RIFLE RANGE BOY

Two things that happened recently made my mind go a-wandering, yet again. Credit: SCMP #1. A friend, whom I have not met for some time now, appeared in my life during the course of my career. About twelve years previously, he became a widower after his thirty-something wife succumbed to the menace of the crab. Left to care for three young girls, ranging from ages of eight to twelve, he took it upon himself to be the sole provider of maternal and paternal love, all lumped to one. With his meagre income and a lot of helping hand from his extended family members, he forewent female intimacy and sacrificed simple pleasures of life to make parenting his sole purpose of existence. Fast forward twelve years later, the girls have managed to attain academic excellence. Each of them is pursuing careers by their own merit in local institutions respectively in medicine. Law and accountancy. It seems like poverty and melancholy never dragged them ...

Now that you have it all, you can sit in the comfort of an armchair and advise those on the lower rung of the ladder to see the bigger picture. We were all there, struggling to weather the unknown, dreaming of walking shoulder to shoulder with the Titans. You thought that, by being up there amongst the immortals, life would be a pleasure cruise, a walk in the park. Life difficulties, you assumed, would be a thing of the past. Oh, how wrong you were! You discover that new powers beget newer problems which are just as challenging to solve. You realise that money is not the panacea for all your woes. Your worries were just beginning but how you fail to take notice. Then it would hit you... You then start questioning the meaning of life, the meaning of existence and purpose of it all. You would find that there are other things in life than just chasing wealth and prosperity. It becomes crystal clear that the coveted pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is just an illusion. Just li...

Perched high up on skyscraper, placed on a hill overlooking the lowlands of common people and the iconic bridge to mainland, amidst the clutter of cutlery in the continental restaurant, indulging in the high caloried diet with no guilt, sipping the freshly squeezed orange, brain immersed in endorphines, it sure feels good like a million dollars to know that you had conquered the challenges that life had to offer, albeit in our own small ways. We made small baby steps to face the giant face of life and came out smelling not of stinking sweat but sweet smelling roses. We persevered, we fought the fight, endured the pain, ignored the heartbreaks and followed the path of least resistance. Like James Brown said, "It feels good, it feels nice". Even the unsweetened black coffee tastes sweet! And the bread as we know it has a funny foreign sounding name.

What is a TaiTai 太太? noun   1. A term used in Chinese circles for supreme wife (implying situation where a man is wealthy enough to have several "wives") but no longer strictly interpreted. Term now applies to citizens of the world with an Asian viewpoint who have bounds of time and money. A TaiTai 太太 is a privileged lady of means.  2. Supreme of the Supreme is its literal translation. The term implies respect. Real TaiTai's 太太 meet the following criteria 1. A tremendous amount of leisure time 2. Lots of money to spend. A TaiTai 太太 travels a lot 3. Concerned about status, social standing, and owning the 'latest in anything" that is remotely hot (ie: Pashminas. Fendi Baguette Bag,....) God Forbid a TaiTai 太太 be seen with last year's style! 4. Keenly interested ih beauty upkeep (Pedicures / manicures/ facials/ slimming treatments) Will stop at nothing to eradicate the tiniest sign of ageing. 5. Often associated with do-good charity...

This guy's  (with 1 missing upper limb) job  is to transport oil and other prayer paraphernalia up to a temple atop a  hill So you think you had it bad. You got a bad deal. You were born at a time when the stars were aligned at the worst constellations. Think again! Others who appear happy may have endured worse. Yet another success story to share, that is, if it is approved by the party involved... He hated it when people referred to him as 'the pasar malam egg seller lady's son' even though it was on a positive note, usually awed by his excellent results in school. Being a small town, everybody knew each other and each other's children. He often wondered why his parents could not be like other regular parents with regular 9 to 5 jobs. Why has it got to be chicken, eggs and all the barn and feather? He also hated it when he had to give up his precious revision time to set up stall at pasar malam (night market) as early as 3pm so as ...

Yeah, everyone has their own tale to tell about how they sailed the rough seas, scaled the high walls and swam through the shark infested choppy waters and came out unscathed smelling of roses.Previously, we have read about the true life saga of Lincoln Murthi, Kal Raman and T. Muthuswamy Iyer. Just the other day, I met up with a friend who is now drilling hole into people's bones and spine as an Orthopaedic surgeon, just like how his late father was drilling (and digging) into people's lawn and public roads to sort out their plumbing woes as a plumber in the Water Work Department! Going through various trials and tribulations, my friend managed to be where is through his and his parents hard work. Just like a radio DJ was telling his experience in Vietnam where the tailors literally worked around the clock to sew his suit. The suit was measured at 8pm, the client was called for fitting the next morning and the merchandise was ready to be collected by that afternoon. All this...

It is always a pleasure to read about peoples' endeavours and successes. I am sure that there must be many instances of the converse as well - depicting how they tried and tried against all odds just to be disappointed again and again. Some will blame it on bad karma and some will blame it bad luck or misdoings of ill intended enemies! Their story will be not be heard and will die a natural death. This world is not about losers. It is all about winners and the winners will determine how things should be done and be portrayed as demi-gods irrespective of how they achieved their goals. The end will dictate the means whether right or wrong. The losers will wither away with disappointment and resentment in whatever substandard heights that they manage to attain.Here I have pasted two success stories of yet another rags to riches story. This time it is about two citizens of Tamil Nadu - one, Sri. Muthuswamy Iyer, decided to serve his mother land and the other (Kalyana Raman Srinivasan) ...