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."
Rafizi accuses govt of deferring RM11.5b Tabung Haji commitment through new sukuk
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Malaysiakini : The government has been accused of failing to fully honour its
financial commitment to Tabung Haji by replacing RM11.5 billion of a
matured sukuk with a new debt instrument due in 2036, rather than
settling the amount in cash or equivalent assets.
Former economy
minister Rafizi Ramli said the UJSB Sukuk Series 1, which matured on May
29, involved RM12.5 billion that the government should have redeemed
through cash or assets of equivalent value. "However, of the
RM12.5 billion that needed to be settled, only RM965 million was in the
form of property, namely a plot of land in TRX and plantation land in
Sarawak.
“The remaining RM11.5 billion was settled in the form of
another new sukuk, which will mature in 10 years, meaning the government
will have to pay Tabung Haji RM11.5 billion in 2036," the Bersama
co-leader said in a statement.
Rafizi
said that the financial restructuring of Tabung Haji approved by the
government at the end of 2018 depended on the government’s ability and
compliance in fulfilling its financial commitments to Tabung Haji when
they are due.
Under the arrangement, he said the federal
government took over Tabung Haji’s loss-making assets through wholly
government-owned Urusan Jamaah Sdn Bhd (UJSB), which then issued two
series of sukuk to Tabung Haji.
He
added that the government was then expected to replace these with cash
or assets of equivalent value when they matured in 2026 and 2029,
respectively.
Focus under RCI report
Rafizi
said that these matters are the focus of the Royal Commission of
Inquiry report on Tabung Haji, which also highlighted several other
points.
"The
move to transfer Tabung Haji’s troubled assets and replace them with a
sukuk instrument on paper, without cash flow, was a temporary measure,
solely to enable Tabung Haji’s reserves to become positive and allow it
to continue paying hibah (profits).
"The government needed to make
allocations from its annual budget to ensure its commitments were
fulfilled when they fell due, namely in 2026 and 2029.
"Assets
held on paper through sukuk instruments made Tabung Haji’s assets and
annual income accrued from the sukuk appear better, but this remained
dependent on whether cash or equivalent assets were injected back to
replace these paper assets when they matured," he listed.
Over RM17b approved in 2019
Rafizi
said the government had approved at least RM17.8 billion on April 5,
2019, during former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's administration
to cover the shortfall in the redemption of UJSB sukuk.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
The
commitment was subsequently continued under the 12th Malaysia Plan
(12MP) during Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration and, he believed,
under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim thereafter, through the 13th Malaysia
Plan (13MP).
“However,
the financial commitment to restore Tabung Haji in accordance with the
recovery plan under UJSB does not appear to have been honoured.
“So far, only RM500 million has been paid to Tabung Haji to redeem the UJSB sukuk,” Rafizi said, citing the RCI’s findings.
Rafizi
added that the RM1.5 billion allocation approved under Budget 2021,
during Perikatan Nasional's administration, was also not paid to Tabung
Haji, with the government citing the need to use the funds for economic
recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said billions of
ringgit were subsequently allocated for projects under Jana Wibawa, some
of which were later investigated over alleged corrupt practices, while
part of the allocation had been committed to Tabung Haji.
“Throughout
my time as economy minister, I recall that the government had allocated
more than RM1 billion a year to settle this UJSB sukuk when it matured
on May 29 this year,” Rafizi added.
He then urged the government
to provide a frank explanation during tomorrow’s parliamentary debate on
where the billions of ringgit allocated over the years to restore
Tabung Haji had gone to.
“If the current and future governments
continue to defer their commitment to redeem the UJSB sukuk into the
future by continuing to replace one debt instrument with a new one,
Tabung Haji will continue to face the risk of asset liquidity and cash
flow problems in the future,” he warned.
Francis T Rozario : The money going to this bailout is peoples money.
Why should those who benefit nothing be made to bail out Tabung Haji?
Shouldn't Haji money come out of the pockets of Muslims, their own money, to finance their religious obligations?
Why should taxes from non-Muslims go towards this end?
There is a lot of talk about what is halal and not halal, looks like it is not halal only when they decide it's not to their benefit or are we non-Muslims now being made to pay "jizya", the taxing of non-Muslims in an Islamic state?
We have to bear in mind that we are not an Islamic State; we are a secular country, and that is what the Constitution states.
In the first place, Tabung Haji was set up with people's money; now that it has been "mismanaged" the term used to account for the huge losses, people's money is being used again.
We had better shut it down, and if there is a need for this fund to be revived, let the Muslims who can afford it just save their own money and start the fund using some form of compulsory donation, employing professionals to run the fund.
