Tuesday 26 March 2013

Blue and Green and Other Things

I saw a bit of the 206th Police Day parade on the news yesterday, and watched a bit where our guys in blue were given the recognition due to them.  Didn't get to see the whole thing as it was a working Monday.  The Sulu Intrusion has served as a reminder of how important our security forces are in protecting our well-being and how we have grown to take them for granted.

For those who keep on belittling them, deriding them, mocking them, abusing them, biting their ears, questioning acquisition of military assets, making up stories about our submarines in foreign countries, etc. etc., I wish you people would just find somewhere else to call home as you don't deserve their protection.  And once you are out of this country, stay out of our business and stop making clever pronouncements as if you are better than the rest of us.

So here's to our guys and gals who put their lives on the line for Malaysia.


As for other things, the Lahad Datu incident got me curious about the pinoys, and I started lurking in their current issues and news forums to find out about how they view the Sabah issue.  I realised that many Malaysians are there too, and the "discussions" were rather interesting.  That got me curious about how the discussions were in the local forums, so I started lurking in Malaysian forums too.  It was kinda interesting but not something that I would want to spend too much time on.

Maybe it's just me, but other than blogging, the new social media is not really up my alley.  I got bored with Facebook after 3 weeks and was there just for the games, which I haven't got the time to maintain anyway.  I don't tweet either as I have nothing to broadcast that would be of interest to anyone else, and since I am neither funny nor charismatic, tweeting to nobody would be pointless.  Even this blog is courtesy of Ai who created a following whom I am afraid I may just bore to death, but at least it is an outlet for my thoughts.

But I do understand how social media can be used to reach out and to influence the online masses.  I am just not comfortable with the way it is being used to dumb down the masses, to manipulate perceptions based on untruths, to create panic through rumor-mongering, and most especially the bullying and terrorising.  Then there's the problem with bad language, as in the grammar and the expletives.   We have bullies in the schoolyards, bullies on the roads and now we have cyber bullies roaming the social media.  

What happened to our eastern values?  Can't we eradicate this bullying culture from the Malaysian public?




15 comments:

  1. It's sad when we see Malaysians slag off the very people whose lives are put on the line daily for the sake of the nation .

    I was in LD for some work last week. I had the chance to chat with a few of our brave men. Most were tired & hungry. Most have been living on instant noodles, dry biscuits, 3 in 1 coffee, isotonic drinks & cigarettes for the last month or so.

    Remember how a lot of Malaysians were mocking the government for the KFC meal? Of course these ignorant buffoons conveniently ignored the fact that it was sponsored by KFC & not the government but I digress. That box was the first bit of meat some of our heroes had eaten in weeks.

    Those in the party had an impromptu collection that night & we collected some 2.5k. We bought chocolate wafers, cream biscuits, cigarettes, Milo, canned curry chicken, sweets, potato chips, cap badak heat expelling drinks etc which we managed to distribute to 8 road block points. It's insignificant but some even had tears in their eyes when we handed it over.

    It is torturous, not just physically but mentally. Just imagine this; deprived of proper food, sleep, bath, toilet facilities & constantly alert for an attack for the last month or so.

    And if you still can't emphatize for these brave souls, I can safely say that whatever bit of humanity you have within you is well & truly gone, extinguished. And as much as I abhor this line of argument, I really think if you fall in that category, you should seriously consider migrating for good. We sure as hell don't want you here but hey it's a democracy, unlike North Korea where you get sent to the gulag for not supporting your uniformed heroes.

    Btw BC, when do you sleep? Still writing @ 3am?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some nights I don't sleep at all :D

      Delete
    2. What? We are sending our men out to protect the country and feeding them inatant noodles and dry biscuit for a month?
      How can this be true?
      Peharps the Defence Ministry can clarify on this because without proper nutrition how can we expect the best out of them?

      Delete
    3. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the army are better prepared with their rations. I bet it's the police guys who are not getting enough TLC as they are not exactly meant to be deployed for protracted operations.

      Delete
    4. As BC rightly points out, the army are better prepared with their field rations. The GOF are normally utilized for one off operations which is concluded within the day itself.

      I understand from our conversations that those from the Sarawak battalions were deployed with 24 hours notice. We need to give credit to the operations center as well for sending packed food to the outposts once daily. In between, they'd have to consume noodles & biscuits.

      We need to understand that LD itself is about 100miles from ground zero. At the same time, the road blocks are spread far & wide to ensure that the checks are layered to minimize escape or intrusion risks. With so many personnel to feed, obviously it's a logistical nightmare. Bear in mind that when the fighting started, there were problems with getting food to the evacuation center for a couple of days to.

      That said, hopefully lessons are learned from this incident. And if we are faced with such a scenario in future, we'd be able to feed our heroes better.

      Now, more than ever, is the time we showed our undivided support to our troops. When we came out of our vehicles just to chat, these extraordinary men were all smiles as smokes were passed round as were drinks & sweets. They appreciated these little gestures which encourages them to soldier own.

      Speaking to a fellow Sarawakian from the 11th battalion of the GOF, I asked him what could we get them at the outpost. His answer is a timely reminder to all Malaysians of the sacrifices others do on our behalf.

      Answering me in the local Sarawak Malay dialect he said, "Sik kamek ngarap apa apa ngan kitak. Cukuplah mun kitak dapat smayang ngan kamek semua nok kat sitok selamat masa bertugas."
      (We expect nothing from you all. It is sufficient if you could pray for the safety of all us on duty here...)

      These selfless & extraordinary Malaysians deserve better than what Malaysians had given them all these while. Even if we can't contribute in any other way, let us never forget them in our daily prayers.

      Delete
    5. Thanks anon, for sharing with us. I include them in my prayers every time.

      Delete
    6. Anon 11:23

      It's very touching ,and it's been a long time I never heard such thing being told,it need courage and a lot's of sacrifices to be in the forces no to forget the sacrifices of family as well ,what will we be without them.
      BIGCAT, how I wish this story could be shared ,especially those commentary in MT,Malaysia Kini who always have negative attitude towards Malay and these extraordinary Malaysian just because 99% of them are Malay who ever willing to sacrifice for this nation.
      Asked any Chinese if they willing to be in the forces !, their answer will be ,"tatak cukup makan" but they never appreciate the sacfrice made by our man in blue and green to make them cukup makan.

      Delete
    7. Anon 8.32 - "abhor" but you still use - you don't know the meaning. Support good practice and criticise/oppose the bad - that is love of the country - how else to improve, develop or prevent dictators. If you can't do that, you don't love the country. If so, please migrate somewhere that only wants sycophants - North Korea would be a good start.

      Delete
    8. I feel so sad to hear our MIB have to survive and have no good meals in the course of highest duty to the rakyat and nation. If the Government can dispense $$ to youngsters to buy handphones and to B1RM, B2RM, why not to those MIB. Even, army rations can be divert to them afterall they are almost doing the similar of duties.
      Why another racist remarks TT? Then the answer because non-bumis get unequal rations 10 % less just like unequal housing prices but have to do more.

      Delete
    9. Anon 16:21, the police have to work within the budget allocated to them, just as the military have their allocations. Unplanned operations of this magnitude is not as easy to finance especially when involving public funds.

      Delete
    10. Anon 15:49, your point being?

      Delete
    11. Currently Malaysia is in colourless code - no standby but always sit down by the army. But Polisi is on 7/11. When Bersih 2 is on, government can call up thousands of polisi and is able give aqua and good food to rakyat who were locked up. The incidence by Suluks happen over a month for the government to prepare just like B2RM. The Government can write millions of ringgits cheque to SJRK on spot.

      Delete
    12. Anon 16:29, I have no idea what you are trying to impart here. Suggest you use Bahasa Malaysia, or whatever native language that you normally use.

      Delete
    13. Beasr Kuching - juag tidak faham tulisan awak

      Delete
  2. I ate some flight rations when I was transported on a C130 some time ago.
    It was not bad.
    Don't know what kind of rations that ground troops eat though.

    ReplyDelete