by Allan CF Goh
(A poem)
Patriotism is the lifelong love,
For one’s country and nation.
It expects the very best of us,
For its greatest progression.
It values a country’s achievements,
With a sincere devotion.
Patriotism will support the best
Efforts to build the nation.
It culls good values from all cultures,
Nurtures wisdom to fruition.
Policies that need the adjustments,
Are done with best attentions.
In times of war, the patriot will fight
To quell foreign aggression;
Even does the supreme sacrifice,
To defeat that invasion.
During peace time, he fights to defend
The sanctity of the constitution.
He will strongly defend righteousness,
Safe-guard the population,
Ensure folks’ inalienable rights,
Realise folks’ aspiration.
He will always follow ‘right is might’,
In scorn of wild aspersion.
A true patriot willingly sweats blood,
To build up the best nation.
He will sacrifice comfort and self,
To stop all degradations,
Be they environmental concerns,
Politics, education,
Economics, societal issues,
Or freedom of expression.
The patriot loves a harmonious peace,
With honour a foundation.
Mutual respect is a way of life;
That’s people’s hope, expectation.
Truth and fairness must rule the country,
For each without exception.
Blind loyalty is not patriotism:
It condones exploitation,
Ignores people’s legitimate rights,
And panders to corruption.
When wrongs are allowed to perpetuate,
They start a nation’s corrosion,
With ‘might is right’, there’s no real value,
That’s the death of a nation.
Being always ‘obedient’ mindlessly,
Is no patriotic action.
When citizens accept wrongs quietly,
Truth loses its firm traction,
Starting a sad downward slide unchecked…..
Doing things without question,
Being bad to cause dastardly mischiefs,
Is a traitor’s vile option.
Patriotism needs reciprocity
Of honourable intentions.
When a country loves, honours its folks,
People will love the nation.
Love can only truly developed,
Without disinformation.
Mutual trusts and respects must be forged,
To create the greatest nation.
It is unpatriotic when the Defence Ministry pays RM690,000 for a Rapid InterventionVehicle that the Sultan of Johor says an equivalent version should cost only RM150,000, less than 1/4 of Ministry’s price!
So now Zahid & UMNO – Scorpene or RIV, the same cheating goes on. Now who is patriotic? UMNO goons.
The Sultan is now having his laughs.
Actually the Sultan is wrong. The difference in price is called ‘hak istimewa’ Melayu (more accurately just UMNO) or better known as Dasar Ekonomi Baru..
Patriotism? Oh no one talks about such issues nowadays. It is important only during the olympic and also during wartime. And of course it still matters to umno. This is understandable because hey dont forget umno is still fighting an oddly outdated issue today. And indications are umno would still be on that very same issue 50yrs from today – assuming of course that ABU did not happen. What a dinasour! And for the rest of us, patriotism today is a very strange animal. Globalisation has everthing to do with it – that is the pull factor. And in malaysia, there is a second factor, i.e. umno – the push factor. Today, one can live and work thousands of miles away from home and yet remained firmly attached to his roots – his country of birth. This is true even for those who have taken on citizenship of another country. Cant speak for their offsprings though. Patriotism for them would surely morph further into perhaps a certain alien.
The objective of the game today is to raise our attractiveness so that as many as possible foreign talents come to our shore. So far umno has succeeded in attracting scums (a lot of them are living off the streets of kl) and manual workers.
… just a reflection.
JJ1B
RR1C!