RIFLE RANGE BOY

Silence (Nishabdham, Tamil; 2020) This film was initially meant to be a silent movie, one without dialogues. It would have probably done better. The dialogue was a killjoy and laughable. A significant proportion of conversation of the film was in English, and that is the one that looks so fake, especially the lines written for Hollywood actor Michael Madson.  It starts off as a paranormal tale but later goes on to give a serial killer angle to the final story. It is predictable with many glaring loopholes in the narration. The cast comprises an ensemble of a few Indian actors (R Madhavan, Anushka Shetty and a few young actresses) and many amateurs.  Forget the story. What fascinated me about this film is how Indians in this story blended into American society. Filmed amidst the lush landscape around the outskirts of Seattle, Washington, we see how the characters mingled seamlessly partaking in what is considered the culture of the local populace. They indulge in classical musi...

Yes, I do my job but I am not your slave! They tell your vocation is God. They tell you stories of postmen clinging on their mail-bags like it was their dear lives they were holding on to in fatal motor-vehicle accidents. You have seen simple men giving their whole lives away doing repetitive mundane jobs to bring food to the table. You have heard of Men of God or self-appointment saviours of mankind in obscure places performing seemingly meaningless rituals that garner no worldly gains but only personal satisfaction. To the uninitiated, it may appear that they are just deluding themselves into doing something worthwhile for the rest of humanity. You, the simpleton, may not visualise it. In short, in the old world, a person's job was viewed as their purpose for living. You are born, you do your part for the continuity of species, then you wither away. The thinking man, however, looks at it from a different angle. Sure, everyone is answerable during his assigne...

Deep inside us, all of us know that this piece of cloth is the one that binds us together to maintain peace and harmony so that all of us can do our own things without any fear. We also know that this cloth, in spite of being just a piece of cloth, is no ordinary piece of fabric. It is the testimony of our sovereign nation. It is the same piece of material when hoisted upon being raised after winning a medal brings a tear or two to the eye of every true blue Malaysian. Scenes like these, the national flag in various states of neglect and disrespect are common sights these days. What was hoisted in Merdeka month last year is left to weather the elements of nature all through the monsoon months, and this is what you get... A faded Jalur Gemilang flying majestically as its threads tatter away in shreds. So, what are you going to do about as a loyal citizen? Are you going to make a citizen's arrest or just look the other way? Watching the number of mad people working around amongs...

During one of my channels surfing sessions, to avoid meaningless advertisements and melodramatic mind boggling Kollywood dance-around-the-park sequence, I stumbled upon the live coverage our female badminton players slugging it out with the Indonesian pair in the finals of the Sudirman Cup recently. It was not their game that fascinated me (they lost meekly) but rather their (the players and their coach) off court antics. Somehow, in that live coverage, the camera was precariously close to both teams. Every word of their conversation was crystal clear to the TV viewers. The Indonesian coach was ranting away in Indonesian language giving final points in playing. The Malaysian coach, on the other hand, was talking away in what sounded like Mandarin. I do not know whether the coach is Malaysian or Chinese but I would not be surprised if he is Malaysian as it is a common sight indeed to find Malaysians finding it more comfortable (some calling it preserving the dying mother tongue - it use...

Let us watch this video. Yet another video with its message which had appeared in many forms. http://www.malaysiakini.tv/video/20667/shot-4-times-and-dont-know-why.html Merdeka!!! The point I want to bring up is why, after 53 years of Independence, 40 years of National Education Policy, probably 2 or 3 generations of living in Malaysia, eating nasi lemak, thosai, burger and all those delicious delicacies that the nation can offer, the victim and his wife still finds it more comfortable to converse in Cantonese (a dialect native to a place thousands of kilometres) for a Malaysian web TV interview for a Malaysian audience. This is happening in a country with supposedly high literacy rate with a robust education system and is aspiring to be an educational hub of sorts. It is just like some who look up to the Middle East for fashion and way of living when there are abundance of cultures and styles to go around in this region. It does not speak much of our success in national i...