RIFLE RANGE BOY

The world is your oyster. Too bad for vegetarians!  ©FG A few weeks ago, I met up with an old friend who had been under the weather of late after being under the barrage of attack of the unfriendly crab, which seems to have attacked his immune system. His account of life is one of melancholy and hopelessness. After retirement from Government service as a medical officer, he let life slip by. An occasional part-time job here and there, biking trip every now and then, that was it. His life had been dragging its feet at a snail's pace, then this. At the hospital, he lamented how people ask him to rest with his illness as if he was doing anything else after his retirement. He never owned a mobile phone and does not believe in going online. He keeps thinking the digital world is a just fad. He can only be contacted on a landline! And he continues in his grumpy, miserable and lifeless life living day by day and counting. On the other spectrum, I met a group of retirees who embrace...

Fig. 1: Are we going there? ©FG   “What have I got myself into?” I asked myself as I gazed out the hotel lobby in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, admiring the snow-capped mountain which seems so high almost reaching the heavens. I convinced myself, “Of course, we would not be going there. It looks too high for comfort.” Sheepishly, I approached the guide to ask, “Just how high are we going?” “You see that snow," pointing at the same peak that I had seen earlier. "We will try to scale the snow line and see how far we can go after that,” he replied. I felt a lump at the back of my throat. Not wanting to be a spoilsport or an attention seeker, I just kept my trepidations to myself. Come to think of it, in hindsight, all the fears and uncertainties proved unfounded. All our faithful weekend boot camp pieces of training under the auspices of our masochistic slavedriver leader dubbed ‘Commando’ apparently did not go to waste. Maybe it was slightly more strenuous than a walk in the p...

This is a blatant bastardization of a Malay proverb which goes like this, 'Lidah tidak bertulang'. Essentially it means that talk is easy and words can be malleable to suit a particular scenario. In other words, it shows the insincerity of man who would sway to the tide. Well, this colossal trait of the glossus (tongue) is a particularly useful tool of the trade of some professionals in the upholding the law (whichever side) business as well as politicians who have to make statements and modify them periodically. Why this talk about tongue, bones and insincerity? Imposing Bukit Takun, like a sleeping giant, forms a formidable backdrop at Templer Park. (The Star) On 9th May, Wednesday, at 6pm, a 51 year old seasoned trekker went into the jungle to trek out a path for his fellow climbing junkies and never came back. By the following day, a search party had been organised by police, family and friends to track him down. Just as soon the newspapers announced the news b...