ah Chu (killed by CTs at Bukit Berapit, Perak);
Chan Eng Teck (killed by CTs at Bukit Berapit, Perak);
Ang Lock Say (killed by CTs at Bukit Berapit, Perak);
Yeap
Sean Hua (killed on duty while apprehending a criminal at Setapak;
another policeman, Fong Thean Kit, who was off duty but heard the shot
gave chase and apprehended the killer); [Important note: Both Yeap
(posthumously) and Fong were awarded Malaysia’s highest gallantry award,
the Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa (SP).]
Chin Chin Kooi
(Special Branch chief inspector who served in the police for 21 years -
shot at point blank range and killed by unknown slayers; before he died
he managed to shoot back); [Important note: Chin was posthumously
awarded the SP];
Lee Han Cheong (a sergeant and Police Field Force (PFF) patrol leader was killed by CTs near Bidor);
Deputy Comm Khoo Chong Kong (killed by communist subversives in Perak).
Pivotal to defeat of communist terrorist movement
Two
other Special Branch police officers who are still alive today were
awarded the SP, namely Supt Paul Kiong and Deputy Supt Sia Boon Chee.
Without exaggeration, I would consider these two officers’ contributions
(presumably still under secret classification) as pivotal to the defeat
of the communist terrorist movement in peninsula Malaysia. Thus
five Chinese police officers were awarded the nation’s highest gallantry
award, the Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa, two posthumously. I hope Pak
Kadir takes note of this.
Then there were Chinese in the Armed
Forces who showed their loyalty to their nation by making the ultimate
sacrifices, Royal Malaysian Air Force (TUDM) officers like the late Lt
Choo Yoke Boo and the late Lt Chang Tatt Min who were both awarded the
Pingat Gagah Berani (PGB) posthumously. One Ranger officer, 2nd Lt David
Fu Chee Ming who I believe is still alive today, was also awarded the
PGB.
2nd Lt David Fu was the platoon commander of 8th Platoon of C
Company, 4th Battalion Royal Rangers who was tasked and placed in the
Tanah Hitam area of Perak to track and destroy the enemy in his sector
of operation. This was the citation for his award of the PGB:
On
Aug 27, 1970, his platoon of 24 men made contact with a group of about
70 enemy combatants. The enemy unknowingly had entered his sector. Thus
started a heavy and intensive battle lasting seven hours. Under his
unwavering leadership, the men fought on, successfully killed four of
the enemy. His patrol did not suffer any casualties.
For his
outstanding gallantry and bravery in the finest traditions of the
Ranger Corps he was bestowed with the Pingat Gagah Berani, by the Agong.
He left after exemplary service as a captain.
Pak Kadir
has not been unlike Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who on Nov 9,
2010, predictably as to be expected for the archetypical Umno
‘patriots’, stated in response to a question in Parliament that the low
number of Chinese and Indian recruits in the military could be due to
the Chinese and Indians [being] ‘not patriotic enough’.
Zahid,
once a very close ally of Anwar Ibrahim and the man who accused Dr
Mahathir Mohamad of corruption and cronyism in an alleged impatient move
by the Anwar faction in Umno to nudge then-PM Mahathir out for Anwar’s
final ascendancy to the PM’s post, but who has since abandoned his
allegiance to Anwar to be allied to Najib, is hardly an appropriate
person to talk about patriotism or loyalty.
I wonder where were these Umno and pro-Umno patriots when the above Chinese Malaysians died for their country? As
Aldous Huxley informed us: “One of the great attractions of patriotism -
it fulfills our worst wishes. In the person of our nation we are able,
vicariously, to bully and cheat. Bully and cheat, what’s more, with a
feeling that we are profoundly virtuous.” Malaysiakini
