RIFLE RANGE BOY

'96 (Tamil,  2018) Director: C. Prem Kumar I remember a time in the 1980s when many Tamil movies had a particular storyline. A boy would fancy a girl, but circumstances would not allow them to fall in love. Most of the time, it would be because of different social and economic statuses, or they could be from feuding families, akin to Romeo and Juliet's story. The Family would come to know. They would put up blockades, but against all odds, the boy would persist. He would look at his beau from afar, her every move, and she would fall flat for him. She thinks he loves her so much that he finds nothing more worthwhile in life than looking at her 24/7 like a lunatic.  In most modern societies, that is called stalking. In 1983, it was perfectly normal for Sting to watch his gal's every breath and every move. In the 2000s, however, that would warrant a police report and a restraining order. Somehow, in this 2018 Tamil nostalgic movie, the girl regrets that she missed all the stal...

Tiger Stripes (2023) Written and Directed by Amanda Nell Eu This movie reminds me of P Ramlee's not-so-famous film, 'Sitora Harimau Jadian'. Sitora was 1964 Malaya's answer to the European folklore of werewolves. Instead of werewolves, he created a story about a were-tiger. Made in black and white with a limited budget for the make-up department, it failed both in awe and in its gore aspects. 'Tiger Stripes', on the other hand, is not much of a scary movie. It is more of a social commentary. It highlights bullying in schools, the confusing hormones-laden pubertal era, the uninspiring methods of teaching, and maybe many more. International viewers will wonder why girls in that all-girls school suddenly go haywire, shrieking and falling down simultaneously with jerky hand and body movements like a person possessed. Yes, the film also showcases the problem of mass hysteria, a peculiar phenomenon that is seen in many all-female Malaysian schools and hostels. Another...

A lady, visibly struggling with her gravid tummy, was heard conversing with a fellow attendee at a maternity clinic. Excerpts from her conversing, which were anything but discrete, were soon made known to others. She was complaining about how she still had to go to school carrying a pair of twins in utero with just less than one month from her due date. This year alone, five teachers had gone on maternity leave, leaving a large vacuum for others to fill up.  It does not help that her school had 80% of the teachers as ladies and that recently, maternity leaves had been extended from 60 days a few years previously to 98 days now.  "I am just wasting my time teaching children who are not interested in learning, anyway," she was lamenting.  Thanks, Mr Khoo! I remember when a teacher motivated me to push my boundaries beyond my imagination, reaching for the unthinkable. I was just an average student trying to sponge whatever little knowledge my teachers were trying to imp...

Eva Mireles (victim) 4th-grade teacher We all know the drill. Regular broadcasting will be rudely interrupted with news flashes of yet another senseless killing in public. All cable news network cameramen will run to the site hoping to catch a glimpse of yet another gore porn over prime time. They will appear empathetic, trying to blank out the faces of victims and underaged but secretly wish they could exhibit violence in its full glory. Then for the next few hours will be reels over reels of footage of witnesses and victims relating their dastardly experiences. The police chief will come forward with a press release that they have identified the perpetrator. The chief will be flabbergasted how the aggressor managed to possess his firepower. A revealing loophole in the system would manifest - he is underaged, that he purchased his assault weapon at a mall, that he has mental issues, that he bought it in another state, yadda yadda. Then his social media would expose his screwed up ideo...

I can hear her words still reverberating in my ears like she said it yesterday. To catch a  big fish, always put a small fry on the hook. All through my childhood, this is the mantra that Amma preached upon us. She was unapologetic about her views about the nuns in the convent school that my sisters went to. Even though she was the one who insisted that my sisters should go to a missionary school, she was always sceptical about their true intentions. She told my sisters to learn what the teachers taught but not what the nuns preached. She was clear about that. In her mind, the school gave good education, for the other stuff, thank you very much. Whenever someone offers you a handout, be wary. Amma would always remind us that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Everything carries a piece of baggage. In simple terms, we grew up distrusting altruistic intention, minding only for ourselves. Maybe, these teachings helped us to pull ourselves by our bootstraps to greater heights. As ...

In the late 1970s, as my future laid bare before me, I found no time in anything but my books. I looked  at watching movies as three hours of wasted time that could otherwise be spent on something more worthwhile, so I thought. At that age, everything was either black or white, factual and goal orientated. Watching the then Tamil movie which showcased hirsute stars in unkempt hair and their un-touched up face narrating mind-stupefying cheesy village stories was a turn-off. Its songs, despite be blared incessantly by my neighbours on their music devices, were just white noise.  Actually, it was an annoyance, as something I had to run away from to find solace at the quiet corner of the cemetery or empty classroom in the school to jam-pack precious information into my grey cells. That was the time when SP Bala and Illayaraja were churning out hits after hit that just passed me by. Occasionally a song or two would come to my attention clamouring from my father rickety radio. I did...

Hindi Medium (2017) The apparent difference in outlook in spirituality between the Western and Eastern philosophy is quite visible. The former revolves around its fixation on following preset rules to appease the Maker. In the case of the latter, it appears to be more like an eternal quest. It is a lifelong journey to hunt for the secrets of the Universe. The whole teachings in the Vedanta, Buddhism, Confucianism and the Tao scriptures are towards this end. In simple terms, Eastern cultures are seekers of knowledge. Sometimes, this also became their own undoing. When the Western cultures first hit the Indian shores, the natives slowly neglected their age-old wisdom. They plunged head-long into their newfound obsession of acquiring erudition from the visitors, only to be led astray. This hunger for knowledge has not been quenched after all these years. The world over, Asians, armed with their right discipline and dedication, are slowly but surely making their presence felt once agai...

The House of the Rising Tikam. A ruin of many a poor boy. It was 1972, and we were excited to be back in school. Unlike the previous years, our Standard Three class was in the afternoon session. But like the year before that, we also had a fierce-looking master as our class teacher. It was just the second day into the schooling year. Formal teaching had not started, and everyone was so excited about seeing each other after the long end-of-year break. As in the previous year too, OBK seems to be the most popular student in the class. Like ants to sugar, everyone was pulled to his table between lessons. The loud conversations and the exclamatory remarks naturally drew me to OBK's corner. I was wondering what tall story was he up to this time. There he was, collecting coins and returning the balance. Naturally, I was drawn in, curious in wanting to know what all that money translation was about. In between pocketing the money and answering to his 'clients', OBK brief...

Malaya had it better. Not that we were not colonised but because our colonial masters were much kinder than some that over neighbours got. Look at the Indochinese countries and the mess the French left behind. Their masters not only pilfered the region of its wealth but try to erase their advanced ancient culture. The Dutch left a bad aftertaste even long after their long departure. Belgians used their subjects as target practice to milk their dry of their diamonds, minerals, natural resources and even exotic fauna. Even the Land of the Free, the Thais, did not gain so much of order in their country. Elsewhere, the Spanish wiped out a civilisation with their carnage and smallpox. Malaya was left by the captors a proper system of administration, legal and education systems when they finally gain independence. With this head start, they started their status as a new country with an advantageous jump-start. The euphoria of the new nation pushed it great heights producing new ta...

http://m.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2038580/how-one-malaysian-school-became-bright-spot-colonialisms N. Balakrishnan celebrates the  founding two centuries ago of Southeast Asia’s oldest English school, which gave generations of youth an education not just of the mind, but also of the heart.  N. BALAKRISHNAN PUBLISHED : Thursday, 20 October, 2016, 12:39pm UPDATED : Thursday, 20 October, 2016, 12:39pm The Penang Free School. Minority voices have been saying that the old school was a colonial relic best forgotten. But while the school may have been “elitist” in one sense, it was also an avenue for social mobility for many. Neither of my parents knew any English. The reason I can write passable English is down to the schools I attended in Penang, Malaysia. Penang Free School, my secondary school, celebrates its 200th anniversary on October 21. It was established three years before modern Singapore was “founded” by Stamford R...