The crossroad?

The Graduate
1963 novella by Charles Webb
1967 film directed by Mike Nichols

In the past, existential crises typically arose after a certain age of maturity. Following a prescribed path, an adolescent would transition into adulthood. One must work diligently, persevere, and slog through challenges to realise his true potential. As the Peter Principle states, "In time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties," they may attain the highest position for which they are ill-suited, leading to subsequent brooding. Only then do they begin to question the meaning of it all. What is the purpose of existence? What is one good for? What is their contribution to humanity, and what will be their legacy? 

In the days when seeking knowledge was laborious, one had to be content with passive diffusion. Learning intimate biological know-how was peer-driven. Rightly or wrongly, that remained a go-to source for quick references. In the spring of youth, the doe-eyed youngster absorbs everything piecemeal. There was no time to contemplate abstract concepts such as mortality and the purpose of life. 

The first contemplation may arise at the birth of the firstborn. Awed by the little one's possession of the grandmother's eyes and the dimples from his wife’s side, he may be intrigued by the greater forces of nature; however, the buck stops there. He is too busy making hay while the sun shines, as long as his body permits. 

The children will become increasingly independent from their parents. Similarly, the other half will carve out time for essential reflection. Fears of helplessness, redundancy, and loneliness may begin to seep in. A personal crisis of existence will ensue. This unfolds after years of lessons taught by the unyielding School of Hard Knocks in Life. 

Fast forward to the modern era. Instant access to a wealth of information at one's fingertips creates a false sense of security, leading one to believe they know everything. Matters that should be contemplated in mid-life suddenly swirl in the mind far too early, long before one has even entered young adulthood. 

"What is the purpose of it all?" he asks. "What sort of legacy will he leave behind?" He develops a guilt complex from enjoying the good life that his parents worked hard for. He wishes to give it all up for the poor and live on little more than air and sunshine. He scorns the capitalist system world. 

The end result is considerable confusion regarding what is expected of the youngsters. They believe their elders are too detached from the currents of contemporary life. Unfortunately, they lack role models to emulate. Consequently, they fumble in the dark, grasping at straws and occasionally making misguided choices that lead directly to disaster. This may be a consequence of information overload and the absence of a clear path for the young to follow.

This story challenged the status quo upon its release in the 1960s. A high-achieving recent university graduate from an upper-middle-class family with a clear path laid out before him harbours doubts about his future. He does not wish to follow in his father's career footsteps. During his graduation party, his father's business partner's wife embarks on an affair with him. Matters become increasingly complicated when he is introduced to and falls for the partner's daughter. 

The classic book and film became literary powerhouses in their own right. The film later emerged as the 17th greatest American film of all time and is esteemed as one of the most significant and influential films ever made.

 There was also a sequel to the book, Home School, set ten years after 'The Graduate', which did not perform particularly well. The film likely succeeded because it was the 1960s—a time of anti-establishment sentiment, hippie culture, and empowerment. This ideal representation of a generation is not limited to the 1960s. The feeling of not wanting to toil away in a seemingly meaningless job under the 'Man' is still experienced by the current generation. The notion of answering to the boss without any personal space is repugnant. Perhaps it is the leftist idea at play here—that individuals should spend equal time working for sustenance as they do for leisure, recreation, and family. Karl Marx believed that the working class should work no longer than necessary. Gone are the days when one was defined by one's profession.

P.S. Thanks, MEV, for the recommendation.

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Ideas transcend borders!

Monalisa No Longer Smiles (2022)

An Anthology of Writings from Across the World

Editor: Mitali Chakravarty

My father had an uncanny ability to read faces. No, he does not identify people's medical risks, personality traits or even the prediction of their future. He could tell a person's origin, caste and creed. He was proud of his achievement and held steadfast to the idea that caste division is a necessary tool for society to progress. 

He would choose where he ate and sometimes refuse invitations to people's homes or even functions of people with questionable status in the caste hierarchy. 

My mother tried to knock some sense into him that the whole world had moved on and things had changed. But he was having none of it. She even reminded him about Periyar EV Ramasamy's speech when he visited Malaya, to leave all the bad discriminatory habits they acquired in India and move forward. But no! He was unmoved and reasonably contended with his way of pigeon-holing people. 

I convinced myself that things would change when I grew up. People would become more learned and open-minded. I assumed that religion would take a back seat as science was slowly answering all the loose ends of knowledge then. 

How wrong I was. 

In the 21st century, the present turned out to be a far cry from what I perceived the future to be. People are congregated in factions. They found ingenious ways to divide and subdivide tribes so that one would dominate the other. Religion has made a comeback in a big way. Fundamentalism has taken root. Putting aside the science and symbolism behind worship and beliefs, believers are more focused on the ritual and blind following of the herd. 

The space between the haves and the have-nots is ever-widening. Materialism has crept into all crevices of our lives, and the future does not look bright. 

Against this gloomy background, this anthology tries to make its readers that there may be hope if we try. 

Borderless Journal, Editor Mitali Chakravarty's brainchild, is hopeful that the world will indeed be one whose borders will be torn down and where everyone will live as one. There would be no discrimination against people by caste, politics, or creed. There would be no wars to show the dominance of one over the other. 

Trying to recreate past glory and relive past grandiosities is no use. In God's creation, everyone is supposedly created equal, so why is there a clan of oppressors and oppressed, the powerful and the weak. Through art, literature and storytelling, this anthology, from its interviews with famous moviemakers, thinkers, poets and writers, from its fiction, 'Monalisa No Longer Smiles' and 'Borderless Journal', through its editor, Mitali Chakravarty, tries to create a possible world where borders do not matter. Ideas transcend borders. 

https://borderlessjournal.com/our-anthology/

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What is the writer's duty?

Manto (Hindi, 2018)

The versatile Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the lead.

Man is full of contradictions. He has laid rules that he proclaims to be of the divine decree, but nobody follows. They say one thing and do something else, knowing very well that their action is directly antagonistic to what they preach. But rules are for others.

They say all men are equal, but everybody knows that that only applies to a select group of people with political domination. Others do not really matter. Every community has its codes of decency, social mores and laws to put things straight but vice and crimes never cease. We know what is right and what is not, but we still turn a blind eye to atrocities that happen under our very noses.

What is really the duty of writers? Do they have any responsibility at all? Are they there just to preach a utopia that we can all transcend to? Is their job to highlight things as they are on the ground to create a certain awareness to change the status quo? To get people out of their comfort zones or indeed to create a platform for victims to be heard, writers may have a unique role. 

This biopic is the reply to Pakistan's 2015 multiple award-winning film of the same name. If the Pakistani version was longer and more in-depth, the Indian compensated through brilliant acting by the cast. It tells of the life and times of a Bombay author, Saadat Hassan Manto. A prolific writer before the Partition, he, due to the fear of religious double-crossing by his friends, he uprooted himself to Lahore. His intimate and graphic descriptions of true-to-life stories of the ordinary people, especially of women, did not go well with the conservative government of the day who considered his work as immoral. He spent most his short life fighting for his survival in the courts and being slaved to the bottle. Understandably, this film is banned in Pakistan. It portrays the Pakistani courts as a sham and the guardians of the legal profession as paternalistic dancing to the tune of the leaders. A good movie.

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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Wheat from chaff, rice from husk!

Panel discussion in Georgetown Literary Festival 2018 on
Indian Democracy.

From the fringe, from the outside, from one who views the drama as a third person, the political scene in India is quite confusing. It all depends on where one consumes the information.

If you were to follow Twitter feeds, the dedicated and erudite 'spin doctors' will make you believe that India is indeed in the midst of a sort of 'Renaissance' that Europe went through in the 15th century. Reels of her successes are flashed upon your very eyes. Discoveries are made on a daily basis of newfound explanations on old Indian (Hindu) wisdom. It is as though they are not only catching the bus of the Industrial Revolution but indeed overtaking it. They would like us to believe that they are just re-claiming their standings in the old world as it was four centuries ago when a quarter of the world's wealth was under their thumbs. They are in a quest to re-dust of their old scriptures which they claim held all the known and unknown secrets of the universe. Our forefathers knew it all, but over the ages, we have blinded ourselves with the wisdom of the fools. They justify the old archaic rituals with what the detractors refer to pseudosciences, but for believers, it is cosmic science.

They have us convinced that their economy is flying high with counterfeit money off the market and terrorism under check because of their demonetisation policies. The opposing camp, however, dismisses it as mumbo-jumbo, pointing towards weak rupee as the indisputable proof.

Panel discussion in Georgetown Literary Festival 2018
on the Partition of India.

There are murmurs under the surface that emphatically attest that there is a concerted effort by interest groups outside the country who are in control of media, print and broadcast, and hellbent in creating anarchy in a nation that is known for its tolerance of pluralism. They, who happen to be ruling currently, accuse journalists and intellectual as tools of the enemy of the state for undermining the prosperity of the nation.

In spite of what the ruling party says about class unity and religious tolerance in India, the media paints a very bleak picture of brotherhood amongst its people. Some quarters insists volatility is at an all-time high, last seen in 1947 during Partition. For the first time, Hindus have been issued certificates confirming their belief to the Hindu 'religion'! This must be another form of 'rebranding' as it had been doing to stay afloat. Hinduism, the way of life has evolved many times to counter the popularity of other emerging teachings many times before.

We live in an age of propaganda. What we hear is not what is real and is happening at the ground level. Our system is such that everyone is kept contended in their cocoons hearing their own self-satisfying rhetoric that resonates in their own echo chamber. Vigilance is of paramount importance. We need discourses and people who continuously challenge our convictions. Is there a need to filter information when freedom of information has become a right? We must know to separate the wheat from the chaff, rice from the husk.

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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Time to let your mind go asunder!

Kafka in Ayodhya and other stories (2015, 2018)

Author: Zafar Anjum

Perhaps not many would appreciate the significance of the illustration of the insect to the title of this book. Of course, it is related to Franz Kafka's 1915 original novella 'Metamorphosis' where the protagonist transforms into a beetle-like insect overnight. It is a strange tale with many concealed messages and has been hailed one of the most fabulous fictions of the 20th century. It questions the purpose of our existence and our relationship with the people around us.

This potpourri of short stories immerses our thoughts into the daily lives of the characters in their contemporary Asian lives. From a journalist, Herr Kafka, who turns up around the time of the court's announcement of Ayodhya's 'Ram Mandhir- Babri Masjid' legal wrangle to a name-dropping self-proclaimed broke 'writer', there many more chronicles in this book to let your mind to go wild.

Another interesting short story is the tale of a grumpy salary earner as he goes through his routine of getting ready for work. He discovers that a rat is menacing his household. Unknown to him, the rat also has other plans. One more is a sad tale about a lonely and grouchy mother who is left behind to fend for herself as her adopted-daughter and her son stays overseas. There is also a dark tale of a soon-to-be-married Hanuman devotee who suffers from erectile dysfunction. Imagine the words that you write revolt against the writer for scripting them in a bad light.
Two other narrations bring experiences outside India. A sister cannot accept the death of her brother after being gunned down by an Israeli soldier. The grand finale tells about an Indian businessman who comes to Singapore for a weekend rendezvous ends up heartbroken as his confession of love to an immigrant social escort is rejected!

An excellent and easy read. In this world where communicating with fellow human beings becomes increasingly more difficult where political correctness and care not to offend has reached absurd levels, fictions remain a safe, harmless outlet. One can create his own world where his heroes can comprise of himself and the people he likes, and the evil demons can be all the annoying species that he meets in his worldly life!

 https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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Work in progress?

Letters to Home (2016)
Young Malaysians write back
Edited by Ooi Kok Hin, Aish Kumar, Nik Mohamed Rashid Nik Zurin

Just when you had heard enough of whining, ranting, hurling of brickbats at the pathetic state of affairs that the country and possible failed nation status that we may plunge, out comes a book which tries to paint a blue sky, a new dawn and words of hopefulness. At an instance, when most disillusioned Malaysians are leaving our shores to graze upon lush greens elsewhere and when overseas-trained graduates find their comfort zone their Newfoundland, this book gives a glimmer of hope. It tells us that life in this country in the future may not be all doom and gloom.

This 234-paged book is a collection of over 30 authors who contributed to this uplifting experience. The writers are mainly millennials who were privileged enough to spend some time overseas in their pursuit of academic excellence, some through state scholarships. Many of them are envious of the ongoing progress abroad and yearn to bring home their skills. They long to have their motherland the same scientific and technological innovations that they had seen there.

The topics covered here are quite varied, ranging from affirmative action and Malay supremacy all the way to environmental degradation. Many government-sponsored students do not return home to pay back their dues to the nation, but the powers that be are quite lackadaisical in doing their job to gain returns from their investment of human capital. Malaysians who experience life as a foreigner in another country generally can empathise with the plight of the many low-skilled foreign workers found here!

In any country, the younger generation is typically vocal about current social issues. History had shown that the youth were the first displeasure when so many young Americans returned in body bags from Vietnam and when injustice prevailed in many despotic regimes in many newly independent post-colonial Africa and Eastern European block countries. Here, however, the wings of the university students are mostly clipped with the University and its amendments!

They go on to talk about Malaysia's brain drain problem of 10% which exceeds the global average. One author who hails from East Malaysia narrates her awkward moments of being treated as a green-eyed monster in the Peninsular as a student! The rise of religious bigots who treat women as second class citizens gets an honourable mention. The topic of living as a handicapped, growing as an orphan and the lack of social safety nets and the acceptance of intermarriage with its complex issues are discussed.

The best part of the book, I feel, is the lengthy discussion on the evolution of university life. From a firebrand force in the 60's which gave the government a run for its money, university students have all evolved to become meek apathetic domesticated pussies.

There is definitely lots of work to be done to bring the back the nation to its once promising start!

Their Kryptonite!

Still on the topic of conforming to the status quo...

It is everyone's nature for wanting tranquility and sanity to prevail at all times, that life goes on almost on a flatline without too many undulations and surprises. Everyone has their life plans carved out nicely, and that everything goes on by per schedule, on the dot. In other words, we like to move along with time like automatons, without willpower as if everything is predetermined and preplanned.
Deep inside all of us, there is a desire to scream out, to throw everything away and scream our lungs out. But societal pressures and our wanting to conform to the rest restrain us.

There is a constant battle within us, all the time, always wanting to do the right thing, to follow the Truth. But what is the right way and what it the real truth? Is there a single truth or layers of truthfulness? Who determines what is right anyway? Nobody can tell us that, but help is on the way. There are people amongst us who can do just that. They can make us think out of the box, conjure up conspiracy theories, bring us into an utopic future of milk and honey, break barrier and shackles and occasionally laugh at ourselves.

These are the artistic people of performing arts, literary stuff, painters, poets, writers, storytellers and even cartoonists. They hold a special place in society and keep the unique weapon which is mightier than the sword. In their hands, like a Hindu godhead with an arson of weapons of mass destruction, they carry the tool -the pen that can stimulate the minds of the masses to raise the sickle and hoe against the brutality of the regimes that misplaced their trusts or overstayed their welcome.

No wonder the powers that be take a hostile stance against creative thinkers and those who have developed their non-dominant hemisphere of their brains! They like conformists, not smart alecs!

Even an assassin needs love too!

Snow Phoenix and Me
Author: Arthur Y. T. Foo

When I got this book from my friend, the author, Arthur Foo, I asked him jokingly, “So you are naming your books after your girlfriend now?” He hushed me and was quick to rebut, “Not so loud, not in front of my wife!” with a coy smile and a wink.

Just like his cheeky smile, this is a playful novella set at the tail end of the glorious Chinese dynasties. It is the turbulent of times, and political upheaval is the order of the day. Against this background starts the story of a mix breed Red Indian-Chinese hitman a.k.a Mr. Clean. During one of his hits, he becomes weak in the knees and falls hopelessly in love with a painter at the scene of an assassination!

The field is set for an adventure of cat and mouse chase as he goes into hiding when his sifu warns him of imminent danger. Mr. Clean goes into hiding but not without his new found love. The tale goes on to narrate their escapade as they hit the old country road from Shanghai all the way to Peking.

The book is a short light read which tries to create the aura and splendour of ancient China with its scenic outdoors infused with contemporary ideas and speak. For instance, I am pretty sure that the middle finger sign is definitely a mid-1960 invention! That is why I said it is a tongue in the cheek kind of feel good lovey-dovey ala-Mills and Boons kind of entertaining novella. It is a good diversion from the stresses of life.

There was a time...

Saw two snippets this week about the greatness of ancestors of two lands of which, in the present world need to show a lot to prove themselves. One giant had just awoken from a long slumber after yoke of colonialism and another which was prophesying philosophy to the world at a time when the world was inhabited by savages.

Firstly, I found out about the engineering marvels of India in 1500 BCE when they could build a 35km bridge, Ram Sethu, between the southernmost peak of India and tip of Ceylon. In that age and time, they built a bridge with trees and flat stones that stood the test of time. The rise in sea-levels and priorities in other things in life made it a relic of the past. Now all that marvel is lost in the annals of time and its subjects live at the mercy of the international world for survival. Of course, there are tonnes of know-how too unevenly distributed around the country for comfort.

Epicurus

Next, turn to Greece. Now they seem the pariah who seems to be depending on hand-outs and write-offs from its neighbouring countries who are simply fed up with their lack of austerity. It seems to be to be a far cry from the times they used to be. At a time when their neighbours were in the wilderness trying to make sense of living and survival, the Greeks already had a cradle of civilisation so advanced that they were discussing metaphysical aspects of life. Epicureanism and Stoicism were concerned about the divine attitude towards human and philosophy of life. This advanced civilisation reached their pinnacle and now they are at the mercy of others, who were at one time, just plain savages! So what happened?

Time and tide waits for no man. Nothing lasts forever. It is the circle of life. There is a time for the dog and a time for the elephant. Big indestructible powers and gone. It is just the flavour of times....

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Paraprosdokian

A paraprosdokian /pærəprɒsˈdoʊkiən/ is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence, phrase, or larger discourse is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to re-frame or reinterpret the first part. It is frequently used for humorous or dramatic effect, sometimes producing an anticlimax. For this reason, it is extremely popular among comedians and satirists. Some paraprosdokians not only change the meaning of an early phrase, but they also play on the double meaning of a particular word, creating a form of syllepsis

Thanks CG.  

Crisp from the printers

Out now... Crisp from the printers...

Inside the twisted mind of Rifle Range Boy
ISBN: 978-967-13153-0-9
to order...http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy

Leaving a legacy?

Bumped into an old acquaintance recently. As there was too much time to kill, rather than looking at each other, we decided to talk about stuff. One thing led to another till finally he spoke about a book that he was writing. Having too much time in his hands with tip-top condition of his mental capabilities as evidenced by his previous gargantuan presence in the university and the number of journal research papers to support, just rotting away into retirement just because the state uses other people's yardstick to assess seem just too wasteful. Rather than let the Devil set up workshop in his mind, he had embarked on a journey to honour the person he held close to his dear heart - his dear mother.
His mother's single-handed attempt to uplift her family from clutches of poverty, she, with her wisdom, albeit her handicap in the education department but not the desire to learn, managed to struggle through the tumultous times of pre-independent Malaya to provide for her offspring. This, she did even after she was widowed when the author was 17.
A heart stopping event happened during the World War 2. Her house was ambushed by Japanese soldiers. With so much of carnage around, she stood shielding her kids like a mother hen would. She thought all her migration to the new found motherland called Malaya had all come to zilch. She thought all the escapism from the poverty of Mother India was to meet its end. Just when she thought all hope was gone, one of the Japanese soldiers spotted the vermilion spot on her forehead! He started asking her questions in a incomprehensible language.  He started muttering, "Gandhi? Gandhi?" pointing at the dot on her forehead. Then it suddenly made sense. The Japanese had just made a peace pact with India. So, they all escaped the tyranny of the Japanese soldiers!
The book would eventually be out somewhere middle of the year after getting the nod from the rest of relatives who are inevitably mentioned in the progression of their life.
Just this year alone, I have seen two other friends who have had the opportunity to jot down the struggles of their parents who migrated to then Malaya. One of their parents migrated from Jaffna, worked in various estates in young Malaya, experienced the good times and the bad to bring up their children to be people of stature in society. He presented the struggles of his parents in a booklet during her eulogy after living close to 9 decades.
Another published a pictorial coffee table book displaying her collection of her mother's memorabilia and snap shots over the years, predating post World War 2.
I am sure many citizens of this country has their own family stories of their struggles and sacrifices. We should start inking them down so as to make the rest of country be aware that this country was developed not by politicians but by ordinary folks who toiled the sun, the rain, the disease and the hardship to propel this once back-water native land to its current near developed nation! Let the truth be known, lest not the sanitised hidden agenda ridden his-"STORY". 

Coming soon...

Entering a new phase of his life, RRB found himself in the company of solitary confinement dearth of intelligent life form. Solitude trickled his grey cells to trigger some questions about life and its intricacies. Hence began the outpouring of his thoughts into cyberspace for nobody to hear. This is a compilation of some of his thought provoking posts from his blog, Rifle Range Boy (asokan63.blogspot.com). His tangential flight of ideas may not be politically correct or be universally acceptable but what the heck, it is his party and he could cry if he wants to!

FG

Coming out soon!

The forbidden fruit of knowledge?

What Your Teacher Didn't Tell You

The Annexe Lectures (Volume 1) by Farish A Noor

You would become depressed after reading this book. Sad because it shows the doom and gloom that we are heading to. All the grooming after the independence by the legacy left by the colonialist masters, though they were no angels and are partly to be blamed for the rut, the head start that that we were heading for have slowly taken a nosedive. The author of the book joined the drove of band of intelligentsia who decided to migrate down south where the grey matter mattered. Looks like we have to contend with our motley crew of runaway maids, conniving dual citizenship 'one foot here and one foot there' flight by night bogus citizens and mediocre yeomen to make up the numbers in the country.

This book is also a gloomy reminder of our wonderful teachers whom we had before who could cajole us to drown in the sea of knowledge with their excellent mode of storytelling.
The lectures, 5 of them, covers matters of present relevance. He tries to look at these matters from a historical perspective and put forward his argument of history that had been brutally butchered by the powers that be to push their own personal agenda. There has also been selective erasure of facts to alter the origin of our cultures and practices.

Kris with its Hindu-Buddhist influence

The first lecture narrates the origin of our revered national pride, the Kris. The Kris has been portrayed as an emblem of Malayness and has been donning flags and coat of armour of organisations to show off their Malayness. Ironically, Kris is the beholden of past history of the region of a time where multiculturalism and harmony was the order of the day. Kris had its origin at a time when Hindu-Buddhist empires were ruling this region. It was actually part of what historians would call 'Greater India'. Kris is even found in Cambodia. India exerted its influence, religion and cultures to this area. Kris had probably originated in Java. Even Hang Tuah had obtained his legendary Taming Sari after pacifying an amok Javanese. At different times, input was given by various empires. The Hindu-Buddhist motifs were carved. Chinese and Japanese craftsmen had also put in their input when kris was given as souvenirs to other kingdoms. At the end day, the kris is actually an emblem of a time when our region was a melting pot of cultures and tolerance. Somehow, the conniving politicians have hijacked the kris to denote the heights of Malay supremacy!

The second lecture reminds us of the racial baggage that our colonial masters have left for us to wrestle. Even though ethnic variations were there all through history in Malaya, the indiscriminate migration of labourers by the colonists made ethnic differences more apparent. We are also talking about a time when the world was toying the idea of superiority of the Caucasian race over the others. The lesser races were considered inferior and were thought to eventually die off once the European influence sweep through the world (like the Red Indians)! Segregation of the races and creating animosity amongst themselves and pacifying them gave the visitors a convoluted way to garner profit to the Empire. This trend continued when the helm of government was handed over to the elitists friendly to the British and the tested formula of 'divide and rule' continues to date.

Next, he tackles the culture of 'ampu bodek' which is ingrained in our DNA. It actually goes back way back to time of Majapahit and beyond. The kings who ruled the land invoked the fear of God in their subject. The ruling elite had special privileges and were thought to be envoys of God on Earth. Example of this type of King would King Suryavarman II for whom the people would die to build his mammoth erection so that his soul would forever lie in peace while they shred themselves into pulp doing it. This type of God complex way of administration prevailed through the Sultanates and now the Government hierarchy. Anyway, the mould of our Government today was made by another representative of the local Monarchy, Tunku Abdul Rahman. Apparently, this method of administration which is still the prototype today has no demarcation between the Government and party coffers. The ruling elite feels that they are the 'chosen ones' and has the birthright to rule the country.

The fourth lecture laughs at our present day policing and capping of our sexual desires, orientation and preferences. He goes to a time in our history at the turn of 1st century when this part of the region was influenced by the Tantric and Shivaites' beliefs in sexual energy and harmony with nature. At a time when Man was awed by happenings around him, he correlated sex, orgasm and procreation to a universal energy which was precursor of life. An Italian writer (Pigafetta) who accompanied Magellan in his round the world trip, documented natives' fixation with eroticism and the thought of attaining protracted eroticism as a means to control their energy. The had mutilated their genital organs to this end.

From the various scriptures, stories and dance found in this area, our society appreciated and accepted the presence of LGBT in the community. Hikayat Panji Semirang Asmarantaka is our tale of transgendered cross dressing hero/ine who developed sexual feelings for same gender directly or indirectly! From a sexually matured society, we have somehow transgressed in our thinking. We tend to blame LGBT and sexual liberty as some kind of corruption of from the West. In a sense, at a time when this region was Bohemian in their outlook in life, the Western world was rather conservatively Victorian!

Next, a bonus lecture on the oldest Malaysian political party which had its origin as a 'people's party'. Even though outwardly appearing as a hardcore ultra religious conservative far-right party now, its green flag has smudges of red paint splashed in its history. Starting as small party working within the confines of the law, unlike its counterpart in the Arab world where Islamist parties were firebrand and combative in nature. The principles that they seem to speaking in this century like human rights, democracy and equality are echoes of their early struggle. They were 'people party' with links with the members of resistance force against the Japanese and the colonial rule. With socially awkward sounding names like PIMP and PIS, Partai Islam SeMalaysia decided on the abbreviation PAS. Its destiny took a turn when a forward thinking homeopathic doctor and philosopher took the helm of President, Dr Baharuddin Helmy. In fact, after the exodus of Japanese from Malaya in 1945, if the British had not returned, Dr Baharuddin would have been the Prime Minister.

Unlike the present brand of leaders in PAS, leaders then were receptive to advancement of the country collectively rather than harping on establishing an Islamic state. They had people on their mind. Even though their ideology was not in sync with that of Communist Party, they cooperated with them for the sake of the welfare of the common people. Dr Baharuddin and his friends in the resistance force had unification of individuals on their mind even as talks of Malayan Independence was ongoing. Their liaison with CPM and the establishment of Nusantara placed them in the bad light in the eyes of the British controlled and the elitist pro-British apple polishers who eventually became the ruling party put them in a bad light. They had their media and all the wealth of information under their thumb to come out smelling of roses every time.

Dr Baharuddin was the first Malay leader to be incarcerated under ISA. Confrontation and the escape of some of his contemporaries to Indonesia and the ensuing Sokerno's desire to usurp Malaya during this time further established UMNO and the Alliance as saviours of the nation.
PAS under the leadership of Dr Burhanuddin can reminisce a time of intellect discourse between religious and philosophical figures of the region of highest standard. Everything was not skewed from the narrow angle of religion but from a humanistic angle. They had shed the image of village holy-men to be progressive and democratic. He and many of the leaders of the Third World that time who were fighting against the tyranny of the imperialist incurred the wrath of the powers that be and all met the same path into oblivion.

His support of anti imperialist stance of Sukarno and the ugly Confrontation managed to paint a negative picture of the party with a lot of help from the ruling party's (dubbed imperialist's stooge) control of the media.

In the final chapter, the author gives a refreshing new
perspective of the all-Malay hero, Hang Tuah. The history that was taught to us and the feeding of the media to us had convinced us that HT is the epitome of Malayness. With statues and portraits of him, clutching on the hilt of his Taming Sari with the captions 'Tak kan hilang Melayu di dunia', one can be forgiven for not thinking otherwise.
The author suggests the epic of HT compiled under the title of 'Hikayat Hang Tuah' is a collection of stories written by different authors and different times. Roughly the story that we are exposed to is the first part where HT is depicted as a law abiding king worshipping warrior who would have no qualms of killing his dear friend without thinking, like a Robocop. On this most films and history lessons are based.
However, the second part of 'Hikayat Hang Tuah' paints a totally different picture of this admiral. Here, he is an ambassador of the Malacca Sultan to Negara Keling (South India) because he is well conversant in 'bahasa keling'.
He impresses the Indian Emperor with his finesse and keenness to learn the language, religion and cultures. In fact, the Indian Emperor appoints him as Negara Keling's ambassador to China!

In the narration of HT's experience in China, we are told that HT was well versed with Chinese culture as his stepfather was Chinese! During the visits to both countries, he was friendly to all except to the ferringhis (white travellers). HT and his entourage had no reservations about representing either country and did not feel disloyal to Malacca.

It is interesting how a historical figure who was ever embracing of all cultures is painted by people with a vested interest as a firebrand warrior representing a particular race and their defender.
After his successful tours of duty to India and China, HT was sent to the Kingdom of Ayyuthia to procure elephants and to Constantinople of the Ottoman Empire to obtain gunpowder. En route to Constantinople/Istanbul/Setambul, he is said to have performed his pilgrimage in Mecca.
Again with his wit and charm, HT captivated all quarters.

Upon his return, HT took retirement by retreating to the foothills for meditation as he aged. It is said that he gave up violence to explore the real meaning of life.
Incidentally the legacy of draws parallelism to a Farsi poem, Iskandarnameh, wrote by a Nizami Ganjavi about a fabled Farsi conquerer named Iskandar Dzulkarnain, the son of King Darius II. (But I always thought Iskandar Dzulkarnain was Alexander the Great) The hero in the poem too had a two parts to his life history. The first where he is a fearsome conqueror and the second where he renounced violence to find the real meaning of life.

The author ends his lecture by suggesting that perhaps the phrase 'Tak kan hilang Melayu di dunia' should infer to the meaning that Malays would not be lost (hilang) in the world as the they world-savvy, so to speak. Just look at HT who could go places, mingle with the royalties of various kingdom and come back victorious in his missions.

Sound a bit like MGR's 'Ulagam Sutrum Vaaliban' where MGR is an undercover cop working in tandem with Interpol, going places to nab international smuggler. With so much ease, MGR will get a girl at each post to sing his duet!!!
(Dedicated to Mr Lee Kok Keng, my favourite history teacher)