RIFLE RANGE BOY

The Immigrant (2013) There is nothing refreshing about this film. The story of a poor Polish immigrant migrating to the land of possibilities, the trials and tribulations that she goes through and fighting the vultures of flesh in the newfound land. Then the love triangle and the guilt to stay true to heart and her religious belief. The redeeming feature is the visually pleasing sepia hued recreation of 1920s New York City. The ambience created by the backdrop and props draws the audience back to the 20s as if they were actually there. The immigrant melodrama spells deja vu all around, too many stories with the same. What struck me was the way we as a nation are treating our immigrants just like how they were treated in the 20s in the US during the Prohibition Era. With development and affluence, works considered menial did not excite the locals. That drew a wave of immigration, escaping the tortures of tyranny and poverty. The leaders need the comfort for the people to win vo...

Tuesday January 25, 2011 ARTICLES OF LAW By BHAG SINGH When a word used is found to be offensive, the circumstances surrounding its usage and the community involved need to be considered. ONCE again a controversy has erupted arising out of a word in a book that some see as offensive and unacceptable, while others see it as harmless. Those who complain and object to the use of the word in the book are concerned about the negative implications and effect of the word. After all the Oxford Dictionary gives its meaning as a person who is not acceptable to society and is avoided by everyone. However, the use of the word deserves a more detailed consideration. As was said by Raja Azlan Shah many years ago as the judge in the case of Public Prosecutor v Ooi Kee Siak & Ors: “A meaningful understanding of the right of freedom of speech under the Constitution must be based on the realities of the Malaysian society”. Of course, his lordship was concerned about a case relating to sedit...

So, the curious cat in me, even though by the Chinese zodiac I am a tame rabbit, took the better of me to indulge in a little of culture. Anyway, myriad of folks of different walk of life have had their 2sens' worth of input of this topic. Ministers are having emergency sittings to discuss it, attention seekers are burning the book (like the Chinese did in the Cultural Revolution), aspiring politicians rather spend a night in jail than hanging around Batu Caves fulfilling their religious vows and so on and so forth. I am talking about the introduction of the book 'Intelok' for the Form 5 Malay Literature. This book was actually written way back in 1971 by a Malaysian laureate, Abdullah Hussain. Nobody had heard (at least I have not) of him since this brouhaha. Most Malaysians know A. Samad Said and Shanon Ahmad, but Abdullah who? Literature has never been my forte since school. 'The 20,000 leagues under the sea' and 'King Solomon's mines' that I studie...