RIFLE RANGE BOY

http://literaryjournal.in/index.php/clri/article/view/297 CLRI Contemporary Literary Review India Brings articulate writings for articulate readers. eISSN 2394-6075 | Vol 6, No 1: CLRI February 2019 | p- 181-187       Book Review on Farouk Gulsara’s Inside the  Twisted Mind of Rifle  Range Boy Prof Shiv Sethi ‘Inside the Twisted Mind of Rifle Range Boy’ is a melange of profound thoughts penned down by Farouk Gulsara. Hailing from a family where everybody perceives that there is only a single way to deal with the things either black or white whereas the writer is inclined to have an altogether contrary viewpoint. As he advances in the years and grows mature, he becomes aware of the harsh reality that the family of his parents has innumerable blood-curdling  tales to narrate because they had witnessed the seamy side of life during the turbulent times of early Malaya. Farouk Gulsara makes the most of that opportunity and begins...

http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/views/2017/04/25/highrise-heartland-of-local-chinese-a-visit-to-rifle-range-flats-is-an-eyeopening-and-humbling-exper/ Tuesday, 25 April 2017 BY  ARNOLD LOH – PINANG POINTS I WAS filled with anticipation when work took me to see some people in Rifle Range Flats, Penang, last week. After the appointment, I wandered about and had the pleasure of chatting with a hawker about her grilled chicken backsides. That's bishop's nose, for you. But not all pressmen relish visiting this place. And you can't blame them because during the 2013 General Election campaign someone in one of the flats filled a plastic bag with urine and threw it down at journalists and politicians walking below. T hank goodness it did not land on anyone. Two weeks ago, water rained down on journalists while they were photographing 14 motorcycles parked beside Block B that had been burned by arsonists.  They saw soapy water gushing down from a w...

We had a bad gene pool. On the maternal side, our grandfather single handedly in a single generation, brought his family to the streets through his liking for culinary excellence. He pawned and leased to his last piece of property to hold feasts to commemorate the flimsiest of occasion. He enjoyed being doused in merriment without a care in the world, living only for the day like there is no tomorrow. He lived to eat. His antics and penchant for gustatory gratification literally brought down a reputable and respectable upper middle class family to its knees spiralling the ladder of social class all within a decade of the demise of his old man. On the paternal side, the extremely large family with 16 over offspring (give and take, that is excluding many stillbirths and children given up for adoption), food (lack of) was always an issue. They always seem to be drooling for food. With this background, my mother took it upon herself to put things in perspective as far as her children we...

Thulabaram (Sacrifice, Tamil; 1968) I do not know why but I keep watching this movie over and over again over the years. Maybe because it draws me back to the time of RRF and the time that steamed with hopelessness and helplessness. At the same time, I do not agree with the melodrama and the self pity that is exhibited in full glory in this flick. So, psychoanalyse me! This was one of the first movies that Amma took me to watch back in the days. Perhaps, she needed to reminisce her trying times of early adulthood. Even after all these years, its songs, especially 'Kaathrinile Perum Kaathrinile' sang beautifully by K.J. Yesudass, still makes my hairs at the back of my neck stand. This movie skyrocketed in popularity in the South that remakes were made in Tamil, Telegu and Hindi using the same main actress, Sharadha. The original film was made in Malayalam based on stage show. Sharadha went on to receive the National Film Award for that year. Sharadha Coming from a s...

Thanks to  Valen Lim Illustration  .

When I was a kid Childhood stories by Boey We all had our observa tions about our parents' idiosyncrasies and things we hated doing but we still did them because... we were kids. We all had our moment when we hated our parents and were ashamed of them. And the jealous moments when other people's parents were so cool. Not to forget those sibling rivalry. Now you have this book that spills out all those suppressed thoughts, written by a Malaysian animator stationed in US. It is a scarily honest light read that reminds us Malaysians of the nostalgic and troubled times of childhood. The best thing about the book is that it is more of a comic book rather a text rich prose. It narrates different scenarios in the life of the author (Cheeming Boey) and usually ends in one or two pages with outcomes that would curve a smile, every time! The stories are not overtly 'rolling-on-the-floor' type funny but cute nevertheless. Sure, we all have all gone through what he had gone t...

foie gras I grew up amongst elders who always complained about the lack of taste in the food prepared by the then younger generation. The usual banter that they indulged whenever the elders meet is the reminiscence of the mouth-watering palatal stimulating dishes that their elders used to prepare back in the days. Sometimes I used to think that these people were indeed gluttons and lived to eat. One of them includes my father and my maternal grandfather. The latter literally sold off his ancestral property just to satisfy his taste buds and hypothalamic satiety centre. They used to recollect the times when the aroma of chicken curry cooked in one person's kitchen used to fill the whole neighbourhood and how simply-out-of-this food generally tasted. I used to think that taste never changed. I thought their remote memory of input of olfactory nerve to the limbic system just reignited their nostalgic childhood memories. Until I heard the story of a man in Spain who reared gees...

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Community/2013/11/23/The-first-lowcost-highrise-flats-built-in-the-country-were-in-Penang.aspx Community Home  >  News  > Community Published: Saturday November 23, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM Updated: Saturday November 23, 2013 MYT 12:01:14 PM The first low-cost high-rise flats built in the country were in Penang BY  WONG CHUN WAI Big complex: There are nine blocks spread over 16.7ha with 3,888 units THE Rifle Range Flats is one of the most densely populated areas in Penang. Penangites can tell you if you choose to park your car near the flats in the evening, the chances of your car being blocked by other cars is almost 100%. The likelihood is that the unsuspecting motorist would never be able to get his stuck vehicle out. The best way would be to return in the morning when the other cars have left. That’s how sardine-packed the area is. The almost non-existent parking bays at the flats is simply bec...

Honestly, I have never heard this song in my entire life. I decided to add this to the blog obviously because of the title in spite of its lack of melody and its directionless arrangement of chords! Now, for the real kind of Debbie Harry's Blondie music that was a hit during my coming of age and introduction to western music...

Thursday July 12, 2012 Heartless passers-by Reports by LOURDES CHARLES, CHRISTINA CHIN, STEVEN CHIEW, CHONG KAH YUAN and HAFIZ MARZUKHI GEORGE TOWN: Seven people walked past snatch theft victim Tan Kim Chuan (pic), 60, without lifting a finger to help her as she lay unconscious on the road with a cracked skull at the Rifle Range flats. CCTV footage showed her lying on the road for about seven minutes (see sequence of events on the right). Kim Chuan, who fell and knocked her head on the road in the 6.02am incident on Tuesday, succumbed to her injuries nine hours later at the Penang Hospital. Her sister Lay Yong, 63, wants the passers-by “to listen to their conscience”. “Those who saw her should have done something the least they could have done was shout for help. “How could they have just walked by? I am angry but what can I do?” Lay Yong said at the Penang Hospital mortuary yesterday . Tears flow: Investigating officer Asst Supt Wong Yeut Oon sharing Lay Yong’s ...