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."
Two years of Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister X Survey Results
Sunday, December 01, 2024
Murray Hunter : Anwar Ibrahim has now held the position as prime minister for two
years. Many people had been patiently waiting for Anwar to become prime
minister under the belief he would change Malaysia for the better. The
best way to comment about Anwar Ibrahim is to find out what people are
thinking.
This is my own survey, so at least I can talk
from something a little quantitative. X has finally unlocked my
restriction, which began during the Covid era, so I can now use it as a
tool. This poll has about 15% the participants size, compared to any
Ideas-Yusof Ishak Institute poll. The only thing with my poll is that I
cannot control the sample. For a person without any funding to conduct
any surveys, it the best I can do.
I have asked each question directly without any context, so as not to try to influence any particular response.
How would you rate PMX’s Competence in the role as prime minister?
This
question received 185 responses from 971 views. I only allowed A-D
responses, so as not to dramatize any findings. There is a group out
there who believe Anwar Ibrahim is doing an “A” job at 15.1% of the
respondents. Just over 10% see Anwar doing a good (B) to fair job (C).
However, 74.6% of the 185 respondents rated Anwar’s competence as “D”.
Cost of Living
This
cost of living is a major issue facing many Malaysians. This question
asks whether people see the economy ‘better than before’, ‘the same’, or
‘worse than before’. This question received 156 responses from 745
views. Only 4.5% of the respondents saw the economy as the same, where
6.4% see the economy as better than before. However, 89.1% of the
respondents see the economy as worse than before.
Corruption
Corruption
is a major issue that Anwar said his government would pay a lot of
attention towards. This question received 213 responses from 972 views.
19.2% of the respondents saw corruption was the same as before, where
14.6% believe corruption is less than before. However, 66.2% of the
respondents believe corruption is worse than before.
Prime ministerial ego
Ego
can often be associated with arrogance and display of personal power.
Ego can also display the feelings respondents have towards a particular
candidate. This question had 1,445 views with 318 responses.
Interestingly, only 0.3% of believed Ismail Sabri had the most ego.
(This question is really asking for a relative comparison). 10.4% saw
Muhyiddin Yassin being the most egoistic in the group. 30.5% believed
Mahathir Mohamed had the most ego, while 58.8% believed Anwar Ibrahim
had the most ego.
Should PKR offer a new candidate as leader (i.e., an alternative prime minister)?
With
talk is internal discontent over the performance of Anwar as prime
minister within his own party PKR, it would be interesting to see how
many in the general community see the need for PKR to present a new
candidate as prime minister. Out of 146 responses, 20.9% believed it’s
not necessary for PKR to find a new candidate, while 79.1% believed PKR
should find a new candidate as leader.
Sponsoring travel for the prime minister
The
travel sponsorship controversy rose this week and it was interesting to
gauge what community feeling about this issue is. One saw outrage in
the media. Commercial sponsorship for the travel of a national leader is
a novel concept. 26.4% of the 148 respondents saw this innovation as a
positive thing, while 73.6% of respondents disagreed with the
sponsorship of a leader’s travel.
Credibility of the DAP
Over
the last two years, the largest coalition party of the unity government
has been the DAP. It was interesting to see how the last two years has
influenced the perception of the credibility of the DAP. The question
received 944 views and 194 responses. 10.3% of respondents think the DAP
has lost no credibility, while 12.9% believe the DAP has lost some
credibility. Alarmingly for the DAP, 76.8% of respondents believe the
DAP has lost trust from the electors.
Who would you vote for in the next general election
To
the question “who would you vote for in the next general election?’,
206 people responded. The relative response between Pakatan Harapan and
Perikatan Nasional is very striking. The other interesting aspect is
that 27.2% of respondents said they would vote for others.
Rotational basis for prime minister
More
than a decade ago, the chief minister’s position in Sabah was on a
rotational basis, until UMNO cancelled the agreement. The question
received 508 views and 106 responses. Clearly, people are not in favour
of such a system.
Conclusions
The
survey samples put great limitations upon the survey responses above.
However, if larger surveys come to the same conclusions, there are some
important political ramifications. First, Anwar Ibrahim’s position as
prime minister is doesn’t have the public support he would need to have a
second term as prime minister. There are issues Anwar must work on,
such as his own personal persona. The issues of the economy and
corruption are two other weaknesses. Second, Anwar’s own political party
PKR, might not be providing him with solid support. Third, the DAP must
have a solid look into itself to work upon regaining trust again from
its support base. Finally, Perikatan Nasional cannot be written off as a
serious contender for GE16.
