RIFLE RANGE BOY

The sad truth about Facebook. The people who run Facebook , the social-networking company, are furious about a new movie that takes lots of liberties in its depiction of how Facebook came into existence. They’re upset because much of The Social Network, which opens Oct. 1, is just completely made up. That’s fair enough. But to me, the really interesting thing about this movie is that while much of the tale is invented, the story tells a larger truth about Silicon Valley’s get-rich-quick culture and the kind of people—like Facebook’s 26-year-old founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg—who thrive in this environment. The Valley used to be a place run by scientists and engineers, people like Robert Noyce, the Ph.D. physicist who helped invent the integrated circuit and cofounded Intel. The Valley, in those days, was focused on hard science and making things. At first there were semiconductors, which is how Silicon Valley got its name; then came computers and software. But now the Valley has b...

That is exactly how I feel right now! Feeling on top of the world looking at my conquest of successfully completing the Newton 25km run yesterday in 2h 53m. The timing seems nothing to shout about but if you look at the terrain that we ran, you would be equally mesmerised. It was organised by Triathlon Malaysia who are passionate about extreme sports, pushing the body to the limits with events like Ironman and finds pleasure in inflicting pain! So, you can imagine how the course would have been. The run was flagged off 6.30am as scheduled from the recreational grounds of Bandar Kinrara 5. Basically the whole route was ‘T’ shaped. If you consider the lowest point of the vertical line on the ‘T’ as the starting point, the 12 km runners had to complete one half of the horizontal line of the ‘T’ whereas the 25 km runners had to finish the full length of the bar and run back. The problem is the horizontal line of the ‘T’ is nothing but horizontal in real. The course was wavy with uphill an...

Back in 1976, I remember reading about a serial killer in a Sunday newspaper. Somehow, the story got stuck with me. Over the years, I have been periodically coming across this person's escapades (misadventures) in the dailies. I think it felt exciting and got stuck on to most people's grey matter because of the inclusion of the prefix 'bikini'! Now, with Google, every piece of information on this notorious psychopath is just at the tip of everyone's fingertip. A few years ago, I visited one of the friends I know (not too many friends I have, anyway), whose wife had just delivered a baby boy a few days before that. I almost choked on the cordial drink that he cordially offered to me when he said, “We named him Sabhraj. What do you think?” I answered, “Fine! Nice name.” not wanting to be a wet blanket. I was just chuckled to myself and hoped that he never found out that he named his son after a serial killer! (A little bit too late to change as the child’s name had ...

Everyone has his own tall tale to tell! My heart bleeds to see the unmanned security post at the entrance to our taman (housing estate). Prior to this, for the past one year, after a spate of break-ins and petty thefts, the Residents' Association decided, with my wife's brain child, to convert the taman into a guarded community. After the proper paper work, red tape, vetting of applications and an extraordinary general meeting, one particular company was unanimously chosen over the others as they promised 24-hours surveillance on motorbike with Malaysian guards. The monthly fees was capped at a reasonable amount of RM45 monthly per household. Changing of guards@Buckingham Palace Miraculously, crime was non existent and our model was emulated by other adjacent housing estates! I suppose something good does not last forever. Everything was going on fine till a group of members within the committee members decided that services offered by them was not up to mark. The spli...

Sweet sour feeling - loss of childhood, entrance to adulthood! Just like any old melodramatic Tamil movie, our dreams, when we were living in RRF was that one day we would all move back to BG and live as one happy family. This dream did materialise in 1982 and unfortunately I did not live long with the family there for a long time. What I did not know was that BG was only a transit point before bigger things in life were set to unfold! A year after moving in, came varsity and tour of duty and so forth... The home loan repayment finally came to an end by early 80s. Early 80s also mark a giant transformation in my life. In 1981, I was in Lower 6 in school - metamorphosis in hairstyle, co-education and mature self learning with new set of friends and syllabus. At the family level, we managed to trans-locate ourselves from a multi-tiered low cost 36 sq. m.pigeon hole to a landed property with our own space and serenity. It was a triumph of sorts for us in finding back our own Beverly...

I visited a friend, in his late 60s, who had been afflicted by stroke. In the brief visit that I did, I gathered  certain information regarding his life and times as a man. There he was sitting with his drooping left side of his face and weakened left upper and lower limbs, it is hard to imagine that he used to used to be an avid sportsman in his heydays playing various games at school and state levels (hockey, cricket, basketball etc.) right up to the age of 30 but he managed to keep himself trim. After passing out from medical  school in 1976, he started working. Then came marriage and children and the joy and pride till that faithful day on 11th December 1993 when he lost his whole family (wife, children and all) in the Highland Towers tragedy.  Remaining Highland Towers in 2008 Picking up the pieces one by one, he started life anew, he continued working after support from family and friends. He remarried and has a daughter of 10 years old. Hectic events that hap...

The Day the Music Died On February 3, 1959, a small-plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa killed three American rock and roll musicians: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson. The day was later called  The Day the Music Died  by Don McLean, in his song "American Pie". The day that music died - remembering Sudirman Loh Chan Hong Sep 16, 10 12:00pm As we celebrate Malaysia Day as a symbol of "freedom and fraternity", it is worth recalling that nearly two decades before the slogan 1Malaysia was coined, one national icon had already been crusading for a nation free from prejudices. The late Sudirman Arshad, showered then with accolades such as "Malaysia's singing ambassador", our "No 1 entertainer" and even our very own Michael Jackson, championed unity up to his very last public concert just before his untimely death in 1992. "This song is especially for all Ma...

A star is born amongst our family circle! At least that is how we perceive it. After waiting for many months with bated breath, thanks to our friendly DVD peddlers at Econsave, we finally laid hands on the latest local flick that hit the cinemas -Lagenda Budak Setan. My brother in law landed a small albeit an important role in the movie at the tail end of the show. He played the role of a doctor who was the bearer of bad news. He acted well in his role - a role that he performed well in his daily life- a doctor! Personally, I thought he did his part convincingly well, it was not half as bad! He delivered his lines (but with voice overs) pretty well - not the standard standing still and rattling off the lines with no emotions as we are quite often used to in most local movies. You can a glimpse of his performance in the following snippet @ 6:45 mark. The lip sychronising seem to have been done pretty well. @ 6:45 mark! (Dr Lal) In addition to his debut performance, his home...

Children of the 70s must have been exposed to various interesting TV shows. Undoubtedly, 'Twilight Zone' (TZ) must have captured  the imaginations of many young minds of that era with their bizarre twisted story lines. I remember staring at the 16-inch black and white TV in the dark nights of RRF  with the volume way down low as Appa would have slept by then. There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call   The Twilight Zone .  —Rod Serling [Opening credit for the First Season]:(FYI the credits varied from Seasons 1 to 4)] Rod Serling I doubt if anyone would ever despise this show. A couple of years ago, I decided to have a little self indulge...

This one goes out to CC and all those who are undecided about certain things in life and decide to ass around with other peoples' probably less than 2-sens' senseless worth of bray (advice)! Also to those who are upset with certain comments of other individuals. My words of wisdom - whenever you feel down, think of this cute donkey and smile! Growing up in a lower middle class family in the pre-Merdeka era must have been a good time for children to be exposed to story telling from their elders. Entertainment as we can imagine must have been scarce. When putting rice on the dinner is a daily struggle, everything else is secondary. Television was not existent - TV Malaysia came into existence in 1963. You have to be born with a silver spoon to have unlimited access to story books. My sisters and I, born in early Generation-X (1961-1981, by definition), did enjoy a little bit of comfort by our parents' standards in the form of easier access to story books,  newspapers a...

Since some Muslims I know celebrate Aidilfitri for a month since they fasted for a month, I think it is not too late to write on this celebration. As most Malaysians, I also celebrated Aidilfitri with two of my Muslim friends. The first was a colleague of my mine whom I have known since 1989. He was a Malayalee Hindu guy who embraced Islam when he married his Malay varsity sweetheart in early 90s. They are happily married with 3 boys. I finally visited them this year in their spanking new RM 4million villa in PJ. The guests of various ethnic groups were happily digging into the rich spread of food - freshly fried koay teow, satay, curry mee, rojak, cakes etc. As you can see, the spread was multi-ethnic in nature, not Malay! Laila Johari At night, it was dinner at Mohamad Manmohan Abdullah's home. We (the family) particularly enjoy celebrating Raya at Manmohan and Laila's mansion in Damansara. We feel so much love and warmth in their abode. As usual we were the last to leav...

Black-on-white or white-on-black stripes? Here we are talking about equality and that we are 1-Malaysia. It is nice to talk when your next meal is non-brainer and your children and family are in the pink of health and the price increase of sugar by 20 sen means nothing to you. But, to a manual worker or a security guard who earns RM 2 per hour toiling day and night, everyday is survival! Take a look at the example of one of the security guards working in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, Klang who was gunned down by a not so friendly fire by his working colleague recently. Instead of upholding serenity in the hospital, there themselves appear to need hospitalization. The deceased 22 year old guard and his 37 year old mother were employed by the same company as colleagues. This 22 year old man actually supports his mother and his siblings as well as being married to a bank teller with a 14 year old daughter. In the newspaper interview, the mother of the victim described the...

Hartal: Untold Merdeka Story by Dinesweri Puspanadan This nation and its people stand out proudly on the Independence platform for almost 53 years. Every citizen of current generation is fed through the education system and reminded constantly on our leaders' struggle in the past to fight for 'Merdeka'. In fact, many tend to brag that Malaya(that time) achieved its Independence from British in a peaceful manner without dropping a single blood. Every ordinary and educated(even not educated) people of this land is aware of this cliche or 'fact'. However, the concern is how much truth is lingering in this structured piece of Malaysian History? Many, in the name of trust,accept  the presented history blatantly without posting any doubts or question its validity. Today, at this date, every single element of past history is re casting which paves way to dig out the buried history of the real Independence struggle which many 'heroes' would avoid to talk abou...

* The famous first words spoken by Dr Alexander Graham Bell to his assistant, Mr. Thomas Watson on the first phone. A mobile phone rings when a lady is undergoing a gynaecological and a Pap smear examination in a gynae clinic. What would a normal warm blooded vertebrate educated of a Malaysian lady worth of her salt do in a delicate and personal situation as this? Well, pick up the phone and start yakking while the good doctor finishes his work, what else (duh!). In another instance, after waiting for 40 minutes to see a doctor for a 2-minute consultation, the phone rings. Again the good Malaysian says, "Sorry ah!" and goes into a frenzy answering his call walking aimlessly around the consultation room talking on top of his voice oblivious to happenings of the surroundings. I am just waiting for a day for someone to walk out his house or clinic naked as most people go into a trance once their cell phone rings. In fact at one juncture,the Mayor of new York was contemplati...