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."
I read with utter disbelief that Premier Najib Abdul Razak has chosen
Perkasa deputy chief Zulkifli Noordin as the BN candidate for the Shah
Alam parliamentary seat. First off my mind is of course the obvious, does BN have no candidates of its own left? And isn't Perkasa supposed to be a non-partisan ‘NGO' or at least that's what they try to call themselves? Well
of course we know better, Perkasa is Umno's contractor to fan ‘Ketuanan
Melayu' and racism against the non-Malays, without it seeming to come
directly from Umno so that Najib can still go around and pander
1Malaysia to the rest of us with a straight face.
But I guess since it's campaign season, all facades are off. And
since former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has rooted for Perkasa chief
Ibrahim Ali, it seems very sure that Zul is Najib's bed buddy to balance
the equation. Which makes me wonder, where are all the usual, noisy protectors of Hindu rights in the country on this? Last
I recall, they bashed DAP for ‘plagiarising' their blueprint for simply
doing what they have been calling politicians to do for the last five
years - take care of Indian and Hindu issues. They also bashed
opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim though he admitted he forgot about them
in Pakatan's manifesto and added in a few key points such as the
stateless issue (which PKR leaders like N Surendran have been fighting
for all this while, anyway, without any acknowledgement from Hindraf). And
yet, Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy has gone to see BN thrice, and
was ever so elegant in response when Najib unveiled his manifesto to
include some plagiarised items from the blueprint.
Uthayakumar and gang were literally silent. No angry letters from Hindraf adviser N Ganesan, either. Their excuses of engaging any party interested in their blueprint is of course, by now, exposed as bogus. Hindraf had sent dozens upon dozens of letters to Najib over the past three years or so, and they have been completely ignored.
They threw watermelons at his door, but he didn't even chuckle. And remember Uthaya's response to Najib last December when the PM
courted them? Implement these demands by Dec 31 and then we'll talk.
Yada yada yada. So what now? Hindraf has been silent on
Zulkifli's anti-Hindu rant (which some suggest he even lied in
apologising since the content of his speech and the alleged time frame
are inconsistent), silent to Ridhuan Tee's anti-Hindu rant, and silent
on the Najib 1Malaysia administration's silence against all of the
above, including the teachers who had called their students ánjing and balik India.
And of course the year-long battle with Muhyiddin Yassin over Interlok has been long forgotten, that it took them THAT long to finally change it (due to pressure from many corners, not just Hindraf). And what about the deaths of C Sugumar, A Kugan, and a whole list of
others? What happened to S Banggama's case? Is she being granted her
Hinduship? It seems all of Hindraf's venom has been aimed
squarely at Pakatan, which on two levels augurs hope for the Indians, 1)
in providing a general all round better government that does not have
racism and divide-and-rule as its modus operandi, and a general
corruption-free government so the country has more money all round,
hence more for the Indians and 2) for having specifically promised to
tackle at least a dozen issues related to the Indians.
For
example, they have promised to settle the stateless issue in 100 days,
while BN just two weeks ago claimed there are only 300 stateless. Comment, Uthaya? And I noticed Hindraf even call Bersih co-chair Ambiga
Sreenevaasan a mandore, just because she doesn't champion strictly
Indian issues (fair elections is not an Indian issue, Waytha? Unfair
delineation biased against the non-Malays not an Indian issue, Uthaya?).
Come on, Ambiga is a shining example of someone every Indian youth can
aspire to be, a forthright and selfless leader who speaks for millions
and respected by all Malaysians of every colour, who has courage to
stand up, really stand up, to the evil in this land. But when it
comes to Umno, which Hindraf had been screaming at as racist and
accused of ethnic cleansing up until end of last year, it seems too
eager to forgive.
If it is painfully clear to us that the two
brothers are interested squarely in getting seats from Pakatan for their
own political career, and in claiming sole credit for uplifting the
Indian community (the Hindraf brand, perhaps soon to be incorporated
into the ‘201' ‘1Malaysia Rakyat Didahulukan' products advertised daily ad nauseum on Astro Vaanavil and Sun TV), then it is all their fault for giving that impression.
It is really that obvious, Uthaya, Waytha? Really. I think former Hindraf member S Jayathas is right. Something is going on with Hindraf's leaders. I really pity their members, because they think they are working for a
good cause and some whom I have met are really sincere and hardworking. But here is news for you, Hindraf. The poor Indians aren't as stupid as you think they are. Way back in 2009 already some told me that they think your press
conferences on this and that are just ‘political stunts' and a waste of
time, that you are not doing anything concrete.
The only truth is, if you really want to uplift your community, only a change in government will achieve that. Anything else, you are just shoving one up the community's back. You want proof? Just take a look at how Umno is treating its 50-year long bedmates MCA, MIC and Gerakan. My only wonder now is, do you two really care? Right now, I think not. With Zulkifli running for election in Shah Alam, and Uthaya just next door in Kota Raja, they may soon be the best of buddies. Maybe Uthaya will even get to be Najib's new Minister for Minority
Affairs, to right all the wrongs of the past BN leaders who had "made
mistakes".
