RIFLE RANGE BOY

"Don't ask too many questions, sometimes it is better to just let go and follow the pack. Follow the people who are experts and know more than us!" At the end of our intellectual discourse on religion, this is the best my friend could tell me. I think that aptly explains the current situation we are in. There was a time in our civilisation, we were all clueless about the things around us. One blind leading another, we all used to grope around making sense of things as we moved around in an environment that never failed to awe us. Initially, simple explanations sufficed to satisfy our curiosity. Answers begot more questions and our thirst for knowledge and desire to know the Truth never got doused. Then a group of self-appointed beholden of the race came to the fore to claim of direct communications with the Maker. They claim to have obtained fresh rolls hot out of the oven! Our answers are answered and that we have reached the zenith of our understanding. That, ...

http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/views/2017/04/25/highrise-heartland-of-local-chinese-a-visit-to-rifle-range-flats-is-an-eyeopening-and-humbling-exper/ Tuesday, 25 April 2017 BY  ARNOLD LOH – PINANG POINTS I WAS filled with anticipation when work took me to see some people in Rifle Range Flats, Penang, last week. After the appointment, I wandered about and had the pleasure of chatting with a hawker about her grilled chicken backsides. That's bishop's nose, for you. But not all pressmen relish visiting this place. And you can't blame them because during the 2013 General Election campaign someone in one of the flats filled a plastic bag with urine and threw it down at journalists and politicians walking below. T hank goodness it did not land on anyone. Two weeks ago, water rained down on journalists while they were photographing 14 motorcycles parked beside Block B that had been burned by arsonists.  They saw soapy water gushing down from a w...

I overheard a conversation recently. "How come she is still a pain in the butt? Now that she is seeing a therapist, I thought that she would be less toxic. Hell, no. She is still the same old nuisance. All the time and therapy down the drain!" said one in a hushed voice. "Well, the purpose of therapy is for her own wellbeing. Not to be a plush toy for other to squeeze," her friend replied. "It is for her to be able to withstand biatches like us!' That seems to be right. Counselling and therapy are not meant that it will be a sun-shiny day for everybody. The primary concern is the individual. It may sound very self-centric and narcissistic but that is the reality. This science developed around the time when the century was undergoing massive transformations. People, who before that lived their lives just as a building block in a giant jigsaw puzzle called society, started living for themselves. If ex-communication used to be a death sentence, it beca...

Line of Duty (Mini-Series; BBC) Seasons 1-4, 2012 - present It has been described as the best TV police procedural drama ever produced. Each season carries a theme, but they are all intrinsically linked to each other. Anti-Corruption Section 12, AC#12, is a team within the police department given executive powers to look into possibilities of the miscarriage of justice, corruption and cover-ups in the force. In a way, it acts as the public's eyes that the police are supposed to serve in the first place. The miniseries show a wide intricate web of a network within the department that control each other to cover each other and paint a good name of the police force. It is easy when a layperson commits a crime. His misdeed can easily be traced and pinned down in no time. However, when the perpetrator is entrusted with the duties to maintain law and order, one within the pack, the task of unmasking the wrongdoer becomes a Herculean task! With the advanced knowledge of dodging su...

The Handmaid's Tale (1990) This film is an adaptation of Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel of the same name. It tells of a dystopian time in the future of a country (Republic of Gillard), facing declining fertility due to widespread pollution and sexually transmitted diseases, is ruled by a Christian fundamentalist militant group. The group rules by force and archaic theological teachings. They have degraded women as baby making machines with no rights whatsoever. The ruling junta has devised a way to re-populate the state. They select fertile women among the general public to mate with selected officer to bear children for the officers as they and their wives are mostly barren. Even though the plot of the story may have seemed implausible when it was written, thirty into the future, now, it no longer appears as a far-fetched idea. A small group of the population are content to propagate their lewd idea and sell it as a God-sent decree. The funny thing is that even though th...

Among the Believers (Urdu; 2015) Pakistan is one living example how a country should not be ruled. Any country must have a clear demarcation between political and religious affairs of the state. The supreme law of the country must be kept secular. This, the foresighted founding fathers of America were clear on this. Many European countries, having endured bloodbaths at a time when the Church had a tight rein on the monarchs and the running of the country, have come to realise that these two branches need to be separated. Unfortunately, most of the Islamic faith cannot accept this demarcation as they believe the religion is all-encompassing and has the best set of rules to rule a family, a country or the whole world! On top of that, everyone has their own version of which is the correct one, theirs! Scenes of the film remind me of a VHS tape I watched back in the late 80s. It was a grainy on-the-site recording of the violence at Kampung Memali. The same look in the...

nscblog.com It always intrigues me to see how some people's mind work. They think just the opposite of what is considered conventional wisdom but they still make lots of sense! You think it is politically incorrect and hence, must be wrong as most people say so, but still... Two things that I heard over the past week highlighted the above fact. The first is the Biblical saying that is also known as the 'Golden Rule'. The dictum says, 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. In other words, do to others what you expect them to do to you! Herein lies the dilemma. How do you know what others want? We do not possess telepathic powers. Living in a society with many personalities, cultures, social mores and even biorhythmic cycles, different people have different needs and expectations. Take the simple example of walking into a lift. The person who walks into the lift would think that it is only courteous to have, at least a cursory eye contact, with...

Seven Days in May (1963) Humans are social animals, they say. We need each other to survive. We should look at one another as our brothers and sisters to sail through the journey of life. They say we should look at another not by colour or creed, but as a fellow being seeking temporary sojournment on Planet Earth. That, borders and nation states are artificial boundaries created by multinational conglomerates with business and acquisition of wealth on their mind! But snap out of it! This is what we have. Various nations wanting to do better than the other and do not to be taken for a fool by others. An entity called nationalism evolved over differences and the trust was put on a piece of cloth and the writings which define the nation, the Constitution. Leaders are elected democratically to guard this common belief that the Constitution is supreme, infallible and can stand the test of time as the founding fathers were visionaries extraordinaire! We all may not be happy with how thi...

Baahuballi 2 (The Conclusion, 2017; Telugu) My friend was understandably excited when the news of its release and its phenomenal smashing of records of sorts for a Tollywood production. He was over the moon as the news had made it to the desktops of the BBC World Service TV. After making quite an impression with the first instalment, I felt that this film is quite a letdown. The awe factor seems missing. There is only so much of long shots one can take of the set to impress us on gargantuan portions of the wealth and power of Sivagami and her Mahishmati kingdom. We totally get it. The wide angle aerial shots of CGI-enhanced castles, beasts and savage battle scenes are too many by far. They are only so many flying tackles one can stomach. There is a limit to human imagination. Ok, this is a fantasy film set in medieval India when they were the richest nation on the planet with the intellect beyond yonder and military prowess to match, but stringing three arrows fro a ...

Bhuvana Oru Kelvikuri (Tamil, Bhuvana is a question mark; 1977) The question mark in this movie, starred by two powerhouses of the Tamil cinema, is whether a lady should stay chaste to one man even though he had wronged her willingly? The title suggests that Bhuvana would play a pivotal role in the story, surprisingly she only appears in the second half of the show. Rajnikanth acts in one of his first roles in the positive light as before this, he was usually cast as a villain. Sivakumar, for a change, assumes a negative role. This film must have interested directors to put Rajni as their hero after this film. His unique mannerism and stylish stunts must have started here. Rajnikanth (Sambath) and Sivakumar (Nagaraj) are street pedlars selling garments. Even though they are close friends, there are like different like night and day. Nagaraj is a sweet-talking businessman who works hard with a strong ambition for the future. He is also a womaniser who lives for...

An error of judgement  Pamela Hansford Johnson This is one book that I had deferred reading for a long time. I bought a long time ago but decided giving it a miss umpteen times over other books with more alluring covers! I should read it earlier. The book gives a dark description of human behaviours; in marital, medical, theological and social lives. It goes on to show how difficult it is for one to carry on living a modern life. Unlike a conservative society where gender roles, parental duties and offspring expectations are cast in stone, the rules in modern living are quite fluid. Everybody feels his needs has to be met. He lives for himself, not for the society, not for family. Every man is for himself. It is the generation of self. Above all, it is all about self-liberation, self-expression, self-fulfillment and self-satisfaction. In the good old days, the same actions could constitute self-indulgence, self-gratification and selfishness. This obscure book tells the story...

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: The Untold Truth (2000) Director: Jabbar Patel Mammoth in the starring role In a recent TV poll, Dr. Ambedkar had been voted as the most critical leader after Gandhi, even drawing more numbers than Nehru. In another article, the competition for the coveted title 'Father of the Nation' is between Gandhi, Netaji, and Ambedkar. Babasaheb, as he is popularly known, is remembered annually on 26th January as that was the day the Indian Constitution was drafted, and he was the main man behind its inception. The Indian Constitution is said to be one of the best in the world and, like the one it is based on, the American counterpart, promotes equality, justice, and liberty to every man. It is ironic that a low caste boy who was denied a bench in his school and had to sit on the floor on a gunnysack was denied drinking water in class and was denied the offer to learn Sanskrit as he would contaminate the august Hindu religion end up as one of the most in...

Yay! A giant landmark in the blog's history. Today we hit the psychological mark of 1 million hits. Thank you to all visitors for their support all these years, seven years to be specific.

Inspector George Gently (Mini Series Seasons 1-7; 2007-present) There are police procedural dramas and there are police procedural dramas. What makes this British drama stand out from the rest are manifolds. For one, it is one set in an era when life was simple and was getting complicated. The pilot episode starts in 1964 and it slowly goes on to the tumultuous years at the end of that decade. We can slowly see the gender roles change from a patriarchal one slowly to one where the skirts get shorter and the brassieres go missing. In the time frame, the death penalty was removed in the UK. The seemingly euphoric times of the post WW2 era sees the baby boomers and their offspring experience the darker side of progress. The working class were no more dancing to the tune of the aristocrats. They start standing up for the rights against the perceived tyranny and the old order of the ruling class. Many minority groups start demanding for their rightful place in society. The genera...

It is never 'all-or-none' rule. Above all show compassion, they say. These statements would flash scenes of border patrol officers, with batons in the hands or rifle pointing at the invaders, women or children. Then, of recent, close to us, distance wise, of a voluntary police personnel giving an earful to a shade-seeker from the torrential rain at a mosque for apparently not dressed appropriately for the occasion (of seeking shade at a house of worship). True, above all common sense should prevail and one of most revered human gift is compassion. True that World War 3 was averted in 1962 when a Russian officer decided to listen to his heart than to act on a faulty signal to start the sequence to activate the Russian nuclear head. Also true that ill-intended individuals are using this soft spot to cheat, smuggle and rob people blind. True, people who act as watchdogs should not be masters themselves but be obedient servants to stand in the line of fire and go as much as to ...

Decoding the Gita, India’s book of answers  Roopa Pai | TEDxNMIMSBangalore.