RIFLE RANGE BOY

http://penangmonthly.com/penangs-forgotten-protest-the-1967-hartal/ Penang’s forgotten protest: The 1967 Hartal Mob attempting to overturn a bus. Photograph: Peter Wong. For almost two months in 1967, Penang erupted in violence and bloodshed. To many, the incident has been largely forgotten, but what inspired the 1967 Hartal, and how did it descend to chaos? By Koay Su Lyn The word “hartal” refers to a cessation of work or businesses in protest against a political decision. While the 1947 hartal, organised by the Pan-Malayan Council of Joint Action against the constitution of the Federation of Malaya, is widely quoted on paper today, there is little mention of a hartal that swept the island of Penang for two months in 1967. Originally intended as a peaceful protest, it escalated into a bloody situation of heightened racial tension. Tan Sri Wong Pow Nee, the state’s first Chief Minister, even cited the protest as one of the events which might have prepared t...

Ace in the Hole (a.k.a The Big Carnival; 1951) Director: Billy Wilder This must be one of the first movies that take a swipe at the evil of the media and the way they exploit the situation with only one intention on their mind, for financial gains. That is all. The apparent concern and empathy is all just show. Even though the media helps to showcase to the world, it has its own personal agenda. Put in Kirk Douglas, a smirk journalist with an attitude problem and some punchy line and you have it- a blockbuster which is eternally carved in the annals of time as a great film. Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas), lands in an Albuquerque newspaper office after thrown out disgracefully of many papers back in the East. He is dreaming of a break which would put him at par with a Pulitzer winner. He dreams on. He is sent to cover a rattlesnake show. En route to the venue, at a stopover for petrol, Chuck and his rookie photographer hear about a cave-in at an Indian reservation site. The owner of...

The Imposter (2012) Gone are the days when documentaries were meant to be boring to be used as a tool to disseminate propaganda news of the Empire or sing praises of glory of the ruling regime. Documentaries in the 21st century are mostly investigative in nature. Some are even reenacted to re-live the suspense of story they try to impart. It is quite difficult to fathom that events that took place in this documentary actually happened in real life. Some of the things sounds like a plot from a B-grade low budget spy movie but surprise, surprise, it actually took place. A 13 year old boy, Nicholas Barclay, from St Antonio, Texas, goes missing in 1994. Despite extensive search, he was never found. Nicholas Barclay, 13. 3 years later, the family receives a call from Spain. A teenage boy was found who could be their son. Nicholas' sister goes over to Spain, makes a positive identification of the boy and brings him back to US. Frédéric Bourdin, supposed to Nicholas at 17y...

Horror Stories (2014) Tunku Halim Malaysians have a soft spot for things involving the other world, the unknown one lurking on the other side. Again and again this is evident form their penchant in seeking entertainment involving the supernatural, invoking them to help out out in helping out in their worldly duties and even turning up in droves to view exhibits allegedly used by practitioners of black magic. The reception was too hot and intimidating that the powers that be had to close the exhibition in the National Gallery prematurely a few years ago. The publishers of the book, unashamedly, admit that they print books to make money, not for literary excellence. What better way to strike the pot of gold than to write about ghosts and its avatars. The easy to read book is a collection of 20 horrors stories which characters of which many Malaysians are familiar with - toyol, pontianak, cemetery, bomoh, etceteras. A love struck lowly clerk desperately tries to woo a sophis...

The Apartment (1960) Director: Billy Wilder Watching this movie reminded me very much of 'Mad Man', the TV series. There is so much of partying and infidelity going on in a place where people were supposed to bring home an honest pay. But instead what goes on is apple polishing, intimidation, dangling of carrot and scurrying for strewn shreds of bones for the dogs a.k.a. subordinates. In fact, it is said to be based on a showbiz producer's affair and his usage of his staff's apartment for his tryst. The husband had supposedly shot the lover boy. Well, if you think the story sounds like a heavy drama with explicit display of emotion, you are wrong. With actor like Jack Lemmon, you can only expect comedy. This one is a romedy (romantic comedy). In fact it was nominated for 10 Oscars and won 5. CC Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is a lowly clerk who is a hit among his bosses at an insurance mega company. He is a hit not because of his undivided commitment to his profession b...

Whatever happened to Tamil mantra 'your job is your God'? Postmen clung on their postman bag even when their vehicle plunged into a ravine. Secret service agents stood steadfast in line of fire to protect the symbol of sovereignty of a country even ignoring their own lives. Humanitarians flock to war torn or epidemic hit zone to care for the needy. Servants rather take abuses than invoke the wrath of their employers. We are talking about a different time zone. Unless you have travelled back in time in a time machine, you would realise that things have changed drastically.  Perhaps some the examples mentioned above are remnants of the feudalistic era or leftovers from the practice of caste system of division of labour based on familial tool of trades. It can also be a figment of what Pol Pot and his revolutionaries were trying to propagate. The ideology that man were made to serve nature and we do not need technology as Mother Nature has it all for us. There used to be a t...

Face to Face (Swedish; 1976) Director: Ingmar Bergman This is a painstakingly slow film about an extremely difficult topic, of mental illness. A psychiatrist, Dr Jenny Isaksson, comes to stay with her grandparents after her husband, also a psychiatrist, goes on a long conference. She had lost both her parents during her childhood to be cared by her grandparents. Her grandfather is having senile dementia whilst the grandmother goes out of her way to care for her partner. The environment of the house rekindled her suppressed childhood memories to ignite an episode of mental disorder that becomes quite debilitating, affecting her duties as a doctor, mother to her daughter and herself. It shows the intricacies of a breakdown. It is difficult to pinpoint events that lead to it. In a world where we like to put a name to any disease and go down to the bottom of it, it makes us wonder if there is anything (or do we know everything) about this dreaded irritant. There seem no shortcut to ...

50 POWERFUL PHOTOS CAPTURE EXTRAORDINARY MOMENTS IN THE WILD http://www.the-open-mind.com/50-powerful-photos-capture-extraordinary-moments-in-the-wild/#HRZVv7z7hSyZujDK.99