RIFLE RANGE BOY

To reach your destination in comfort or reach there anyway?

2012-02-11T12:44:00.000+08:00

I have put down in words these two occurrences that happened this week over a short span of time. One of it happened in my scope of work and the other to someone I know.
The first person was a lady who was having menstrual problems for years altogether. Her GP, whom she saw last year, hurried her to have her problems ASAP as she appeared like an apparition to her, paler that a clean sheet in a deathly shade of pale that would make Casper the Friendly Ghost appear tanned! She, however, morbidly fearful of the people who use stethoscope as their trade tools, decided to procrastinate. Eight months later she presented at my workplace to be told of large growth in the cervix that need to be removed via a simple surgery but after treating her severe anaemia. Her haemoglobin level was 2.9 g/dl! (Normal female range: 11.0 - 14 g/dl) The last time I heard she was trying to get admitted at a medical facility near her house. Good for her....
My friend who has been suffering in agony for the past 25 years had finally thrown in the towel. He has decided to lose some of his wisdom by putting a final stop to his recurring problem of exacerbations and remissions of an impacted wisdom tooth. After having a painfully bad experience with a similar problem in the past during surgery on the contra-lateral side, he decided to procrastinate. Come Valentines' Day, he would lose his wisdom under general anaesthesia. Oh, no! If you indeed have certain memories erased from your brain as an effect of anaesthesia and you lose 2 of your total 4 of wisdom teeth, are you less than half smart? Anyway it cannot be that bad as 35% of the population do not develop wisdom teeth at all!

Not a yawn!

2012-02-10T11:00:00.001+08:00

I do not know why this 1946 movie is called 'The Big Sleep', it definitely did not put me to sleep. Especially when America's No.1 male actor of all time, the cigarette lit macho icon, the smart talking Humphrey Bogart acts in it delivering his punch dialogue in a matter-of-factly way as if he knew everything that is going on around. Set in a dark smoky environment to set the mood of the genre of the movie (film noir), most of the movie is shot in dim lighting and most characters puffing away like steam trains! FYI, Bogart succumbed to esophageal cancer at the age of 57.

Here he is paired with Lauren Bacall who acts as a sultry and flirty rich man's daughter. Bacall, almost half his age at that time, appear to blend quite well. This romance must have continued off-screen and ultimately wrecked his matrimony. Watching this movie you would realize that many of things that most present viewers would know as a big 'No, No' in case of homicide like turning the body and touching things in the crime scene, is done. Well, viewers at that time were not exposed to 'CSI' and 'Law and Order'!

The police appear toothless and have to depend on Bogart to set things up who is at the liberty of doing what he pleases (with the interest of his paying clients at heart) which in present day, be known as obstructing justice and tampering with evidence.The highlight of the film is the powerful dialogues and witty incisive talks.

A General Sternwood hires Marlowe, a P.I., (Bogart) to investigate discretely the debts of his gambling daughters. Marlowe's work uncovers General's two pretty daughters who are pretty wild, the murder of the creditor (blackmailer), gamut of topsy-turvy rollercoaster of an adventure where the bad guys get killed or caught and the good guy (Bogart) get the girl. Interestingly, I caught a glimpse in one of the scene of Marlowe spotting a wedding ring! Interesting!

Some lines of interest...

Sternwood: How do you like your brandy, sir?
Marlowe: In a glass.
Sternwood: I used to like mine with champagne. Champagne cold as Valley Forge and with about three ponies of brandy under it...I like to see people drink...You may take off your coat, sir...Too hot in here for any man who has any blood in his veins. You may smoke, too. I can still enjoy the smell of it. Nice state of affairs when a man has to indulge his vices by proxy.

The emaciated Sternwood describes the dreariness of his existence. The humid hothouse is necessary for his survival and he is waiting for death - the "big sleep" of the title - in the temperature-controlled greenhouse:

Sternwood: You are looking, sir, at a very dull survival of a very gaudy life - crippled, paralyzed in both legs, very little I can eat, and my sleep is so near waking that it's hardly worth the name. I seem to exist largely on heat, like a newborn spider. The orchids are an excuse for the heat. Do you like orchids?
Marlowe: Not particularly.
Sternwood: Nasty things! Their flesh is too much like the flesh of men, and their perfume has the rotten sweetness of corruption.

Masterpiece from the unheard decibels of a scream of a lunatic!

2012-02-08T22:37:00.014+08:00

During my visit to the Louvre, I had arrived just at opening time. In spite of all the fantastic artwork and relics around, people were not interested. They were all zooming in to view the highlight of the revered museum- The Mona Lisa! Only to be disappointed be its miniature size dwarfed by all the surrounding mammoth work of art.
Ask anyone which is the second most painting in the world, chances are that they would probably only about Mona Lisa, Da Vinci and the mystery surrounding the identity, the masala and the uncertainty of the gender of the subject. The second, No!
Just to prove my point, I asked my two sons. Just like throwing a pie on my face, they matter-of-factly told me even without looking at me, The Scream. On probing, I found that they found it out from watching 'Sponge Bob Square Pants'. Yeah, the show which is accused of shortening attention span! They are more knowledgeable than I thought they were.
Just like all works of art, 'The Scream' has its own story.
I first saw it in primary school (painted by a student) decorating the hall without me knowing what it was. And it appeared again in secondary school as somebody's linograph printing in art and craft class. When the posters of 'Home Alone'was staring all over the world, little did I know that it was mirrored after the famous painting.
'The Scream' was painted by Edvard Munch, a Norwegian painter in 1893 in a street in Oslo.
This street housed a mental asylum in a country with the highest rate of suicide in the world. Walking along the street, one could hear screams of its inmate. Hence, the painting and the scream.
In 'Home Alone', the posture of the boy is meant to accentuate the scream of a boy forgotten by his family and is left to to fend for himself an otherwise innate piece of paper!

“I was walking along a path with two friends – the sun was setting – suddenly the sky turned blood red – I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence – there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city – my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.” Edvard Munch, 1893

Oh Muruga! Where Art Thou?

2012-02-07T07:30:00.000+08:00

Shiv family (North)

Siva family (South)

Coin, 200BCE, Indus Valley

Somebody said that Hinduism is amalgamation of believes of many in the one God with various manifestations and names. The earlier settlers who jump started the civilization in the Indus Valley had their own Gods of worship. Along came the culture from the North, either by cultural or physical invasion. Their mode of worship was forcibly or by diffusion infused into the society. Some society members never forgot their predecessor icons and continued worshipping them in their own way and stories were created to substantiate their practice.
With that background in my mind, I was not at all surprised when the secretary of the temple, on his routine weekly announcement of events of the following week, totally omitted Thaipusam in his list. He was faithfully reading out on this prayer and that prayer and Shivrathri. That's it!
Actually, Murugan (Kaarthikeyan) has been hanging around the scriptures since the first millennium BCE. Somewhere along way, Murugan who appeared as the elder son of Shiva disappeared in some scriptures and appeared in other the younger brother of Ganesh and the eternal manifestation of youth. From the middle ages, He disappears from the North but makes sporadic appearances in certain parts of India like Haryana, Punjab, Bengal and Maharashtra.

Happy Thaipusam! Just call his name and He will come flying down in his peacock....

Lovely locked modern day Sherlock!

2012-02-06T10:23:00.001+08:00

Meet the new 21st century occupant of 221B Baker Street, London. Yes! It is yet another version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictitious crime buster, Sherlock Holmes - 2011 BBC edition.
Thanks to UniFi and BitTorrent, we are not at total dependence for the strewn our way by our unfriendly satellite TV to view new shows.
I just finished viewing the three 1-hour episodes of the entertaining Season 1 series of Sherlock which were released in the UK in 2010. Refreshing, cocky, conceited tenant of Baker Street terrorizing the streets of London doing what the present day CSI team should be doing. Only this time, the streets of London appear clean and breathable and the London Black Cab is Sherlock and Watson's frequent mode of transport , not hansom cab as in the original Doyle's novel. Also missing are the paraphernalia frequently associated with Holmes- the Sherlock cap and the pipe (Sherlock is on nicotine patch now). I wonder if he is still on dope. Holmes is still the mysterious character frequently in his own world but I did not hear him say, "Elementary, my dear Watson!". Watson is an Army doctor who injured himself in tour of duty in Afghanistan. His injury turned out to psycho-somatic as thought by Holmes and towards the end of the first episode, he was running together with Holmes after the bandit!

Another gem from the bygone era!

2012-02-04T16:19:00.001+08:00

The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
Yet another blockbuster movie produced by an oft misunderstood under appreciated blacklisted director who was way ahead of his time, his 1948 release film noir of 'The Lady from Shanghai'. This bigger than life flamboyant megalomaniac but empty in the pockets Orson Welles did this movie whilst his relationship with wife, the WWII pin-up poster queen, Rita Hayworth, was rock bottom and he was blacklisted in Hollywood after the grandeur disappointment of Citizen Kane at that time. Before the film was released, they finalized the divorce and 'The Lady' also received poor reception by the critics! That is until many many years later...again!

Rita Hayworth the pin-up
with her signature locks

Viewers were disappointed with Hayworth's bob cut and could not understand Welles' weird camera angles, its convoluted story line, sense of humour and tongue-in-cheek type of narration. Almost an hour of movie was cut from the final release to pacify the audience!

Michael O'Hara is a seamen with a bad police record who meet a promiscuous mysterious married lady, Elsa, on a mysterious night in New York. He is harrased to partake in a yatch trip from NY via Panama canal to San Francisco by her and her husband, a crippled attorney with a drinking problem, Arthur Bannister.

The journey becomes weird with suspicious characters aboard - Arthur's partner (George), butler (a private detective who is hired by Arthur to keep an eye on his wife), maid and the flirty Elsa. The trip takes them to exotic locations including Acapulco. It gets weirder when George offers O'Hara a cool $5000 to sign a confession of killing George! George wanted to disappear and go incognito to claim his insurance money whilst O'Hara cannot be prosecuted without a body. The plot gets complicated and darker. A devious elaborate plan is laid out by George with alibi and witness. The only problem was that George and the PI is killed and blood is on Michael's hands.

Arthur defends him in a court filled with mockery and pandemonium. It seems that Welles' had an inherent dislike to lawyers. That was his way of taking a swipe at them. For example, when Arthur is at the witness stand, he is asked whether he is admitted to the Bar to the laughing crowd, obliviously referring to his drinking habit and the bar with alcoholic spirits! The judge is playing chess in his chambers whilst the jury deliberate!

Aversion to smoking in slowly setting as seen in the signboards around courtrooms and prison rooms -but they are still smoking anyway. Maybe Welles is trying to convey the message that the lawyers themselves do not respect the law!

O'Hara escapes from the courtroom in a comedy of errors to clear his name. At the final scene, we discover that Elsa is femme fatale who masterminded the whole plot to have both George and Arthur killed for her to claim the insurance money and run.

As in all of Welles' movies, the dialogue is the powerful tool that never fail to fascinate me. When O'Hara is held in amusement park as captive (it was a new concept in the 40s), he realises that he is the fall guy and he fall into a roller coaster slide - this type of word play is indeed cheeky.

There is an unusual creepy scene in a public aquarium with weird looking fishes in the background that accentuates the suspense is worth mentioning. The final confrontation scene before the curtain fall is revolutionary in a crazy Magic Mirror Maze.
An excellently gripping watch..... and let me ponder upon some of the lines....
At the start of movie...introduction...

When I start out to make a fool of myself, there's very little can stop me. If I'd known where it would end, I'd never let anything start, if I'd been in my right mind, that is. But once I'd seen her, once I'd seen her, I was not in my right mind for quite some time...me, with plenty of time and nothing to do but get myself in trouble. Some people can smell danger, not me.

That's how I found her, and from that moment on, I did not use my head very much, except to be thinking of her.

Personally, I don't like a girlfriend to have a husband. If she'll fool her husband, I figure she'll fool me.

Before the closing credits.....

I went to call the cops, but I knew she'd be dead before they got there and I'd be free. Bannister's note to the DA would fix it. I'd be innocent officially, but that's a big word - innocence. Stupid's more like it. Well, everybody is somebody's fool. The only way to stay out of trouble is to grow old, so I guess I'll concentrate on that. Maybe I'll live so long that I'll forget her. Maybe I'll die trying.

Hitchcockian humour in a musical?

2012-02-02T08:44:00.000+08:00

Waltzes from Vienna (1934)
At a time of financial weakness and desperation, Alfred Hitchcock must have made his first and last musical drama. It has a lot of Hitchcockian eccentric comedy of sorts , poking fun at the life of the rich Viennese aristocrats. Johann Strauss Jr., a disillusioned young man ridiculed by his famous composer father for his 'laughable' compositions, tries desperately to have his composition heard.

He befriends a young pretty countess who takes a liking to his abilities and takes it upon herself to get his composition public. This infuriates Jr's baker's daughter girlfriend, Rasi who is quite contended with him donning baker's hat and getting his hands dirty with flour.

The countess plans a devious scheme to delay Senior Strauss' arrival at a private presentation whilst Jr. is coaxed to lead the rostrum to the demands of a boisterous Viennese aristocratic crowd to lead the waltz 'Blue Danube' to a petrified crowd. Through a spat of confusion of events, Johann Jr. reconciles with Rasi and countess leaves the young lovers alone.The animosity between father and son continues, however.

This is an adaptation of the story young Johan Strauss, in real life, whose father wanted him to be a banker. The music in him could not be contained and the result is the evergreen, ever popular "Blue Danube'.

One memorable moment in this movie is when Rasi is caught kissing her boyfriend by her baker father. He said' "Do you know that I was allowed to kiss your mother only 6 months after the wedding?" To which she replied, "Father, is that why you were 50 when I was born?"

Oh Dickens! History repeats itself!

2012-02-01T08:54:00.000+08:00

Every living day is a learning experience. I recently discovered something new, to drive home the point that counterfeiting and bootlegging is not just the work of Chinese and the members of the Third World. Many laws have been belted out to safeguard an entity called intellectual property.
Back in the time when America was a young nation made up of disgruntled individuals who escaped poverty, famine and persecution in the European continent, Charles Dickens, the English novelist, discovered, much to his chagrin, that many of his works like David Copperfield were printed and sold indiscriminately without any permission from him in the New World. In fact, during his visit to New York, besides giving lectures in support of condemnation of slavery and recording many of his impressions of America, he lobbied in raising support for copyright laws!
Fast forward, one and half century later, the tides have reversed. America is acting with 'holier than thou' attitude against countries thriving to come out from ashes to survive.

Excerpt from the past...

Struggles For Copyright Laws
In January 1842 Charles Dickens and his wife, Catherine, traveled to the United States. Dickens wanted to see the sites, learn about the country and do research for a future series of articles.
While on tour Dickens often spoke of the need for an international copyright agreement. The lack of such an agreement enabled his books to be published in the United States without his permission and without any royalties being paid.
This situation also affected American writers like Edgar Allan Poe. Poe's works were published in England without his consent.
Dickens first realized that he was losing income because of the lack of national in international copyright laws in 1837 when The Pickwick Papers was published in book form. At times the novel was reprinted without his permission and sometimes even imitated.
Some of Dickens's struggles with copyright laws made it into his fiction. In this scene from Nicholas Nickleby, Nicholas is speaking to a man "who had dramatised in his time two hundred and forty-seven novels as fast as they had come out--some of them faster than they had come out . . ."

As guilty as sin!

2012-01-30T21:10:00.000+08:00

Continuing my journey of cultural enlightenment saw me seated in the seats of PJLA watching a standup comedy show by the 'Comedy Court' duo of Alan Pereira and Indy Nadarajah. Cultural performances have always depicted the evolving times in life of mankind. It had also helped to change the route of direction of progress of mankind.
In India, puppet shows were used to highlight the brutality of the colonists and incite the people to fight for self rule. In China, cultural performances were rendezvous for secret meetings to make plans for mutiny against the mean pompous dynasties. Hence, cultural performances are not always in praise of the Creator or in ecstasy of pleasures of love and life!
'Not Guilty' is a political satirical comedy composing of three sketches cleverly laced with song parodies. In the first segment, 'Who wants to be a Billionaire', they took jibe at a typical Chinaman bookie and the numerous loss invoking ventures by the ruling Government. The part that stuck on my mind is when the host compliments the participant (a B.K. Ma from Cheras, BK for Boo Kee@bookie!) for donning a batik shirt in the spirit of 1Malaysia to which BK cooly replies, "No-lah, just went to Genting to gamble, no time to change!" You see, in order to enter the casino, one has to be dressed in suit or batik. The true / false questions all involve government scandals!

In the next segment, two lawyers (Loga and Singam - the roles that skyrocketed their success) at a bar, whining about basically everything in their lives especially the infamous Sodomy II trial.
The final sketch was the one that took the bull by the horn. It was a show of unabated bashing on the teachings of the The Obedient Wives' Club. Here, both our comedians dressed up to the nines as Malay ladies complete with head gear (tudung), baju kurung and the works to dwell into the secrets of the bedroom acts only to discover that the contended club's coordinators' husband is two timings with a new member who came to satisfy her soon to be husband! The acting was superb and I could easily identify with similar characters with similar mannerisms in our daily lives.
Interspersed between these sketches were parodies of songs like 'Itsy Bitsy Yellow Polka Dot Bikini' on Bersih and its yellow Tshirt wearers; 'Old McDonald' on the NFC livestock scandal; 'Stand by Me' on their Viagra ideas.
Personally, I found the first sketch a bit draggy but Indy played a very good depiction of an everyday off the street typical Chinaman. Overall the show was rated 18SX for mature audiences with its offensive sexual innuendos (more downright, actually) and political ridicules which would make any dictator cringe. Well, it can be said that freedom of speech is very much alive and kicking as this duo have been churning this type of humor for 2 decades without any incarceration.

RRF to PPSP: Ep. 5: Some quirky mates and their actions!

2012-01-30T19:52:00.001+08:00

At a time when South Africa was shying away from Apartheid, when the loud sounds of 'Gimme Hope Joanna' were heard in every Soweto* and streets of Johannesburg, Malaysia was embracing racism full scale after the 69 mayhem. What better (or worse) place to perceive this transformation than the local universities.
In my batch (just like the rest of the varsity), the non Bumis stuck together for play and work. A handful of upper class middle Malay students would join us every now and then. That's it- they were no 'bro'!

Mutley (of Wacky Races)

In essence, the Bumis and the nons interacted amongst themselves.
The non-Bumi guys in our batch used to refer to each other with the prefix 'homosapiens' followed by a suffix characteristic of their trait or character. There was a guy who spiced his conversation with unnecessary profanity, hence his title was homo sapien vulgaris; homo sapien negroides- coarse features and thick lips; homo sapien sinensis - Chinese educated student who hummed Mandarin love songs; homo sapien Brahminensis - a vegetarian Brahmin; homosapien caucasionoid - a student with Caucasian ancestory; etcetera.. My juniors (Indian guys) gave the surname 'Soon' to all of us, obviously referring to a certain female anatomy in crude Tamil lingo! Ravi Soon, Raja Soon...
At a different time, we were all from the 'Nai' family - 'Nai' refers to dog in Tamil (நாய்). The first name here too referred to their peculiar habits, e.g. Sori Nai (Scratching Dog) for the guy who was stingy with his daily showers; Karuppu Nai (Black dog) for his dark complexion; Pottei Nai (Bitch) for his effeminate tendencies and so on.

Felix the cat

And some of the antics of some of the guys...
There was a guy amongst who thought that he was Amitabh Bachchan's lost twin brother. Donning his wall was a photo of him in a posture of him on a scrambler motorcycle similar to one done by Big B. Stories abound that he was born right handed, he trained himself to eat and write his left. Well, he could pose off in one of long lists of wannabes but would lose hands down to the maniacs in Bharat Desh!
And another John Travolta look-alike full with the cleft chin and all! He went around the world thinking that he was God's gift to the female gender. He enjoyed being in company of girls, getting away with whatever derogatory remarks he made (because girls went all flaccid at the sight of him!) until he stepped the wrong toe and got a slipper thrown right smack on his face! He cooled down his activity after this turn of event spread around varsity like bush fire.
I remember a time when there was Malay girl in class behind whom Tony Romano (Travolta in Saturday Night Fever) look alike used to sit, purposely! Everything was going on fine with the spreading his suave and she flirting shamelessly. The day came when she plunged into a relationship to a guy who joined the bandwagon of enlightened human beings who was preparing themselves for the afterlife rather live for the moment. Slowly, this girl's fashion sense became more conservative - the skirts became longer and the sleeveless blouses became sleeved...
During this evolution, Travolta, like in the Red Riding Hood upon seeing the changed Grandma, commented, "Wow! You have nice legs." The next day, she was dressed in sarong. Then, he went on, "Nice neck!" - swish came the mandarin collar; Next, "Nice hair!" - swish came the head gear (tudung); Next "Nice toes!" - swish came the socks. Before he could say, "Nice fingers" and started describing her lips and beyond, she intelligently (are you sure?), changed places and sat far from our macho Romeo!
To be continued.....

* Soweto [(suh-wet-oh, suh-way-toh)]
Collective name for township inhabited by black Africans, located southwest Johannesburg, South Africa.

Not the "Pleasure Garden" as they look for!

2012-01-29T15:35:00.000+08:00

This is the earliest of the collection of the silent movies that is currently in my possession. When I told one of my friends that I was going to watch a 1925 (released in 1927) silent movie called 'Pleasure Garden', he asked whether it was an adult themed porn flick!
Of course not, it is Alfred Hitchcock's directorial debut. Pleasure Garden is the name of the hall where Jill and Patsy were dancing girls.
Jill's fiancé, Hugh, who is working in an estate overseas visits her with his friend, Levet. After a brief vacation, Hugh returns to work. Jill's fame skyrockets afterwards and is wooed by a rich prince. Patsy's advice to Jill on being level headed and faithful to Hugh falls to deaf ears and their relationship sours.
Patsy is smitten with Levet and decide to tie the knot. Towards the end of her honeymoon, Patsy realizes Levet's true colour. Levet returns overseas to continue his work.

Virginia Valli as Patsy

In one of the rather infrequent letters sent to Patsy, Levet mentioned of him suffering from a nasty tropical fever. Thinking of the worst, Patsy rushes to care for her husband only to discover of his alcoholic lifestyle and sinful liaison with a native woman. Patsy is abused. She is rescued only to discover that Hugh is stricken with 'love-sickness' after discovering that the love of his life, Jill, is to marry someone else. Patsy nurses Hugh back to health and they become a couple only to return home and live happily ever after.
One interesting scene that captured my imagination in this otherwise not so fantastic movie happened in the earlier part of the show. Jill's dog, Cuddles, started licking Patsy's sole when she was kneeling at her bed praying. Irritated, she kicked the dog away to the dog's howling whilst she continued her divine obligation! It is said that these are the subtle brickbats that Hitchcock hurls at his strict Catholic upbringing in his childhood.

Lost Symbol: Lost plot? Loss of ideas?

2012-01-28T10:56:00.000+08:00

Finally got down to read Dan Brown's book 'The Lost Symbol' which I got as a birthday gift (? 2years ago). Over the years, his books have degenerated from 'off the edge unputdownable' to 'readable' to 'he has lost it'! With 'Da Vinci's Code', it was revelation page after page of facts that satisfied the belly of every conspiracy theorist. In 'Lost Symbols', I did not find it anything new to be excited about. Maybe because it was predominantly American history in the limelight which I know very little about and about the symbols found in the American currency notes and landscapes which is quite alien to me.
We have all heard about the conspiracy of the group of stone workers (The Masons @ The Lodge) who established secret symbols to communicate and hide the truth in their endeavour to rule the world. In this book, our hero, Prof Robert Langdon, is summoned (by deceit) to decipher certain symbols to rescue his mentor (Dr Peter Solomon, a Mason) from a raving madman. CIA comes into the scene as the madman may reveal certain information that may embarrass certain high profile figures. The maniac is in pursuit of the true secrets of life which is believed to be hidden and encrypted in symbol guarded by the Masons. The roller coaster adventure takes us all around Washington DC, to underground uncompleted pyramid, killing and miraculous escape of Langdon from apparent drowning. As in all fictions, heroes never die. Here the author goes one step further. Just when you thought that there is no way Langdon was going to survive hours of immersion in water, the liquid turned out be oxygenated perfluorocarbon which makes oxygen exchange in lung still possible. Langdon's love interest is Dr Katherine Solomon, Peter's sister who is deep into Noetic Sciences (mind over matter field).
The madman turns out to be Peter's prodigal son who was ostracized for going wayward into drugs and pleasures of the world. He faked his own death in a Turkish prison to avenge his family for not bailing him out. After realizing that Masons have privy to secrets of the universe, he dwells into obtaining enlightenment through violence and gore. In the end, after the merry-go-round, he discovers that his sacrificial release of his soul from his body turned out to be his death, not the Truth he was looking for.
At the end of the day what I understood from this book is that God is in our mind and the mystery that made life on Earth go on is HOPE!

2 angles of the same story

2012-01-26T18:26:00.000+08:00

I think his case should be discussed in Psychiatry Grand Rounds not Forbes!

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysian-worlds-first-trillionaire

Malaysian world’s first trillionaire?

By Yow Hong Chieh

January 22, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 — A Malaysian businessman who claims descent from Javanese royalty has alleged that he has some €5 trillion (RM20 trillion) in savings, which would make him the world’s first trillionaire and the world’s richest man by far.

Perak-born Kamal Ashnawi, who heads Sierra Petroleum Sdn Bhd, disclosed this at a press conference here yesterday where he showed reporters a copy of a bank statement from HSBC London, Utusan Malaysia reported today.

The riches were inherited from the Combined International Collateral of the Global Debt Facility set up in 1875 by the world’s royal families, he claimed.

Forbes magazine lists Mexican telco tycoon Carlos Slim Helú as the world’s richest man, with an estimated net worth of US$63.3 billion (RM196.5 billion) in 2011.

Coming in a close second on the rich list is Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose net worth is reported to be US$59 billion (RM182.3 billion).

In comparison, Malaysia’s richest man, Ananda Krishnan, has a net worth of only US$9.6 billion (RM29.8 billion).

Kamal had called the press conference to refute allegations following the failure of a crude oil processing plant in Kuala Kedah he had proposed in 2005, the Malay-language daily reported.

“This is my last offer to help Malays and companies by investing in three projects in Perlis, Johor and Kelantan in the near future,” he was quoted as saying.

The projects comprise a commercial tourism centre in Kuala Perlis, a Pirates of the Caribbean theme park in Danga Bay, Johor Bahru and a commerical project in Kelantan.

They will be spearheaded by SAS Group, a group of alumni from Sekolah Alam Shah, where Kamal had gone to school.

Since the failure of the proposed Kuala Kedah plant, Kamal has spent much of his time overseas. He said yesterday he intends to reside in Hong Kong for a few years starting in March before moving to Indonesia.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/1/26/nation/20120126072339&sec=nation

Enter the ‘Emperor of Indonesia’
Thursday January 26, 2012

IT is not every day that you get to meet a trillionaire. So when I was invited to interview Kamal Ashnawi, a person I've never heard of, I said yes.
On Saturday morning, at a Kuala Lumpur hotel coffee house together with two of Kamal's aides, I waited for the so-called trillionaire.
Wearing a baseball cap, long-sleeved shirt and jeans, he sauntered over to our table. The two aides bowed, pressed their palms together to their forehead as if greeting royalty and kissed his hands.
“We call him Tuanku as he is a sultan from Indonesia,” one of the aides whispered to me.
According to Kamal, he is a Dutch citizen born in Tanjung Malim, Perak, on Jan 1, 1964.
“I'm a descendent of the Emperor of China and in a history that went haywire, my family fled from China to Kedah. I traced my bloodline to the royal families of China, India, Java and Siam,” claimed the man who is also known as Raden Mas Prabhu Gusti Agung Ki Asmoro Wijoyo.
“I grew up in Tanjung Malim and my family here is very simple and ordinary. Nobody in my family talks about our royal blood and wealth. But my grandmother once told me: “You are special and, when the time comes, you will know.”
It was in Holland in the late 1980s that Kamal “found out who he really was”. A member of an Indonesian royal family, kicked out of the country by president Sukarno, told him he was of royal blood.
In London in the early 1990s, a lawyer told Kamal about his royal family's massive wealth. Uncon vinced, he told the lawyer to prove his claims.
He and the lawyer flew from London to Hong Kong to meet the “keeper of the royal treasure”. From there, Kamal and the keeper travelled to Kunming in China.
They hiked up a mountain for four hours and reached a cave guarded by an old couple who, Kamal says, are immortals.
“If you tried to pass them without their blessing, you would cough blood and die,” he said.
Inside the three-metre-high cave, Kamal saw gold bars stacked like a pagoda, US$15mil (RM46mil) in jade and US$10mil (RM31mil) in diamonds and stacks of US dollars.
“I took a gold bar and knocked it on a rock. It was really gold. The treasure is the wealth of the dynasties that ruled China. Their wealth was also kept in other mountains and in vaults all over the world,” he said.
About three years ago, when Kamal watched Nicholas Cage's movie National Treasure, he laughed.
“The treasure in the movie was small compared to the wealth I saw in the mountain,” he said.
Next, Kamal told of his meeting two years ago in Kuala Lumpur with Dr Wong Eng Po, a royal physician from China.
Dr Wong placed his hand on Kamal's bald head, then immediately bowed in front of Kamal and ordered his five followers to do the same.
“He said I was the reincarnation of Emperor Nurhaci (1661-1626) of China. He felt an energy on my head which was superhuman because an emperor, unlike an ordinary human, has to think more.
“I'm the reincarnation of two emperors of China,” Kamal added.
He elaborated that a few years ago, the royal family decided he would be the sole administrator of the royal wealth kept in secret accounts in about 1,000 banks worldwide.
“This means that 86.7% of the world's money belongs to me,” he said.
Taking out several folders, Kamal said: “You're lucky, I brought documents.”
He produced an A4-sized paper with the photographs of the national treasure, the immortal couple and several “official-looking” letters from an international bank certifying he has an account of five trillion euros (RM20tril).
“That is a small amount. I have more money in other banks and institutions,” he added.
I wondered why his name has not appeared in the Forbes' list of world's richest people. And a suspicion lingered about his claims.
However, I could not authenticate his documents since the bank was closed for Chinese New Year.
Kamal has not made any withdrawal from the account as “it is not money that you can move just like that”.
“The money is under the control of Indonesia, Germany, Britain, the US and the Euro Central Bank and I've got to go smooth with them,” he said.
“I can't use the money directly but I will invest in certain projects. Like three trillion euros (RM12tril) to green a desert in China.”
Curious, I asked what was the difference between a billionaire and a trillionaire.
He replied: “A billionaire needs to show he has the money. But for me, I don't need to show that I got money. I can travel in a bus. I can wear slippers.”
Born in the year of the dragon, Kamal believes 2012 is his year. In March, he says he will negotiate with institutions such as the IMF to be recognised as the Emperor of Indonesia.
He says he's rich. But his story could just be as rich.
Let's hope he is not another Elie Youssef Najem, the so-called Lebanese billionaire who made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Pact of loyalty at a price

2012-01-26T07:50:00.001+08:00

People may frown and sneer at me watching silent movies. After all the advancement in acting and sound systems, it can be mind boggling to have one sitting through a full length silent movie as if you are living in a world filled with the hearing impaired or speech challenged people! What is important to me in a film is not the glitz of props and razzmatazz of ornaments draped around the actors but rather, I am a sucker for good stories. Of course, a silent movie is not silent. There is an ascending and descending crescendo of musical score. Only the actors are acting, not speaking to be heard.

Hats of the swinging 1920s

I recently watched one of the oldest silent movies that I have watched - Downhill, a 1927 Alfred Hitchcock directed British film.
There is more to silent movies than Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin's antics. As speech expression is a handicap, the players compensate with sometimes, exaggerated, facial expressions and hand gestures. It is interesting to see the fashion sense of the swinging twenties. Actresses have started expressing their independence and escaped domestication by leaving behind the long mane and were seen all spotting well oiled short boy-haircuts. Hats were the favourite fashion of the day but I cannot help but compare their bucket hats with drooping brims to the Penang City Council night-soil workers of 60s, but that is just me!
The fixation to pearly whites had not set in as their teeth (of the actors) appeared stained like a betel leave and nut or paan chewing addict!

The story... may appear melodramatic, ala-Indian movie like!
Bretwick, an all rounder school captain is accused of inappropriate behaviour with a school canteen servant. Being a true friend, he takes the blame knowing well his best friend is the culprit and that the friend may lose his scholarship if convicted. Bretwick is then expelled. Coming from a high heeled family, he leaves his affluent life after a tiff with his father for not believing his sincerity.
Working as an assistant with a drama company, he befriends a famous actress with expensive taste. Inheriting a £30,000 windfall from a dead Godmother makes it easier to win her heart who obviously is interested in his bank balance. They marry and as soon as his money runs out, her liaison with her old boyfriend is rekindled. He is chased out penniless.
Starting anew in France as a fifty-francs-per-dance dancer to entertain old bored housewives, he realises the obvious fakeness of mankind. Well, in the 50s in Malaya, this type of job would be called (for the female) 'perempuan ronggeng' or gigolo in modern times. He is in the lowest ebb of life, depressed and homesick.

From Marseilles, 'rats from the docks' type of kind souls, actually, ship him back to England.
He becomes delusional and his entire life appears in front of him. When all avenues were deemed close, in blind instinct, the prodigal son comes back home to the open arms of the parents. Truth is known, everything is forgotten, forgiven and life is reinstated in its previous glory.
Outdoor shooting was still at an infantile stage here, maybe neonatal, as evidenced by jerky penning and limited brisk exposure of shots. It is interesting though to glimpse at the real streets of London. It is the street, not studio as I do not think they had mammoth studios with make believe towns yet! They did not know the importance of spring cleaning and gotong royong, the lanes were strewn with garbage. I think only when Dr Ronald Ross impressed upon people the relationship of clean air and malaria, was proper street cleansing understood. [Malaria, mal=bad, air=air]
Overall, it was an entertaining flick. Just that the Western story lines have changed over the years, Indian movies have got suspended in time still churning out one melodramatic feat after another.

Go savour the 'Sweet Smell of Success!'

2012-01-24T17:15:00.000+08:00

I think I am watching way too much TV as evidenced by my frequent reviewing of old movies. At least the tinge of nostalgia is still there in the blog.
This 1957 movie was just a mediocre movie when it was released but over time, like wine, aged gracefully and is placed in the archives of American movies as national treasure.

Tony Curtis & Burt Lancaster

A good half an hour into the movie, you would be lost as if you had just joined in an ongoing conversation and trying very hard to figure out what everyone is talking about. Then it will unfold piece by piece. It is a drama revealing the dirty insincere world of powerful newspaper owner, his sister with her love of her life and a publicity agent who doubles as one who does his dirty work. J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) is a ruthless newspaper man who literally squeezes everyone in town by their throat. Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis), the suave raccoon-eyed versatile hunk, is a down trodden, publicity agent who fell in bad times after failing to fulfill his obligation with Hunsecker of masterminding of nipping of his sister's love in the bud. Hunsecker thought that his sister's love interest was not up to mark. Outcast Sidney finds it difficult to make ends meet. After desperately seeking Hunsecker's meeting, he is given a second chance to rectify his earlier faux paus. Sidney plans a devious plan to tarnish Hunsecker's sister Susan's musician boyfriend image in a rival newspaper column. Susan leaves her true love and attempts suicide. Sidney somehow lands there in the nick of time. Thinking that his sister is assaulted by Sidney, a scuffle ensues between Hunsecker and Sidney. The truth is rattled out. Susan leaves her brother for the love of her life.
Tony Curtis, even though is the supporting actor, is given a meatier role and is seen in most frames. This black and white movie set in the glitzy nightclub life of Club 21 New York with the background of 'loud' jazz music. There is no gunpowder violence but is compensated by its extensive use of incisive powerful dialogues.

"I would hate to take a bite out of you. You are a cookie full of arsenic!"

"Mr Hunsecker, you have got more twists than a barrel of pretzels!"

"If looks could kill, I would be dead."

Masihkah kau ingat?

2012-01-23T11:39:00.000+08:00

We, the product of the post NEP era, grew literally soaked in an environment filled with the Malay Language and its culture. With limited exposure to the outside world via telecommunications, (the pre-Top of Pops and music video era), we were bombarded with cultural presentations meted out by the sole telecommunications controller of yesteryear Radio and Television Malaysia (RTM).
We were exposed to likes of singers of the 70s through 90s Sudirman, JJ, Flybaits , Ramli Sarip, Sweet Charity, Chris Vadham, Ben Nathan, Chris Vadham, Alleycats, Rafeah Buang, Wann (the singer with constipated voice), Search, etcetera . This does not include the exposure to P.Ramlee and his brand of music and humour.
We, the Malaysian post NEP generation have been exposed to lots of Malay literature and music throughout outgrowing age and we are quite well versed with the turn of events in the local scene. If not for the ever changing rules and vocabulary set the language governing authority (DBP), we would still be literary professors. A language is suppose to evolve over time but when then the structure and vocabulary changes at the lip of a coin many times within a lifetime, we call that being fickle.
Sometimes, I listen to the songs that I use to hear in my childhood on radio, specifically on Klasik FM (RIMA-Radio Irama Melayu Asli) at 93.9FM in the Klang Valley. It has since been disbanded recently and had been fused into the national Malay radio channel under the banner of Klasik Nasional.
The interesting shows there are 'Masihkah Kau Ingat?'- showcasing songs from 1970- 90 era and 'Hati Ke Hati' - request programme playing songs of the 1950-60 golden era of the Malay screen. In the new programme schedule, 'Hati ke Hati' has been slashed.
The point of discontent with these networks is that the programmers assume that all its listeners of one particular ethnic race and religion only. All the salutations and special programmes were aligned these lines and the others were assumed to uninterested and uninformed about this genre. There will be a lot of hype and razzmatazz about Ramadan, fasting, Hari Raya Puasa and Merdeka but not a single mention of Gregorian New Year, Chinese New Year, Thaipusam, Deepavali or Christmas. This way of thinking is common in all non-English speaking channels. I can vouch for the Tamil radio station as well. They assume that all Minnal FMs listeners are all Tamil speaking and on Hindu faith! Talk about stereotyping, not a mention of ushering in the Year of the Water Dragon or well wishes on Klasik Nasional FM! Anyway, Gong Xi Fa Cai!

This is the song that the quartet of us (FG, Ooi Tuck Yew, Ahmad Sabri, Rosli Amran) practised to sing for our school annual singing contest in 1982. The contest was cancelled due to lack of quorum of participants. We remember the nostalgic fond jamming sessions in the Sick Bay Room!

Myths can also be dangerous

2012-01-22T21:33:00.000+08:00

Farish A Noor
10:57AM Jan 19, 2012

Over the last two days I have been interviewed three times by three different media publications over the question of where I stand on the latest silly debate in Malaysia, namely the question of whether Hang Tuah existed or not, and whether it ought to be taught in schools.
This is, I have to confess, one of the smaller histories of Malaysia that has been in the footnotes of my mind for ages, and I recall how I was once asked by an elderly gentleman during a forum discussion in KL in 1998 if it was true that Hang Tuah was of Chinese origin.

Let me state what little I know of the matter, and make my stand relatively clearer:
Firstly, I don't know or care if Hang Tuah was Chinese, Malay, Japanese, Eskimo or Serbo-Croat. He could have been a mix of all of the above with a Martian wife and a Venusian mother-in-law for all I care;
Secondly, no, there is no record of the keris Taming Sari either, and every antique shop that claims to have one is lying to get your money; and,Thirdly, please note that in the Hikayat Hang Tuah we also have stories of kerises that fly, magical potions, demons and monsters, and a magical bean that when swallowed allows you to speak all languages. (A bit like the Babel fish in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy methinks.)

Looking for facts in fiction
Look, for the umpteenth time may I state that in my opinion theHikayat Hang Tuah is a work of fiction.
Looking for facts in fiction is like trying to find the exact location where the battle of the Mahabharatta was fought, or the exact spot where King Arthur removed the sword Excalibur from the stone. It's a story, for heavens sake!
Though I have not read the exact comments made by Professor Khoo Kay Kim that sparked off this debate, I was made to understand that all Prof Khoo said was that Hang Tuah did not exist in the form of an actual, living, historical human being.
On that count, he happens to be right as there are also no written records to show that Marco Polo ever went to China - and some historians have even claimed that his account of China was entirely fabricated, and put together from other accounts of other travellers who did make the journey to the land of the Celestials themselves.
Hang Tuah was, and remains, a myth: And myths are only that - grand narratives that make it into the national consciousness and become part of a nation's symbolic and discursive repertoire.Some works of fiction may indeed have historical details in them, and Tolstoy's War and Peace stands out as a prominent example. Nobody doubts if Napoleon existed, if Napoleon invaded Russia, if the battle of Borodino was fought in 1812.
But just because these places and dates are true does not mean that Pierre Besuhov or Prince Andrei Bolkonsky existed too.
Tolstoy simply weaved a monumental tale that was spun through a combination of fiction and facts, and the product was a classic of European literature.

Hang Tuah myth exploited
And this is where my gripe lies: That for decades too many extreme right-wing nationalist buffoons in Malaysia have sought to instrumentalise the myth of Hang Tuah as a vehicle for all sorts of nefarious and dubious ideological ends: as a testament to ethnic majoritarianism, as a primordial claim to land and belonging, as a means to proclaim ethnic dominance etc.
And yet - until today - an overwhelming number of semi-literate Malaysians pontificate at length about a text they have never read in full.People claim Hang Tuah as a member of their 'race', despite the fact that in the second part of the Hikayat Hang Tuah the character renounces all worldly belonging to kingdom and kind.
Right-wing nationalists claim him as an ethnic hero, despite the fact that by the end of the story Hang Tuah gives up his keris, abandons his kingdom, turns his back on power and becomes a wandering everyman mystic-emissary of peace.
He finds/found salvation through a denial of the world and its attendant riches and power, and becomes a nobler man because he denies racism, nationalism and forms of parochial sectarian power-politics.
That is why he is a hero, for heavens sake.
And despite all that - which can be found in the Hikayat if only people took the time to read it - Malaysians still ask if Hang Tuah was Malay or Chinese?
I agree with Prof Khoo that history has to begin by teaching students to differentiate between fact and fiction, data and myths.The Hikayat Hang Tuah falls in the latter category - but as a myth it is, and should be seen as, truly inspiring, uplifting and noble for the manner in which it valorises our common humanity above all else. Hang Tuah, in the end, does not care about race: So why should we?
In the final analysis, the Hikayat Hang Tuah ought to be taught in our schools - but only if it is taught in full, and equal emphasis is given to the development of the character who eventually becomes a universal figure, standing above narrow ethnic and political loyalties, and who sees the human race as his family and the world as his home.
What a great message that would be for a new generation of global and globalising Malaysians!
But for that to happen Malaysia still has to evolve a little further, and we need to render ourselves immune to the crass and vulgar attempts to turn our national heroes, myths and legends into parochial tales to frighten the masses and to compel blind loyalty from people who can't even read beyond page one.

A new insight into Boestaman

2012-01-22T10:23:00.004+08:00

Syed Husin takes swipe at Prof Khoo

Terence Netto

8:49AM Jan 22, 2012

Senator Syed Husin Ali, who ought to know a bit of the history of the left-wing movement in Malaysia because of past involvement in it, said historian Khoo Kay Kim has been inaccurate with some of the facts of that history.

This is ironic as Professor Emeritus Khoo is often at pains
trying to dispel popular misconceptions about historical personages and events and generally laments the lack of seriousness with which the subject is treated in the academic and public spheres.
The former president of Parti Rakyat Malaysia who led it to merge with Parti Keadilan Nasional to become Parti Keadilan Rakyat in 2002, Syed Husin disputed several points of left-wing history that Prof Khoo had raised in an interview with Malaysiakini.
"It's not my intention to engage in polemics with him," said Syed Husin, 75, who in his youth in the 1950s was immersed in left-wing politics and befriended several of its leading lights.
"The points raised by Prof Khoo are not of small significance and so I feel compelled to set them right," added the former Universiti Malaya professor.

Boestaman not a Sukarno clone

Some details that Prof Khoo had shed on Ahmad Boestaman, a paladin of the left-wing movement from just before the Second World War to the early part of Malayan independence, were "way off the mark", according to Syed Husin.

"Firstly, Boestaman was not from Indonesia, as Prof Khoo contends, but was born in Behrang in Perak and though he was of Minangkabau stock, he was Malayan more than anything else," said Syed Husin.
"Boestaman admired Sukarno and modeled his oratorical style after the Indonesian independence leader but he was no clone of Sukarno," added Syed Husin.
According to autobiographical sketches left behind by Boestaman, who was a journalist like many Malay left-wingers in the 1940s and 1950s, he was born Abdullah Thani Raja Kechil in Behrang in 1920 and assumed the nom de guerre ‘Boestaman' out of admiration for Indian independence fighter Subhas Chandra Bose.

Boestaman was transfixed watching the charismatic Indian freedom fighter at a public rally in Ipoh in 1943 when Bose, who sought Japanese help to fight the British, was on a tour of Malaya to whip local support for ‘Hind Swaraj' (Indian independence).

The meaning of marhaenism
Syed Husin said another point that Prof Khoo got wrong was the name of the political party that Boestaman initiated in the aftermath of the war to agitate for independence.
He said the party was Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM), which was formed on Oct 17, 1945, and not Partai Kebangsaan Melayu Merdeka, as Prof Khoo suggested.
Syed Husin said even if the first word was ‘partai' rather than ‘parti', the difference is not indicative of anything significant about the leanings of those employing it because the root word comes from the English ‘party'.
"Employing the word ‘partai' would not significantly indicate your leanings are Indonesian any more than using ‘parti' would suggest that you are English favouring," argued the senator.
Yet another aspect of the left-wing movement that Syed Husin's said Prof Khoo got wrong was Boestaman's use of the term ‘marhaen' which was popularised by Sukarno.
"Sukarno started using the term after he met a Javanese landless peasant called Marhaen who impressed him with his innate dignity and national consciousness," explained Syed Husin.
"After that encounter, Sukarno would say that the political movement he leads would have to be good for the likes of people like Marhaen.
"Mahaenism then became a term for the landless peasantry and their claim to a place under the Indonesian sun," he said.

'Khoo badly misses the point'
Syed Husin said that Prof Khoo's equation of the marhaen with the proletariat of European communist ideology is a step too far because the former desires the dignity of labour and justice whereas the latter is viewed as the base for a vanguard that would bring a revolution.
"Boestaman was not a communist; he was a socialist and a fighter against all forms of colonialism," claimed Syed Husin.
He said Prof Khoo badly misses the point of the struggle of Boestaman and Malay left-wingers of his ilk when he claims that they were fighting to gain independence from the British in order to merge with Indonesia.
"They did subscribe to the concept of ‘Melayu Raya' which saw the Malay Peninsula and Indonesia as one people and one nation, but that was only in the context of wanting the liberation of similar peoples from the colonial yoke.
"It was like Egypt and Syria uniting at one time as one nation of Arabic people to fight international imperialism," said Syed Husin, as perspective.
"Boestaman and his types in the left-wing movement were nationalists first and socialists second, but not communist," asserted Syed Husin.

Mother goose stories, Hang Tuah and the first super hero, Hanu-Man!

2012-01-21T12:51:00.021+08:00

Once upon a time, there were 5 friends who descended from the heavenly kingdoms where people were cultured and wise. They were brave, feared no man and had mystical powers with a mythical dagger and was loyal to the country. They maintained law and order in their newly embraced state and were exemplary in their conduct. The leader of the the 5 had the tenacity to scale the unscably elusive Mount Ophir (Gunung Ledang) which is said to house the ever youthful princess who had found the fountain of youth. And he was indeed summoned by reigning Sultan to represent Him for to propose His hand for marriage. For the longest time, generations have come and gone listening to the escapades and brave deeds of the famous and noble five!
One peninsular away (against the rotation of the Earth), in India, was told of a prince born out of divine intervention, who was literally bigger than life. Every single act done was praised till high heavens, what he did and did not was immortalized as how life should be lived. His wife was personified as true meaning of virtuous ever abiding consort of man. His friendship (bond) with step brother became synonymous with true friendship. And the King of Monkeys who leapt over countries in a single bound faster than a speeding lightning (Hanu-Man, the first super hero) left his foot prints all over the world, including in Batu Maung, Penang- as the the locals believe, [although the same stony structure is said to be of Admiral Cheng Ho, the Chinese Muslim eunuch who sailed the seven seas in his time], is a true self immolating servant. Hanu-Man was in search of the magical plant Sanjeevani (Selaginella bryopteris) all over the world to cure Laxman of battle wounds in the Ramayana biopics.

Sanjeevani

That is the problem with undocumented events of the past. 'He says, She says' type of facts cannot be accepted as historical facts. Bedtime stories coined to pacify crying toddlers, retold for the longest time has made it to the Malaysian Historical textbooks. On the other hand, in India, the mythical narration has transformed into a religious text seeping deep into its culture and riots have broken out to resurrect a temple in place of a mosque to relive the glorious past! So much for symbolism and the good message - all lost in translation.
*Sanjeevani,the miraculous herb that is believed to revive the dead! In the Ramayana when Ravana’s son Indrajit severely injures and nearly slaughters Laxman, Hanu-Man was summoned to fetch the Sanjeevani from the Himalayas. Hanu-Man, unable to recognize the herb, lifted the whole mountain, bringing it to the battle-field!

Talking pictures (National Geographic)

2012-01-20T10:50:00.002+08:00

Joel Sartore

Rift in Paradise

Albertine Rift, Uganda

A tree-climbing lion stirs in Uganda's Queen Elizabeth National Park.
"This photograph is so beautifully executed. The color is magnificent, with the cobalt blue sky in the background and the warm light on the lion. The composition is perfect. Yet underneath all that beauty is a message: Lions are in trouble. Joel Sartore has devoted himself to photographing animals out of balance, endangered, crying for a voice."
—Chris Johns, Editor in Chief

Carsten Peter

Conquering an Infinite Cave

Minh Hoa, Vietnam

A giant cave column swagged in flowstone towers over explorers swimming through the depths of Hang Ken, one of 20 new caves discovered last year in Vietnam.
"Carsten Peter thrives on adventure. The more difficult the place, the more he wants to go. What's special about this photograph is its otherworldliness. It truly looks like another planet, because no one's ever seen it before. And the way the light is balanced between the divers and the stalagmites and stalactites in this huge space—absolutely flawless."
—Chris Johns, Editor in Chief

Stephanie Sinclair

Too Young to Wed

Herat, Afghanistan

A veil of gauze protects a patient named Zahara from flies in a burn ward in Herat, Afghanistan. Afghan women who set themselves on fire may do so to escape abuse at home, believing they will die instantly. Yet many linger on with terrible injuries.
"This dreamlike photo belies tragedy. Under the soft gauze is the hard reality of a burn ward in Afghanistan; child brides sometimes set themselves on fire to escape arranged marriages. Stephanie Sinclair's poignant photograph speaks to her commitment to give a voice to those young women."
—Chris Johns, Editor in Chief

Lynsey Addario

Baghdad After the Storm

Iraq

Moviegoers at Baghdad's first 4-D cinema get an extra thrill from shaking seats and wind machines during a 3-D sci-fi film. During the worst years of violence, families stayed home to watch TV or DVDs. Most cinemas closed, as did this one, though it has plans to expand and reopen.
"Not only did Lynsey Addario gain access to an undiscovered part of Baghdad; she did it with such flair. The blue light, the projector in the background, the people's expressions, those crazy-looking 3-D glasses. But you can also see this is a temporary structure, tentlike, and you think, with all they've been through, now they can enjoy life, have some fun."
—Chris Johns, Editor in Chief

Vincent J. Musi

Taming the Wild

Novosibirsk, Russia

This brown rat's angry display at the photographer reflects 73 generations of breeding for hostility to humans. Scientists at Novosibirsk and in Germany are comparing the aggressive rat genome to that of rats selected for friendliness, attempting to untangle connections between DNA and behavior.
"It looks like a prison cell with a bunch of mad prisoners, ready to lash out at each other, which is basically what these rats are doing. And the whole frame, the way it moves from not just the aggressive rat but to how the other rats are reacting to him, is a moment that is absolutely unforgettable."
—Chris Johns, Editor in Chief

Michael Nichols

Orphans No More

Nairobi Elephant Nursery, Kenya

Dedicated keepers at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's Nairobi Elephant Nursery in Kenya protect baby Shukuru from the cold and rain, and the risk of pneumonia, with a custom-made raincoat.
"This picture means so much to me because it eloquently addresses the powerful connection between the men who have devoted their lives to caring for these elephants and the vulnerable animals that share the strong bond with those men. The orange blanket; the green uniforms of the men; their hands silhouetted, holding the umbrellas. Those delicate raindrops on the elephant's head. Everything in this photograph works together and has a powerful, emotional message."
—Chris Johns, Editor in Chief

Paul Nicklen

Spirit Bear

Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia

In a moss-draped rain forest in British Columbia, towering red cedars live a thousand years, and black bears are born with white fur. "Paul Nicklen is a master at getting closer. He gets close enough to take this beautiful forest with this beautiful bear, eating a salmon, and make it all come together in a photograph that captures your imagination. I feel like I'm there. I can almost smell that forest, the bear. This is Paul's home. This looks like a photo he took in his backyard of a dear friend."
—Chris Johns, Editor in Chief

Erika Larsen

Sami

Gällivare, Sweden

Sven Skaltje was saddened to find the carcasses of two female reindeer whose antlers had become entangled during a dominance struggle in northern Sweden. He estimates it took three days for them to die of starvation. After separating the bodies, he saw from the ear markings that one belonged to him and the other to his cousin. Skaltje is much admired by the younger Sami in his herding group, but he is unsure whether the skills he teaches them will endure.
"There's a timeless quality to this photograph. The deep connection between Sami herders and the reindeer is hundreds of years old. You can see the expression on the man's face as he pauses in reverence for these magnificent animals. The snow, the dusting across his shoulders: It all works together in a quiet, reflective way that is true to the Sami people."
—Chris Johns, Editor in Chief

Pascal Maitre

Rift in Paradise

North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Rule of the gun prevails in North Kivu, a conflict-ravaged province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Mai-Mai Kifuafua, one of many local militias, flaunts its power on a road where it extorts money from villagers and travelers. For almost 20 years near-constant fighting over land, mining riches, and power has terrorized the people.
"Pascal Maitre has an absolutely remarkable ability to go into the most dangerous, volatile situations and return with powerful images. In places where a civilization is literally coming unraveled, he sees human behavior that needs to be documented, because the suffering is unbelievable. This photograph in Central Africa conveys a sense of energy and immediacy—and it's also frightening."
—Chris Johns, Editor in Chief

Kitra Cahana

Beautiful Teenage Brains

Austin, Texas

No elbows, no knees. Their "fight club" had rules. At least one Friday a month, boys gathered after school in the backyard of Bryan Campbell (at far left) to wrestle and box. Campbell's mother made sure they kept it safe; a bloody nose was the worst injury. The boys often used phones to film their contests, posting the videos to a private Facebook group so more friends could admire their prowess. The rush of a headlock, a bond between friends—their fights delivered both excitement and social rewards.
"To make a memorable picture of teenagers, the picture has to speak across generations and be one of those photographs that when you see it, you go, Aha! Here are two boys wrestling down at the bottom of the frame, beautifully composed. And these two other guys, using their devices to record the two guys down there wrestling. Here they are, absorbed, as they're participating in complete and absolute horseplay."
—Chris Johns, Editor in Chief

Alfred Hitchcock Presents S5E0: Death of poetic justice?

2012-01-17T15:53:00.001+08:00

One of my favourite TV series that never fail to impress me each time I watch is the 1955 to 1962 production of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents'(AHP). Over the past few years, Universal Studios have had the joy of sadistically slow release of these old TV shows' DVDs at a snail's pace much to the disappointment of die hard mature Hitchcock fans. There was a lot of excitement recently in November when news broke out that the 5th season DVDs were due to be released on 3rd January 2012! For those who have been living in outer space and are in the dark about AHP, these are 25-minute shows (before the current familiar 45-minute format was norm) that dwell on morbid subjects like death and murder (usually of spouse) presented by Alfred Hitchcock himself. In a sense, Hitchcock was just a compere who introduces the show in a witty way and finds joy taking jabs at the advertisers, at the beginning of the show, at beginning of the take-over of the world by advertisers and commercialism! If fact, Hitchcock with his peculiarly wicked British wry sense of humour and word play, is itself an attraction of the series.
In most of these shows, the perpetrator usually comes out smelling of roses after having apparently committed a perfect crime. In keeping with poetic justice and not too outwardly implying that crime actually pays, Hitchcock will announce before the closing credits how justice eventually prevailed!
Talking about poetic justice...
I pre-ordered the copy on Amazon. It was released in US on 3.1.12 and I received it on 6.1.12 all crisp and new, undamaged. Why? Because I have ordered on express mail (FedEx), that's why! So, why am I complaining?
Normally I ordered my DVDs with regular postage via US postal service and it takes a good 2 to 3 weeks to arrive after being stranded in Malaysian airports like forever to be cleared by Customs. With a little bit of mullah, everything is speeded up. That is life is it not? With a little bit of greasing, everything can go through the fast express lane whilst enforcement just looks the other way, whether you are in USA, Bangkok, KL or Timbuktu! Those who are financially challenged or believes in equality and justice will just have get in line and wait for their turn. Life is never fair. Justice in life sometime seems not fair but we can always pacify the losers that there is always a bigger eternal court which would be just and sometimes the sentences meted out can be for a very long time, like forever! And the promise of virgins for martyrdom?@*!

POETIC JUSTICEIn literature, an outcome in which vice is punished and virtue rewarded, usually in a manner peculiarly or ironically appropriate.The term was coined by the English literary critic Thomas Rymer in the 17th century, when it was believed that a work of literature should uphold moral principles and instruct the reader incorrect moral behaviour. (The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer)

They just want your money!

2012-01-15T14:17:00.001+08:00

My running buddies and I were just thinking...
Running events were supposed to be a community social responsibility projects of mega companies to wash off their sins and write off some expenditure for income tax purposes. However, looking at the escalation of entry fees and the diminishing amount of freebies in their goody bag, the runs itself are becoming a money making ponzi scheme. In the name of health and zest to liquefy the fat accumulated from inactivity and fast food, more and more are participating in these runs but the quality of the merchandise remains mysteriously the same if not a turn for the worse!
The T-shirts are sponsored, so are the drinks, snacks and the contents of the goodie bag. So, why the RM60 entrance fee? To line their pockets?
Interestingly the last major running events had the same colour T-shirts (MPI, Newton and today event - Mizuno Wave 10km Run) - only the cuts are different. Did they use the remnants of the material from the same supplier?

On the ground, I started the week trying to recover from the sore calf muscles that I picked up from last week's 15km Sunday morning run but in vain. At the 1km mark, the sinking nagging feeling started bogging me at my right calf. I was asking myself, "Is this going to be my DNC (Did not complete) race?" The true mark of a sportsman is not winning in record times but in actually completing the race despite all adversities. Hence, dragging myself at a slower than usual pace to last the race, I persevered. Every kilometer covered felt like ten. After some time, at about 8km mark, the pain was actually bearable. I actually managed to scale the killer hill at the tail end of the run before the finishing line in 1h5m.
Now to recover to get back to my usual running mode.....

Chicks back to roost!

2012-01-13T16:21:00.002+08:00

The slow family trip up north was an educational trip for the youngsters in the clan - that their parents were indeed not born with a silver spoon but rather through sheer hard work of their ancestors did they reach where they are. Hopefully the message synced in, minus the preaching on our part. A point to note too is that other people too (not RRB alone) strive to come up in life.
Two interesting stops in Ipoh were my wife's childhood neighbourhood and a famous Nasi Kandar restaurant whose co-owner (deceased) was my wife's family friend.

Fit old timer guarding nest

When I was small and

Christmas trees were tall,

this drain looked a river!

The refurbished property where it began:

1lot with a house divided by 3 families,

to harbour wife and children while men

ventured far to bring home the bacon.

Families weathered storm and went on by
with a little help from friends and neighbours.

Chicks back to roost, only that

now, it is a farm in a concrete jungle!

Happy to know your acquaintances!

The new village-like neighbourhood in Gunung Rapat had expanded in tandem with progress with the the rest of the state with tall buildings, highways, cars, KFC, McDonalds and Pizza hut to match. The atmosphere now seem so bright with loss of greenery and shady trees. Some landmarks have stood the test of time like the market and some of fellow dwellers who have somehow frozen in time living in their old pace 40 years previously. These people are usually senior citizen whose children have fled their nests for greener pastures and meatier worms out of town and out of country. They look forward for school holidays and celebrations for family reunions.
A fraction of the younger generation members felt satisfied in their cocoon and never progressed but went in reverse mode. Some houses have been refurbished and restructured whilst some lost their previous grandiose lustre of yesteryear and had fell prey to the elements of nature.
The next pit-stop was at what we affectionately referred to as Kamal's Nasi Kandar shop. For the global audience, nasi kandar is one of Malaysians indulgence in their favourite pastime and exercise (i.e.eating). In the pre-Merdeka days, mobile Indian Moslem vendors selling food (like meals on wheels) used to straddle around balancing a pole on their shoulder a load of pot of steaming hot rice, meat and gravies. Over time, this distinct taste of gravy with kaskas (a spice, distant cousin of poppy) was acquired by most Malaysians. Its taste too had evolved over the years to satisfy various taste buds!

1-Malaysia Shop

Just like that, many years ago, Kamal's grandfather landed in this land of plenty (Malaya) to change his fate. [From India]. His rice was enjoyed by his regular clientele, including the occupant of a suspicious looking huge automobile with tinted windscreen whose driver would patronize his humble business and pack meals three times a week. All went on well till the peddler had to close shop after a brush with the immigration authorities or something like that.

Should I stay or should I go now?

If I stay, there would be trouble

with your mother (for bringing food late)

and there would be double if I go

(and the food is up to her mark).

LOOK at the queue,

the food here MUST be good!

The driver managed to track down our vendor to hear about his sob story. A few days later, Kamal's grandfather was pleasantly surprised to be bestowed a yellow engraved letter from the state monarch certifying him to a legitimate son of the State of Perak! You see, the occupant of the suspicious car was the Sultan himself! (After all he have met to the oral gratifications of a many hungary Perakian and had fed the King). With that authorization, our hero brought in, one after another, his relatives to help and expand his business. 'The shop' is actually a part of a Chinaman's coffee shop. Talk about racial unity - Indian man selling rice, Chinaman makes money from the drinks and the patrons are of all races, predominantly Malays!
Upon entrance to the premises, one can forgiven for thinking that the food is given free. The queue is so long as if that is the last meal anyone is having before Judgement day.
Of course, the food now is not up to our mark. Perhaps, we are comparing apples and oranges. At an era when we were perennially deprived, everything tasted good. After venturing of our comfort zones and being exposed to aplenty, having seen near and far, we have set our marks way too high. Or is it that the depleted nutrients in our soil, the environmental rape, the plastics, hydrocarbons, the ever emerging new molecules in our atmosphere or the radio-frequency waves having its effect on our palate, plate, taste buds and delicious index or simply lack of capable cooks? Or is it because they have banned kaskas for its phytogenetic relationship to the poppy plant and its hallucogenic addictive properties?

Stories from those days can never end....Gen-Y and dogs won't understand!

The great dictators...

2012-01-11T09:32:00.000+08:00

Wow, I always thought that Charlie Chaplin only did slapstick comedies in silent movies. I was pleasantly surprised when I bumped upon an excerpt from his old movie (he does not have new movies anyway) titled 'The Great Dictator'. For indulgence have a listen to the greater orator of all time who managed to transform and hoodwink the minds of the Germans into thinking that they were from the superior Aryan race even though he himself was Austrian. If only the German Institute of Arts had accepted the application of this vegetarian, the world would not had to endure the misery of another great War after the Great Trench War 2 decades afterwards. We would have more pictures to appreciate of the German country side and of Oktoberfest!

No new dawn in the horizon

2012-01-08T09:29:00.000+08:00

After a fascinating display of car chase in the streets of London in 'Ra One', I have to retract my praises on the advancement of movie making in Bollywood. It just does not appear credible when two Hyundais are involved in a car chase - no disrespect to the Korean automobile makers. I am sure there have improved by leaps and bounds in their engineering feat since their near collapse after their 1950 civil war. It somehow does not appear so credible when a lady driver can give a death defying car chase (ala French Connection) and when a Hyundai can outrun an Alfa Romeo. Come on lah! Yeah, I am talking about Don 2, the sequel to the 2006 remake.

Priyanka Chopra in Don 2

The only thing 'Indian' about this latest blockbuster is the spoken language - Hindi, even the title is English or Italian! Even there wasn't a hint of Indian dressing or a glimpse of the hazy atmosphere of an Indian town in any of the movie's sets. As in most modern Bollywood hits, at one look it feels that low cleavage revealing bare-backed body body hugging phallic teasing garments have evolved to replace saree as its national costume. It looks like Indian moviemakers are ashamed of their motherland - they shot the movie all over the place (Thailand, Malaysia, Switzerlandy and Germany) except Bharat!
Personally, I think Bollywood should confine themselves to soapy tear evoking melodramatic dramas with family values rather than venturing into meaningless pyrotechnic filled swashbuckling cops and robbers type of feat. Perhaps, people like me enjoy the masala, family traditions upholding, ego filled and situational fate moments by act of God in the 'Kabhie Kushi Kabhie Gum' and 'Kal Ho Na Ho'.