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."
Rafoc's objections to use of Army ranks by Rela by Commander (Rtd) S Thayaparan formerly of the Royal Malaysian Navy
Sunday, March 31, 2013
"The day the soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day
you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can
help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of
leadership." - Colin PowellCOMMENT In my previous article,
I addressed the "serious concerns" of the Defence Ministry on retired
armed forces personnel using their ranks post retirement without
permission. In this piece, I would like to highlight the objections of
Rafoc (Retired Armed Forces Club*) on the use of army ranks for Rela
(People's Volunteer Corps) members.
Before I begin, I would like
to make it clear that Rafoc is not pro-opposition. Although I am a
member of Rafoc, the views expressed here should not be construed as
those of Rafoc's and the club did not ask me to "instigate" (since this
is a popular meme doing the rounds now for anyone involved in opposition
politics) a controversy between the government and retired armed forces
personnel.
In this piece, I will allow Rafoc to speak for
itself by quoting verbatim from an open letter circulated amongst
retired armed forces officers and include quotes from previous articles
of mine; concerning Rela and the objections some people have of this
paramilitary outfit and the state of the armed forces today. I hope that
the two will not be deliberately conflated. Rafoc honourary
secretary Nawawi Mat Desa Lt-Kol (Bersara), on behalf of the club
committee, articulates the concerns of the organisation in this open
letter:"You
may wish to know that under Section 22 of the Rela Act 2012, an act
which has been passed by Parliament and which will come into force with
effect from June 22, 2012, Rela will be using the established Army rank
structure.
"Many members of Rafoc and other retired Armed Forces
officers have expressed their ‘objection' to the use of the Army rank
structure by Rela. They are not against the Rela Act 2012 per se but
only objected to the use of the Army rank structure, which has been
exclusively belonged to the Malaysian Army since 1933 and used by armies
worldwide."
Indeed, at the recent Chinese New Year luncheon
organised by Rafoc, the talk amongst retired officers was the casual
diminishment of prestige and discipline that the awarding of army ranks
to Rela entailed.
From the letter:
"The Army, for that
matter the Armed Forces, holds esteemed and sacred the commission and
the rank structure conferred to them. Their commissions are conferred by
SPB Yang di-Pertuan Agong and can only be withdrawn or revoked by him. "Having met the prerequisite to become an officer cadet and a vigorous
selection process, those who were successful underwent a period of
military training to become an officer, either in our own local
institutions or abroad.
"Not all who applied were selected to
undergo the training and not all who underwent the training were
commissioned. Their commissions were conferred in a traditional
ceremony, solemnly officiated by SPB Yang di-Pertuan Agong or one of the
rulers on his behalf, befitting the profession. "Their commissions and promotions are gazetted in the government Gazette.
A commissioned officer holds his commission, using his last rank in
service, till death unless his commission is revoked by the Yang
di-Pertuan Agong for disciplinary or reasons unbecoming of an officer.
"Hence,
retired Armed Forces officers still have their last rank before
retirement, with their names and they are still referred to by their
rank. They are proud to use them or to be referred by their rank even
though it is only a Kaptain or Mejar when some of their intake members
are Kolonels or Jenerals."Act of protest
One retired service chief, who has a sterling reputation as a
commanding officer but whose unpredictable temperament was the talk of
the town, told one of his generals that he was seriously considering
putting all his rank insignias in a plastic bag and delivering them to
the Defence Ministry. What readers have to understand is that
many of these officers come from a time when service to king and country
were ideals that were genuinely committed to. We were very well aware
that the agendas of our political masters sometimes were at odds with
these ideals and that racial politics post-1969 was rearing its ugly
head, not to mention that professional politics and sycophancy was part
of the game.
However, for many of these retired officers, duty,
honour and the discipline that went into attaining these ranks is
something that has been lost in today's armed forces and this Rela
episode just adds to it. Although the open letter makes it clear
that Rafoc is not against Rela "per se", but the open letter does imply
the mood amongst a good many officers is one of skepticism when it
comes to Rela: "Not having to state the shortfalls of the Rela
officers in comparison to the Army officers as stated above, and not
having to state other not-so-nice comparisons, we see no similarity nor
justification to warrant the use of the Army rank structure by the Rela
organisation. They should use their own or other rank structure as
appropriate to their organisation."
However, some officers at
the recent luncheon openly questioned the political imperatives behind
its recent empowerment. As one former general said, "What is Umno
attempting to do? Create its own personal army?"This echoes the thoughts of former Brigadier General (rtd) Mohammad Arshad Raji whose blog I referenced in 'Malaysian politics - who dares wins?',
the relevant section being: "The emergence of para security groups
conflates national security issues with Umno political concerns."
As articulated by General Arshad in 'Rela - PM Najibs's final line of defence?':
"And what really scares me was when PM Najib said that ‘when the chips
are down, Rela will be with this government to defend the country'. What
‘chips' is he referring to, and what is the threat that the government
is trying to defend ... external or internal security threat or a
political threat from the opposition."
In addition, Rafoc was
told that Rela has three million members that would mean they outnumber
all branches of the Armed Forces combined.Ignored by defence minister
Moreover, since Defence Ministry secretary-general Ismail Samad referenced the Agong in his admonishment
to those "retired officers" who allegedly used their ranks without the
Armed Forces Council (AFC) permission, I think it would be constructive
to highlight Rafoc's concerns of a similar nature:
"We are not
sure if SPB Yang di-Pertuan Agong, as the Supreme Commander of the Armed
Forces, was made aware or has been duly advised beforehand and
consented to the use of the Army rank structure by Rela." In
fact circulating around that particular luncheon was the idea that a
delegation of Rafoc should meet the Agong and convey their objections
personally since to this date the Defence Ministry seem to have ignored
Rafoc and the army ranks are now used by Rela.Rafoc
was given assurances that this issue would be looked into by the
Defence Ministry. This is an unacceptable resolution for Rafoc since
this letter was handed over to the defence minister who then in press
conference claimed that this matter would be resolved "after the
elections". Rafoc was not even given the courtesy of a response to this
letter by the minister.
In these partisan times when the
opposition chases the armed forces vote and the affairs of service
members are included in their manifesto and allegations of voting
misconduct when it comes to the armed forces plagues Umno-BN, the
tendency to politicise issues like these is a draw for most partisans.
This is not my intention here although I am a self-described Pakatan
partisan. The resolution for this lies solely with the federal
government and I sincerely hope the objections of Rafoc will be taken
into consideration and the relevant section of the Rela Act rescinded.
The Armed Forces is in the spotlight again with the ongoing Lahad Datu
incident and this is the perfect time for the federal government to
acknowledge the input of former service people who were always aware
they could be put in harm's way like our soldiers who now face that
reality in Sabah. Malaysiakini
"You
may wish to know that under Section 22 of the Rela Act 2012, an act
which has been passed by Parliament and which will come into force with
effect from June 22, 2012, Rela will be using the established Army rank
structure.
This echoes the thoughts of former Brigadier General (rtd) Mohammad Arshad Raji whose blog I referenced in 
Rafoc
was given assurances that this issue would be looked into by the
Defence Ministry. This is an unacceptable resolution for Rafoc since
this letter was handed over to the defence minister who then in press
conference claimed that this matter would be resolved "after the
elections". Rafoc was not even given the courtesy of a response to this
letter by the minister.
