RIFLE RANGE BOY

Starting 1st January 2023, the State of Kedah in Malaysia closed all their gaming outlets. Nobody in the state could place their bets on their lucky numbers in 4D, Toto, or DaMaiCai or buy lottery tickets anymore. What they need to comprehend is that Man is very innovative when it comes to beating the system. I remember a neighbour during my childhood who ran a clandestine betting business. After taking all the bets for the day, he would sneak the counterfoils above the electricity switchboard that served the whole floor of the flat. If he gets caught, the police cannot put his involvement in it. Again during my childhood, as the European-run estates came to a grinding halt, the estate-managed spirit shops also closed. Labourers, who by then were addicted to the bottle, got their fix from bootleg booze. They had to settle for locally brewed concoctions because they were out of jobs, and legal liquor cost too much. Methanol poisoning caused blindness to many and cost their lives to some...

Two stories got me thinking this week. A paraplegic found out that humanity had not died. He was surprised to see that people went out of their way to appease his less fortunate self even though the last thing that the paraplegic wanted was self-pity and pittance thrown at him. Still, people obliged. It was much like the blind man who was forever taken over to the other side of the road just because he was standing at the edge of the road, not intending to cross or worse had just crossed the road. Then, there was another chap who had been taking care of his stroke-stricken mother for the past twenty over the years. In the initial few years, he was so high-spirited to give his mother all that modern technology could provide. Things were looking brighter until she was stricken with another episode of apoplexy, paralysing her so bad snatching away her motor and vocal abilities. What is left of a once robust chatty lady is just a faded rose, responding sluggishly to stimuli. Carin...