Life lived for others?

Many generations have called themselves as the lost generations as they had lost a good many years of their lives through no fault of theirs!

Ava Gardner

Ernest Hemingway, the great writer popularised this word through his novel 'The sun also rises' in 1926 which was made into a 1957 Hollywood movie starring Tyrone Powers, Ava Gardner and Errol Flynn. Interestingly, Hemingway's mother described it as the filthiest book she had ever read but wished his son success anyway. The rights to the movie changed many hands as the theme was deemed unfriendly to movie-goers.
In this movie/novel, the lost generation is referred to the men who came of age after the World War 1. They were probably affected by some kind of post traumatic stress unable to cope with the stress of everyday life. Some people also refer to the artistes loafing around Paris after the Great War. In recent times, the young Chinese Red Guards (1966 -76) during the Cultural Revolution are also called the Lost Generation. They basically wasted their lives shouting aimless slogan to boost one man zest to stay in power.

Product of a new lost generation?

Now, I am looking at another kind of lost generation. I am talking about Indian boys of the early Generation-X and late Baby Boomers. They grew up doing things to satisfy their parents' expectations and to live up to the set community needs in an environment of strict upbringing where children are seen, not heard. This generation grew up living by certain standards and carved a place in society for themselves. These professionals now in comfortable lives, wanting to continue their legacy, now live to satisfy the whims and fancies of their children, bending over backwards and dancing to their every idiotic tune. They had and are living their lives for others, just like the soldiers of WW1 and the Red Guards who basically lived doing sweet worthless things to satisfy the needs of others so as to maintain the status quo and the betterment of mankind without asking themselves what this generation actually wants to do for themselves and satisfy their inner needs.
Now, how is the next generation, who has had all the comfort and pampering that they can get are going to continue and maintain their offspring. Is the age old Chinese proverb of 'Wealth never stays beyond the third generation' going to be proven true? Are they going to self discover themselves? Only time will tell and social scientists will have a field day righting about it in their theses.
P.S. I just watched this movie! Trying to live up for lost times!

Centre of the universe

Hindu mythology has it that Lord Shiva's consort Parvati had a unique fruit (Gnana Pazham) that she wanted to give to either of her sons, Ganesha and Murugan. It could not be divided half as its magical power would be lost. Hence, Parvati decreed that the first child to go across the universe would receive the booty. Murugan, using his peacock as his vehicle, flew across the universe in no time to claim his loot. When he returned, he was furious when Ganesha had already received the fruit as he circled his parents, claiming that his parents were his entire universe. That made Murugan raving mad and left home and stayed sulking in self-exile in Palani Hills. The hill was named 'Pazham Nee' (Palani, that he was the fruit of wisdom) by Shiva to cajole Murugan back but in vain.

Ganapati outwitting his brother

Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei had to retract their scientific discovery that the Earth was in fact not the centre of the universe. The church, I guess, wanted to be in the centre of things and have the final say!
Just like that, the children nowadays have the unshakeable notion that they are the centre of the universe and the sun actually sets for them and they deserve everything to be done for them.If you go to any mall or public place, you may encounter toddlers terrorising and their imbecile parents (mostly fathers) running around like a joker trying to keep up with their whims and fancies. This will also be complemented by the grandparents (if there are up to it) to feed them with the more sugary drinks to make them more a brat than they already are! Probably, these grandparents are trying to repair their dented image after being a tyrant with their children a generation previously. The sum of all these is a child with narcissistic tendency and delusion of grandiosity.   

Oh! When the brain goes down the drain!

Studying for a better future overseas?

So as usual, at this time of the year, the local newspapers will be plastered with news of how great the public examinations results were. They will give a breakdown of how the overall percentage of the result had improved. It is beginning to sound like a re-run of an old soap opera or broken gramophone record - just like me, too!
There would soon pictures of handicapped students passing with flying colours and children of hawkers and seamstresses obtaining good results.
A few days after that the announcement would be out on the closing date of applications for scholarship and entrance to universities. Like clock work, a few days after the results of acceptance of the above, flashed again on the newspapers, would be disgruntled parents who will be complaining about how his kids with such exemplary results failed to secure a place and how excellent his extra curricular results were. Then Michael Chong (the Public Complaints bureau of Malaysian Chinese Association) would appeared on the Star newspaper posing with the result slip, rejection letter, forlorn parents and kid. Then there would be knee jerk responses from ruling and opposition political leaders.
All these would die a natural death when Singapore offers them scholarships on a carrot attached to a long string. And this disgruntled students will leave their motherland, vowing never to return, eternally grateful to their 'Newfoundland'. Little will they realise that even if they wanted to, they would be tied down with a long pay-back clause that by the time the tenure expires, they would be too cushy there with probably too big an extra baggage to come back home to Malaysia (which disappointed them, anyway)!

I had a dream, then I grew up!

Pussycat Dolls (PCD) once sang... "When I grow up, I wanna be famous, I wanna be a star, I wanna be in movies! When I grow up, I wanna see the world, drive nice cars, I wanna have groupies!"

At least his dream materialized two over

scores years later! 

Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that one day over the rose hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and former slave owners will be able to sit together in the table of Brotherhood and that his four children would not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character!
Dream merchants like Walt Disney gave people a form of escapism through his Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck characters. Soichiro Honda managed to pull his war torn bankrupt and defeated nation to be at par with its victors till of recent. From a humble bicycle repair shop, his company is now venturing into artificial intelligence and robotics!
I too had a dream... which remains a dream.

Growing up in the post May 13 era, what was fed on the mass media to us was pure propaganda and we were all made to accept it as the gospel truth. We were made to understand that everything was hunky dory and the Government was serious in their zest to eradicate poverty and foster muhibbah (interracial understanding) via their 5 year plans, paving the way to make this country a developed nation by 2020. Soaked in that kind of hope day in and day out, I actually envisaged Malaysia to be clean, mild weathered,  modern, its courteous mild mannered smiling educated citizens in impeccable designer clothes talking to each other without malice and suspicion, with skyscrapers, shiny expensive vehicles streaming the seamless highway to everywhere. Then the bubble burst and there was a reality thud on my head!

Asimo

Fast forward to the 21st century and a decade later... What do we have now?

Poverty eradicated? I think it is far from it. Over the years, a new set of obnoxiously nouveau rich have emerged. They have no qualms about throwing their orange peels out of their chauffeur driven imported cars. The poor rich are still aplenty in the form of some who were displaced off their homes in the name of development. There are also many illegal immigrants who either ran away from their legal employers to become illegals or came via trawler boats under cover of darkness of the night to occupy strips of land (settlements) in the edge of city where even police fear to enter. Thanks to the lax or non-existent enforcements, these settlements prosper. They may appear poor but they have loads of cash stashed away to be sent home. Just wait for a mishap to happen, either in the form of disease outbreak (the children do not complete the mandatory vaccinations) or violence to happen before heads will roll. But, will they?

Malaysians, generally have improved by giant strides from an economic stance but there will always be a small recalcitrant group who would forever indulge in self pity and escapism. There are still people wondering around town with no identification papers. And they say, "We are Malaysians, yeah, just that my Malay is not so good. Isn't Mahathir the Prime Minister?" And I say, "Sure and I am Rajnikanth!"

Communication between Malaysians is still an issue as it was in the newly independent Malaya. Young adults, in spite of completing Malaysian education system still need interpreters when dealing with civil servants just like their grandparents 50 years previously.

Skyscrapers we have but its maintenance leaves much to be desired. We employ security guards who are too old, too sick, too incompetent to hold any other job or foreigners.

Wearing short pants, singlet and Japanese slippers could get you anywhere in the 60s and 70s. Fashion sense has not changed much since. Throngs of visitors to malls, clinics, offices are still dressed like this; just that the fashion police would say it is cool, trendy and metro-sexual. Anyway, their idols on Hollywood and Californians also dress like that and we are both in hot climates! Well, the 'holier-than-thou' Government offices have strict guidelines on dressing at their premises. They have set their air-conditioners way down low to be dressed down.

People are still suspicious of each other. In those days, it was whether you were a communist; now it is general stereotyping and that the other is going to cheat them blind. It is compounded by many Nigerian 'students' promising to convert white paper to green back (USD)! Just see how many Malaysians drug mule girls are counting bars caged in foreign gaols from Japan to Peru. Why is the word 'students' is in inverted commas? That is because these so called students do not act like students. They wear branded clothes smelling of expensive perfumes splashed all over the body liberally, sporting buff muscular physique, forever with female company and drinking alcoholic beverage like a fish drinking water. They pay their bills from a stash of RM50 bills. These 'scholarly students' do not speak very good English for a start. Can you imagine students of English courses describing their predicament as, "My stomach is paining me, Doctor!"? And what is this with their frequent treatments for sexually related ailments? Have you the local girls going hand and glove with them? 

I better stop before this becomes a nightmare.... 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-432551007277565829#docid=296921882672273931

Caste System - Blame history for the 'divisions'

by (Sanatan Dharam Sabha Kuala Lumpur)

Friday February 11, 2011 NEW STRAITS TIMES (NST) - LETTERS Pg 19

Caste System - Blame history for the 'divisions'

I REFER to the article "Who are the 'Paraiyars', really?" by Universiti Sains Malaysia vice-chancellor Professor Tan Sri Dzulkifli Abdul Razak (NST, Feb 6). 

He shed new light on the "Paraiyars", after making references to a book by Abbe Dubois. It was a good attempt to explain the issue but, as a history lover, I found the article slightly misleading.

All those who had argued about this subject, whether Indians or non-Indians, have not explained it clearly enough for the nation to understand this issue of "Paraiyars". Many are not clear about the caste system where the word "pariah" is said to originate. 

One would be surprised to know that the caste system does not exist in Hinduism. In Hinduism, there is a system known as the "varnashrama", which divides society into four natural groups -- Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra -- depending on individual characteristics and disposition. 

Every human has certain tendencies by natural inclination and choice. These are divided into four divisions known as "varna" (colour). It does not relate to skin colour but to a person's aura or consciousness.

After reading a student's aura and his tendencies, the master would decide which job would suit him most, where it would allow the student to serve society in a harmonious way and not frustrate him. 
A student is placed in the varnashrama of either the Brahmana also known as Brahmins (intellectuals, academics, priests), or Kshatriya (rulers, administrators, soldiers) or Vaishya (businessmen, farmers, bankers, those engaged in commerce) or Shudra (ordinary workers, those engaged in physical labour, dancers, singers).

It was never a condition that birth determines a student's division. This was a system of self-discovery and development in assisting a person to find his place in society, where he could contribute to it by doing a job in accordance to his nature.

This system is sanctioned by a book that no one commenting on the issue had referred to, namely the Bhagavad Gita, where Sri Krishna talks to the warrior Arjuna at the battlefield of Kurusethra. 
It states: "According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me" (4.13).

"By following his qualities of work, every man can become perfect... By worship of the Lord, who is the source of all beings and who is all pervading, man can, in the performance of his own duty or occupation, attain perfection" (18.45-6).

Clearly, no one is forced into the work he dislikes. Neither is birth a criterion for determining the division he would enter for work purposes. The underlining principle in Hinduism is that work is worship and one is allowed to change the division one is in.

For example, if a soldier has had enough of battles and wants to become a priest, he will leave his Kshatriya division and enter the Brahmin division. It's as simple and flexible as that. This system allowed everyone to work according to his nature and bring happiness to himself and society. It was never meant to divide society according to materialistic divisions. The sole object was to unite people in a cooperative society in the service of God. Every individual in the divisions had equal rights.

From the above verses, there is no mention of "pariah". So what happened then?

As time went on, the varnashrama system was abused by the Brahmins, who made it a condition that those born of a parent who worked in a particular division would remain there. Switching from one division to another was not permitted. In that way, the Brahmins gained control over power and money.

This new condition was against the teachings of Hinduism. Some Brahmins and Kshatriyas opposed these new conditions. However, by this time, India was invaded.

These invaders not only massacred people, but burnt down great libraries that contained most of the information regarding the varnashrama.

A new materialistic caste system was born. When the British arrived in India, they saw the system as an opportunity to divide society further to suit their interest and twisted it with a view of converting the Hindus.

The British then created another theory -- the Aryan theory -- which stated that European nomads came by chariots and conquered India and later composed the Vedas.

Dzulkifli touched on the origin of the word Brahmin, but it was misleading. First, the Brahmins are not followers of Brahma. They, and all other Hindus, pray to the one supreme God known to them as "Brahman". Brahma and Brahman are different entities.

Second, he said the Aryan Brahmins carried out "conversion" and those who refused to convert were "cast out". This is misleading.

Scientifically speaking, there are no Aryan or Paraiyar races. The three primary races are Caucasians, Mongoloid and Negroid.

Both the so-called "Aryan Brahmin" and "Paraiyars" are related branches of the Caucasian race, which is in the same Mediterranean sub-branch. Biologically, they are of the Caucasian race.

"Aryan", or its correct term "arya", was discovered in the Vedas of the Hindus. The term "arya" means noble or spiritual and it never meant a race of people. Those who followed the noble Vedic way of life or arya dharma may be termed as arya. It is a term of respect, something similar to a "datuk".

During the 19th century, many Europeans believed that they belonged to a superior race and their religion was the best. With the racial theory of man in vogue, they thought that the fair-skinned Indians were different from the dark-skinned Indians.

At that period, similarities were discovered in Sanskrit and the European languages. Therefore, they thought that since Sanskrit was related to their languages, it must have come from a white race and not the darker-skinned Indians (compared with the Europeans).

It was a linguistic theory adopted by the British to hold power. They began interpreting the Vedas in the same racial manner. The forces of light against darkness were interpreted as white race against dark race.

Hence, their theory of an Aryan race from Europe that invaded India and gave them the Vedas. Terms were mistranslated to suit the British objective, which was to convert Hindus and to justify their rule.

Many archaeologists and researchers forwarded theories of the location of this Aryan homeland but it kept changing. An exact time period when the so-called Aryans came to India was never established.

This was also because, to the Europeans, the world was created at 9am on Oct 23, 4004 B.C. The great flood of Noah occurred in 2500B.C. So the philologist Max Muller and the rest gave the Aryan invasion date at 1500 B.C. In short, everything was mere speculation which, unfortunately, became part of Indian history.

New archaeological and scientific studies indicate that the Indus civilisation that preceded the Aryans, was Vedic and centred, not on the Indus, but on the banks of the Saraswati river and its language was Sanskrit.

The Rig Veda praises the Saraswati river in its hymns. The river dried up around 1900 B.C., which means Hinduism and those who composed the Rig Veda were there before 1900 B.C. and if the Aryans arrived in India about 1500 B.C., how did they know about this river and build their culture on its banks if the river did not exist any more?

The latest studies also indicate that the Indus sites were wiped out not by war or invasion but by a drought. The skeletons unearthed there showed no signs of injuries caused by war but by starvation or dehydration. This was the drought that wiped out civilisations in Sumeria and Mesopotamia.

Similarly, in Mohenjo-Daro, there was an absence of any signs of war, like extensive burning or weapons or any remains of armour-clad soldiers. Interestingly, evidence of temples and seals of Shiva and Vishnu exist which mean that the Vedic religion had been part of these people and not brought by any Aryan Brahmins.

In short, scholars are rejecting the invasion theory based on this emerging evidence.

Coming back to the "Paraiyars", they were indeed once land owners who lost their land, advisers to the kings, farmers, musicians, singers and members of the manual workforce who were suppressed by the British in the light of their divide-and-rule policy.

They were exploited by the British and later, "Paraiyars" was mispronounced as "paria" just like Singapura became Singapore, Pulau Pinang became Penang, Mumbai became Bombay and orang utan became rang a teng.

The term "pariah" signifies colonial oppression of farmers, musicians, singers and the manual workforce.

ARIFF SHAH R.K.

Penang.

P/S: Does that mean that Lord MacCaulay's report to the British Parliament as a spy to gauge the enemy before the coup de grace is after all true? Again to prove a point on how man manipulates religion to satisfy personal motives. Cultural practices over time becomes God's unspoken truth and words of wisdom. That is, if there is truth in this article!

The saga up to Bukit Saga...

Many people go places just to get the adrenaline flowing and to get away from it all - Away from the hustle and bustle of the city and away from the annoying ring tones of the ever buzzing mobile phones (cannot live with it, cannot live without it). With the convenience of the cell phone, things that can wait till tomorrow suddenly becomes life threatening and need to be done on the double! So, locking the phone and being closer to nature undisturbed (except for chirping birds and chattering monkeys among others) is simply rejuvenating and therapeutic as well.

Taking a breather en route to the summit

Last Sunday, the running kakis (buddies) decided to go the whole nine yard during our trekking. Once in a while, we used to climb the hill just behind our housing estate. It is one of the last remaining green belt still left in the city of Kuala Lumpur. It was actually bigger till the last ruling party decided to re-gazette a part of previously designated forest reserve. It is part of the main range of mountains that form the spine of the peninsular of Malaysia. We normally do a 1 and half to 2-hour route up the hills and back but this time we did a full 3-hours'trip.
The trail took us along a winding ascending track paved by roots of tropical trees which in turn gives a cool shady environment even at 3 pm in the afternoon. In spite of this, we were all perspiring like pigs as the path took us over 5 or 6 hills. The path is quite a hit amongst many local exercise buffs and is a haunt on every weekend. Members of various Hash House Harriers (HHH) groups would roam these terrains like the back of their hands and actually set up markers along the way so that novice climbers would not go astray. Despite all these, you still have jokers and smart alecs getting lost for a day or so before search parties discovered them. These people start their journey later in the evening when visibility is an issue.

Everybody has a different name for the hill - probably so because it is over many hills - Bukit Apek for the earlier hill nearer to our Taman to Bukit Saga to Gunung Nuang right on top. There are many make shift tents along the way to rest the tired  legs. There are 6 levels of climb but it does not depict the difficulty of the climb as a climber can pick and choose the plethora of trails available to be tailor made to his level of endurance and availability of time.

Our walk (climb) past the 6 levels and landed us at Bukit Saga. It was a gruelling 3-hour satisfying exercise. Along the way, besides enjoying the peace and serenity of Mother Nature, we were feasted to the sight of foamy white splashing waterfall with its hypnotising rhythmic beat of water on the hard granite rock. As we approached Bukit Saga, we noticed that the vegetation somehow appeared greenier and fresher than what we usually saw on the flat terrains as the air here was damp and cooler.
About half an hour before our destination, we stopped at a big shed set up by ardent climbers. It is called 'Communist Village'. It does not live up to its name as it is not a village at all - nobody stays there! It is probably named so as it is self-sufficient - cooking utensils, clean stream and underground water, toilet facilities (the traditional type), trappings for fresh water fish as well as the yearned peace and quiet to enjoy their alcoholic poison.

At the Communist Village out in nowhere!

Reaching the summit was not half the fun trying to reach there.

Coming back was an easier task as we took an alternative route which was shorter and less gruelling. A good  evening of satisfying clean, healthy and guilt-free fun.

Bukit Saga - Mission accomplished!

The sad story of a legend...

If you have the time and are swatting flies like me right now, then you would have watched the whole documentary above as it appeared on the History Channel. It is a sad rendition of a piece of Malaysian history, especially towards the end of the documentary.
A few bits of juicy stories were omitted either to sanitize the icon's life or were unconfirmed hearsay. I remember that one of the first songs that he composed for a talent show during his carefree days in Caunter Hall / Kampong Rawa, Azizah, was actually penned to serenade on of his love interest then. Apparently, his love was rejected by the girl's family as he was a loafer and was hanging around the village doing nothing but singing and humming! Legend has it that Azizah later got married later and the offspring of the marriage was my form mate.
A few years ago, I had the privilege and honour of attending my alma mater's old boys' annual dinner. As P. Ramlee also attended his secondary education in Penang Free School, that year, the society decided to honour him by having the theme of the dinner based on the golden era of the Malay movie, i.e. when P. Ramlee was at the height of his career. Some of the older teachers there was describing P. Ramlee (of the cuff, course) as a student who was in his own world, singing and humming to himself all the time. Some of the teachers taught that he was off his knockers and basically 'wrote him off'. Furthermore, he was in always sitting at the back of the class in the last class of the form, disinterested in studies!
I remember reading somewhere that our hero was not really getting along well with his then wife, Junaidah. He was at the height of his career and pretty girls were around and aplenty in the the 60s, flaunting their hour glass assets in their body hugging baju kebayas. When Junaidah was gravidly pregnant with Nasir, they had a big argument. P. Ramlee uttered the dreaded word and left to stay with his then girlfriend, Mariani (Miss Singapore winner).
In the early 1970s, P. Ramlee made some social dramas for TV Malaysia. Most of them bring out the bad traits of the Malays with the hope of changing their mindset. I remember one where P Ramlee, an illiterate farmer, won the 1st prize in the now defunct National Lottery of RM 1 million. Listening to his friends and self appointed managers his whole simpleton life changed. His antics of opening a current account was so funny - He used to poke a hole in the paper as his signature! He left his village to town to start a business (what business? Import-Export! He did not know what it was but his friends told him he could make lots of money!) Then he build a house, treated all his friends, changed his wardrobe, bought a Mercedes and married a new young wife. When the time came to start his business, all his prize money had finished. At the end of the drama, he had to wind up and return to his village to continue working as a farmer.
P. Ramlee, one of my favourite performers, did what generations are trying to do in many lifetimes single-handedly in a span of 25 years till his untimely demise at the age of 44. Many of us, the 70s and 80s children, have many fond memories of watching his black and white movies shown regularly on Friday nights over RTM 1.
As always there are always a few cues to be learnt from the rise and fall of this legend. The window of opportunity is only available for a short while, the window is ajar for a short duration for us to seize and opportunity will not wait forever for us to reap. People love you when you are famous, you are infallible but the moment the fame dwindles, nobody would give you another look. Opportunists will be pouncing to bring you down, hoping to make a killing your misfortune.
Beauty and talent has a shelf life. Just like David Bowie and Madonna, stars should always re-brand themselves to move with the flow. Like many present day stars (J. Lo and Britney Spears), we should make hay when the sun is out- they diversified into fashion and perfumes. Nobody knows what is in store in our future.
Friends who laugh with you will be many but they may also laugh at you, louder, when the tide is high. Friends who cry with you are far in between but you can probably rely on your dear family when it rains on you. In the documentary above, I wonder, where these people who are shedding crocodile tears now, were when P. Ramlee was done and out.
There is no such thing as a free lunch, everything has a price. Businessmen will be businessmen. Their every action is skilfully calculated with only only one thing on their minds - profit! This commodity overpowers other virtuous virtue of humanity like compassion and unbiased sincere advice. What appears as genuine aid is actually shrouded with background ulterior motives like tax-relief! Now all of P. Ramlee intellectual property is in the hands of business tycoons.
Nasir (P Ramlee's biological son) should have been more pro-active. Having a father who succumbed to coronary events at an early age (44), he should have taken adequate precautions. But, no! He died at a reasonably young age of 56 in 2008 due to diabetes and heart disease.
Treasure your family, save for your later age when you are at the pinnacle of your career and are the prime of youth. Time and tide waits for no man.