RIFLE RANGE BOY

When we look at history, we can see that the world had never been peaceful in its entire existence. Since there is a lot of turmoil in the Moslem world of late, maybe we should look at the glory of the Islamic civilization and conquest. Like all religions in the world, Islam proclaim to be a religion of peace. History again and again has proved that, like any other religion of the world, there is too much of violence and blood shed, in-fighting and double crossing to justify the above. The hey days of the Islamic empire spanned over the 8th century to 13th century AD when they hailed in many areas which would have made them more 'civilised'. Internal conflicts and animosity is the cause of their downfall. There were sporadic jubilations brought about by Mongol converts who later formed the the Ottoman Empire in Byzatnium, the Farsi empire and the Moghuls in India. Even though religion seem to be an unifying lubricant amongst men, the medieval animal instinct in them try to di...

Many generations have called themselves as the lost generations as they had lost a good many years of their lives through no fault of theirs! Ava Gardner Ernest Hemingway, the great writer popularised this word through his novel 'The sun also rises' in 1926 which was made into a 1957 Hollywood movie starring Tyrone Powers, Ava Gardner and Errol Flynn. Interestingly, Hemingway's mother described it as the filthiest book she had ever read but wished his son success anyway. The rights to the movie changed many hands as the theme was deemed unfriendly to movie-goers. In this movie/novel, the lost generation is referred to the men who came of age after the World War 1. They were probably affected by some kind of post traumatic stress unable to cope with the stress of everyday life. Some people also refer to the artistes loafing around Paris after the Great War. In recent times, the young Chinese Red Guards (1966 -76) during the Cultural Revolution are also called the Lost G...

Hindu mythology has it that Lord Shiva's consort Parvati had a unique fruit (Gnana Pazham) that she wanted to give to either of her sons, Ganesha and Murugan. It could not be divided half as its magical power would be lost. Hence, Parvati decreed that the first child to go across the universe would receive the booty. Murugan, using his peacock as his vehicle, flew across the universe in no time to claim his loot. When he returned, he was furious when Ganesha had already received the fruit as he circled his parents, claiming that his parents were his entire universe. That made Murugan raving mad and left home and stayed sulking in self-exile in Palani Hills. The hill was named 'Pazham Nee' (Palani, that he was the fruit of wisdom) by Shiva to cajole Murugan back but in vain. Ganapati outwitting his brother Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei had to retract their scientific discovery that the Earth was in fact not the centre of the universe. The church, I guess, w...

Studying for a better future overseas? So as usual, at this time of the year, the local newspapers will be plastered with news of how great the public examinations results were. They will give a breakdown of how the overall percentage of the result had improved. It is beginning to sound like a re-run of an old soap opera or broken gramophone record - just like me, too! There would soon pictures of handicapped students passing with flying colours and children of hawkers and seamstresses obtaining good results. A few days after that the announcement would be out on the closing date of applications for scholarship and entrance to universities. Like clock work, a few days after the results of acceptance of the above, flashed again on the newspapers, would be disgruntled parents who will be complaining about how his kids with such exemplary results failed to secure a place and how excellent his extra curricular results were. Then Michael Chong (the Public Complaints bureau of Malaysian...

Pussycat Dolls (PCD) once sang... "When I grow up, I wanna be famous, I wanna be a star, I wanna be in movies! When I grow up, I wanna see the world, drive nice cars, I wanna have groupies!" At least his dream materialized two over scores years later!  Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that one day over the rose hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and former slave owners will be able to sit together in the table of Brotherhood and that his four children would not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character! Dream merchants like Walt Disney gave people a form of escapism through his Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck characters. Soichiro Honda managed to pull his war torn bankrupt and defeated nation to be at par with its victors till of recent. From a humble bicycle repair shop, his company is now venturing into artificial intelligence and robotics! I too had a dream... which remains a dream. Growing up in the post May 13 era, what ...

by (Sanatan Dharam Sabha Kuala Lumpur) Friday February 11, 2011 NEW STRAITS TIMES (NST) - LETTERS Pg 19 Caste System - Blame  h istory for the 'divisions' I REFER to the article "Who are the 'Paraiyars', really?" by Universiti Sains Malaysia vice-chancellor Professor Tan Sri Dzulkifli Abdul Razak (NST, Feb 6).  He shed new light on the "Paraiyars", after making references to a book by Abbe Dubois. It was a good attempt to explain the issue but, as a history lover, I found the article slightly misleading. All those who had argued about this subject, whether Indians or non-Indians, have not explained it clearly enough for the nation to understand this issue of "Paraiyars". Many are not clear about the caste system where the word "pariah" is said to originate.  One would be surprised to know that the caste system does not exist in Hinduism. In Hinduism, there is a system known as the "varnashrama", which divides so...

Many people go places just to get the adrenaline flowing and to get away from it all - Away from the hustle and bustle of the city and away from the annoying ring tones of the ever buzzing mobile phones (cannot live with it, cannot live without it). With the convenience of the cell phone, things that can wait till tomorrow suddenly becomes life threatening and need to be done on the double! So, locking the phone and being closer to nature undisturbed (except for chirping birds and chattering monkeys among others) is simply rejuvenating and therapeutic as well. Taking a breather en route to the summit Last Sunday, the running kakis (buddies) decided to go the whole nine yard during our trekking. Once in a while, we used to climb the hill just behind our housing estate. It is one of the last remaining green belt still left in the city of Kuala Lumpur. It was actually bigger till the last ruling party decided to re-gazette a part of previously designated forest reserve. ...

If you have the time and are swatting flies like me right now, then you would have watched the whole documentary above as it appeared on the History Channel. It is a sad rendition of a piece of Malaysian history, especially towards the end of the documentary. A few bits of juicy stories were omitted either to sanitize the icon's life or were unconfirmed hearsay. I remember that one of the first songs that he composed for a talent show during his carefree days in Caunter Hall / Kampong Rawa, Azizah, was actually penned to serenade on of his love interest then. Apparently, his love was rejected by the girl's family as he was a loafer and was hanging around the village doing nothing but singing and humming! Legend has it that Azizah later got married later and the offspring of the marriage was my form mate. A few years ago, I had the privilege and honour of attending my alma mater's old boys' annual dinner. As P. Ramlee also attended his secondary education in Penang Fr...

by HARCHAND SINGH BEDI Sikh troops disembarking from ships into Malaya When the history of this titanic struggle comes to be written in mature perspective, none of its many sides will, we believe, excite more wonderment and more ungrudging admiration than the part the Sikhs soldiers have played in it. As of December 7, 1941, the summary of the strength of the Allied army in Malaya was 86,895 troops. Two third o f the total force were Indian soldiers. Sikhs represented more than 60 percent of the total Indian force. December 8, 1941 at 12.15 am local time, Japanese 18th Divisions troops hit the beaches of Sabak-Badang, Kota Bahru and at 4 am (Tokyo Time) Japanese 5th Divisions forces splashed ashore unopposed at Singora (now Songkhla) and Patani. As the first disgorging invaders hit the junction of the Badang and Sabak beaches, they came under withering machine gun fire from pillboxes manned by the Indians. The invaders lost one third of their initial assault forces of 530...

by HARCHAND SINGH BEDI Sikh troops disembarkimg from ships into Malaya When the history of this titanic struggle comes to be written in mature perspective, none of its many sides will, we believe, excite more wonderment and more ungrudging admiration than the part the Sikhs soldiers have played in it. As of December 7, 1941, the summary of the strength of the Allied army in Malaya was 86,895 troops. Two third o f the total force were Indian soldiers. Sikhs represented more than 60 percent of the total Indian force. December 8, 1941 at 12.15 am local time, Japanese 18th Divisions troops hit the beaches of Sabak-Badang, Kota Bahru and at 4 am (Tokyo Time) Japanese 5th Divisions forces splashed ashore unopposed at Singora (now Songkhla) and Patani. As the first disgorging invaders hit the junction of the Badang and Sabak beaches, they came under withering machine gun fire from pillboxes manned by the Indians. The invaders lost one third of their initial assault forces of 5300 me...

11.2.11 saw many KLites going to work blurry-eyed and blood-shot eyes after tossing and turning sleeplessly in beds the night before. It was not because of something they ate or something that was in the air! It was because their Hockkein fellow citizens decided to display their annual piety by openly fulfilling their religious obligations in the open at an unearthly hour accompanied by a nocturnal barrage of TNT and explosive fireworks, oblivious that their act was a nuisance to the non-Hockkeins and non-Chinese. Yeah, everyone knew by then that it was the 8th day of Chinese New Year and the eve of the birth of the Jade Empress, which was celebrated with much pomp and splendour. In the spirit of tolerance, festivities and religion, nobody said anything. It is funny how homosapiens rationalise their every action and tradition by their needs and environmental requirements, and availability - try getting coconut in Kashmir or Las Vegas for prayers! So, no need for coconut in Eskimo land...