Oh Dickens! History repeats itself!

Every living day is a learning experience. I recently discovered something new, to drive home the point that counterfeiting and bootlegging is not just the work of Chinese and the members of the Third World. Many laws have been belted out to safeguard an entity called intellectual property.
Back in the time when America was a young nation made up of disgruntled individuals who escaped poverty, famine and persecution in the European continent, Charles Dickens, the English novelist, discovered, much to his chagrin, that many of his works like David Copperfield were printed and sold indiscriminately without any permission from him in the New World. In fact, during his visit to New York, besides giving lectures in support of condemnation of slavery and recording many of his impressions of America, he lobbied in raising support for copyright laws!
Fast forward, one and half century later, the tides have reversed. America is acting with 'holier than thou' attitude against countries thriving to come out from ashes to survive.

Excerpt from the past...

Struggles For Copyright Laws
In January 1842 Charles Dickens and his wife, Catherine, traveled to the United States. Dickens wanted to see the sites, learn about the country and do research for a future series of articles.
While on tour Dickens often spoke of the need for an international copyright agreement. The lack of such an agreement enabled his books to be published in the United States without his permission and without any royalties being paid.
This situation also affected American writers like Edgar Allan Poe. Poe's works were published in England without his consent.
Dickens first realized that he was losing income because of the lack of national in international copyright laws in 1837 when The Pickwick Papers was published in book form. At times the novel was reprinted without his permission and sometimes even imitated.
Some of Dickens's struggles with copyright laws made it into his fiction. In this scene from Nicholas Nickleby, Nicholas is speaking to a man "who had dramatised in his time two hundred and forty-seven novels as fast as they had come out--some of them faster than they had come out . . ."

As guilty as sin!

Continuing my journey of cultural enlightenment saw me seated in the seats of PJLA watching a standup comedy show by the 'Comedy Court' duo of Alan Pereira and Indy Nadarajah. Cultural performances have always depicted the evolving times in life of mankind. It had also helped to change the route of direction of progress of mankind.
In India, puppet shows were used to highlight the brutality of the colonists and incite the people to fight for self rule. In China, cultural performances were rendezvous for secret meetings to make plans for mutiny against the mean pompous dynasties. Hence, cultural performances are not always in praise of the Creator or in ecstasy of pleasures of love and life!
'Not Guilty' is a political satirical comedy composing of three sketches cleverly laced with song parodies. In the first segment, 'Who wants to be a Billionaire', they took jibe at a typical Chinaman bookie and the numerous loss invoking ventures by the ruling Government. The part that stuck on my mind is when the host compliments the participant (a B.K. Ma from Cheras, BK for Boo Kee@bookie!) for donning a batik shirt in the spirit of 1Malaysia to which BK cooly replies, "No-lah, just went to Genting to gamble, no time to change!" You see, in order to enter the casino, one has to be dressed in suit or batik. The true / false questions all involve government scandals!

In the next segment, two lawyers (Loga and Singam - the roles that skyrocketed their success) at a bar,  whining about basically everything in their lives especially the infamous Sodomy II trial.
The final sketch was the one that took the bull by the horn. It was a show of unabated bashing on the teachings of the The Obedient Wives' Club. Here, both our comedians dressed up to the nines as Malay ladies complete with head gear (tudung), baju kurung and the works to dwell into the secrets of the bedroom acts only to discover that the contended club's coordinators' husband is two timings with a new member who came to satisfy her soon to be husband! The acting was superb and I could easily identify with similar characters with similar mannerisms in our daily lives.
Interspersed between these sketches were parodies of songs like 'Itsy Bitsy Yellow Polka Dot Bikini' on Bersih and its yellow Tshirt wearers; 'Old McDonald' on the NFC livestock scandal; 'Stand by Me' on their Viagra ideas.
Personally, I found the first sketch a bit draggy but Indy played a very good depiction of an everyday off the street typical Chinaman. Overall the show was rated 18SX for mature audiences with its offensive sexual innuendos (more downright, actually) and political ridicules which would make any dictator cringe. Well, it can be said that freedom of speech is very much alive and kicking as this duo have been churning this type of humor for 2 decades without any incarceration.

RRF to PPSP: Ep. 5: Some quirky mates and their actions!

Mutley (of Wacky Races)

At a time when South Africa was shying away from Apartheid, when the loud sounds of 'Gimme Hope Joanna' were heard in every Soweto* and streets of Johannesburg, Malaysia was embracing racism full scale after the 69 mayhem. What better (or worse) place to perceive this transformation than the local universities.

In my batch (just like the rest of the varsity), the non-Bumis stuck together for play and work. A handful of upper-class middle Malay students would join us every now and then. That's it- they were no 'bro'!

In essence, the Bumis and the nons interacted amongst themselves.

The non-Bumi guys in our batch used to refer to each other with the prefix 'homosapiens' followed by a suffix characteristic of their trait or character. There was a guy who spiced his conversation with unnecessary profanity, hence his title was homo sapien vulgaris; homo sapien negroides- coarse features and thick lips; homo sapien sinensis - Chinese educated student who hummed Mandarin love songs; homo sapien Brahminensis - a vegetarian Brahmin; homosapien caucasionoid - a student with Caucasian ancestry; etcetera.. My juniors (Indian guys) gave the surname 'Soon' to all of us, apparently referring to specific female anatomy in crude Tamil lingo! Ravi Soon, Raja Soon...

At a different time, we were all from the 'Nai' family - 'Nai' refers to a dog in Tamil (நாய்). The first name here too referred to their peculiar habits, e.g. Sori Nai (Scratching Dog) for the guy who was stingy with his daily showers; Karuppu Nai (Black dog) for his dark complexion; Pottei Nai (Bitch) for his effeminate tendencies and so on.

Felix, the cat

And some of the antics of some of the guys...
There was a guy amongst who thought that he was Amitabh Bachchan's lost twin brother. Donning his wall was a photo of him in a posture of him on a scrambler motorcycle similar to one done by Big B. Stories abound that he was born right-handed, he trained himself to eat and write his left. Well, he could pose off in one of the long lists of wannabes but would lose hands down to the maniacs in Bharat Desh!

And another John Travolta look-alike full with the cleft chin and all! He went around the world thinking that he was God's gift to the female gender. He enjoyed being in the company of girls, getting away with whatever derogatory remarks he made (because girls went all flaccid at the sight of him!) until he stepped the wrong toe and got a slipper thrown right smack on his face! He cooled down his activity after this turn of the event spread around varsity like bush fire.

I remember a time when there was Malay girl in class behind whom Tony Romano (Travolta in Saturday Night Fever) look alike used to sit, purposely! Everything was going on fine with the spreading his suave and she flirting shamelessly. The day came when she plunged into a relationship to a guy who joined the bandwagon of enlightened human beings who was preparing themselves for the afterlife rather live for the moment. Slowly, this girl's fashion sense became more conservative - the skirts became longer, and the sleeveless blouses became sleeved...
During this evolution, Travolta, like in the Red Riding Hood upon seeing the changed Grandma, commented, "Wow! You have nice legs." The next day, she was dressed in a sarong. Then, he went on, "Nice neck!" - swish came the mandarin collar; Next, "Nice hair!" - swish came the headgear (tudung); Next "Nice toes!" - swish came the socks. Before he could say, "Nice fingers" and started describing her lips and beyond, she intelligently (are you sure?), changed places and sat far from our macho Romeo!

To be continued.....

* Soweto [(suh-wet-oh, suh-way-toh)]
The collective name for township inhabited by black Africans, located southwest Johannesburg, South Africa.

Not the "Pleasure Garden" as they look for!

This is the earliest of the collection of the silent movies that is currently in my possession. When I told one of my friends that I was going to watch a 1925 (released in 1927) silent movie called 'Pleasure Garden', he asked whether it was an adult themed porn flick!
Of course not, it is Alfred Hitchcock's directorial debut. Pleasure Garden is the name of the hall where Jill and Patsy were dancing girls.
Jill's fiancé, Hugh, who is working in an estate overseas visits her with his friend, Levet. After a brief vacation, Hugh returns to work. Jill's fame skyrockets afterwards and is wooed by a rich prince. Patsy's advice to Jill on being level headed and faithful to Hugh falls to deaf ears and their relationship sours.
Patsy is smitten with Levet and decide to tie the knot. Towards the end of her honeymoon, Patsy realizes Levet's true colour. Levet returns overseas to continue his work.

Virginia Valli as Patsy 

In one of the rather infrequent letters sent to Patsy, Levet mentioned of him suffering from a nasty tropical fever. Thinking of the worst, Patsy rushes to care for her husband only to discover of his alcoholic lifestyle and sinful liaison with a native woman. Patsy is abused. She is rescued only to discover that Hugh is stricken with 'love-sickness' after discovering that the love of his life, Jill, is to marry someone else. Patsy nurses Hugh back to health and they become a couple only to return home and live happily ever after.
One interesting scene that captured my imagination in this otherwise not so fantastic movie happened in the earlier part of the show. Jill's dog, Cuddles, started licking Patsy's sole when she was kneeling at her bed praying. Irritated, she kicked the dog away to the dog's howling whilst she continued her divine obligation! It is said that these are the subtle brickbats that Hitchcock hurls at his strict Catholic upbringing in his childhood.

Lost Symbol: Lost plot? Loss of ideas?

Finally, I got down to read Dan Brown's book 'The Lost Symbol', which I got as a birthday gift (? 2 years ago). Over the years, his books have degenerated from 'off the edge unputdownable' to 'readable' to 'he has lost it'! 'Da Vinci's Code', was a revelation of page after page of facts that satisfied the belly of every conspiracy theorist. In 'Lost Symbols', I did not find it anything new to be excited about. Maybe because it was predominantly American history in the limelight, which I know very little about, and about the symbols found in the American currency notes and landscapes, which are quite alien to me.

We have all heard about the conspiracy of the group of stone workers (The Masons @ The Lodge) who established secret symbols to communicate and hide the truth in their endeavour to rule the world. In this book, our hero, Prof Robert Langdon, is summoned (by deceit) to decipher certain symbols to rescue his mentor (Dr Peter Solomon, a Mason) from a raving madman. CIA comes into the scene as the madman may reveal certain information that may embarrass certain high-profile figures. The maniac is in pursuit of the true secrets of life, which are believed to be hidden and encrypted in symbols guarded by the Masons. The roller coaster adventure takes us all around Washington DC to the underground uncompleted pyramid, killing and miraculous escape of Langdon from an apparent drowning. As in all fiction, heroes never die. Here the author goes one step further. Just when you thought that there was no way Langdon was going to survive hours of immersion in water, the liquid turned out to be oxygenated perfluorocarbon, which makes oxygen exchange in the lungs still possible. Langdon's love interest is Dr Katherine Solomon, Peter's sister, who is deep into Noetic Sciences (mind over matter field).

The madman turns out to be Peter's prodigal son, who was ostracized for going wayward into drugs and pleasures of the world. He faked his own death in a Turkish prison to avenge his family for not bailing him out. After realizing that Mason is privy to the secrets of the universe, he dwells on obtaining enlightenment through violence and gore. In the end, after the merry-go-round, he discovers that his sacrificial release of his soul from his body turned out to be his death, not the Truth he was looking for.
At the end of the day, what I understood from this book is that God is in our minds, and the mystery that made life on Earth go on is HOPE!

2 angles of the same story

I think his case should be discussed in Psychiatry Grand Rounds not Forbes!

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysian-worlds-first-trillionaire

Malaysian world’s first trillionaire?

By Yow Hong Chieh

January 22, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 — A Malaysian businessman who claims descent from Javanese royalty has alleged that he has some €5 trillion (RM20 trillion) in savings, which would make him the world’s first trillionaire and the world’s richest man by far. 

Perak-born Kamal Ashnawi, who heads Sierra Petroleum Sdn Bhd, disclosed this at a press conference here yesterday where he showed reporters a copy of a bank statement from HSBC London, Utusan Malaysia reported today. 

The riches were inherited from the Combined International Collateral of the Global Debt Facility set up in 1875 by the world’s royal families, he claimed. 

Forbes magazine lists Mexican telco tycoon Carlos Slim Helú as the world’s richest man, with an estimated net worth of US$63.3 billion (RM196.5 billion) in 2011. 

Coming in a close second on the rich list is Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose net worth is reported to be US$59 billion (RM182.3 billion). 

In comparison, Malaysia’s richest man, Ananda Krishnan, has a net worth of only US$9.6 billion (RM29.8 billion). 

Kamal had called the press conference to refute allegations following the failure of a crude oil processing plant in Kuala Kedah he had proposed in 2005, the Malay-language daily reported. 

“This is my last offer to help Malays and companies by investing in three projects in Perlis, Johor and Kelantan in the near future,” he was quoted as saying. 

The projects comprise a commercial tourism centre in Kuala Perlis, a Pirates of the Caribbean theme park in Danga Bay, Johor Bahru and a commerical project in Kelantan. 

They will be spearheaded by SAS Group, a group of alumni from Sekolah Alam Shah, where Kamal had gone to school. 

Since the failure of the proposed Kuala Kedah plant, Kamal has spent much of his time overseas. He said yesterday he intends to reside in Hong Kong for a few years starting in March before moving to Indonesia.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/1/26/nation/20120126072339&sec=nation

Enter the ‘Emperor of Indonesia’
Thursday January 26, 2012

IT is not every day that you get to meet a trillionaire. So when I was invited to interview Kamal Ashnawi, a person I've never heard of, I said yes.
On Saturday morning, at a Kuala Lumpur hotel coffee house together with two of Kamal's aides, I waited for the so-called trillionaire.
Wearing a baseball cap, long-sleeved shirt and jeans, he sauntered over to our table. The two aides bowed, pressed their palms together to their forehead as if greeting royalty and kissed his hands.
“We call him Tuanku as he is a sultan from Indonesia,” one of the aides whispered to me.
According to Kamal, he is a Dutch citizen born in Tanjung Malim, Perak, on Jan 1, 1964.
“I'm a descendent of the Emperor of China and in a history that went haywire, my family fled from China to Kedah. I traced my bloodline to the royal families of China, India, Java and Siam,” claimed the man who is also known as Raden Mas Prabhu Gusti Agung Ki Asmoro Wijoyo.
“I grew up in Tanjung Malim and my family here is very simple and ordinary. Nobody in my family talks about our royal blood and wealth. But my grandmother once told me: “You are special and, when the time comes, you will know.”
It was in Holland in the late 1980s that Kamal “found out who he really was”. A member of an Indonesian royal family, kicked out of the country by president Sukarno, told him he was of royal blood.
In London in the early 1990s, a lawyer told Kamal about his royal family's massive wealth. Uncon vinced, he told the lawyer to prove his claims.
He and the lawyer flew from London to Hong Kong to meet the “keeper of the royal treasure”. From there, Kamal and the keeper travelled to Kunming in China.
They hiked up a mountain for four hours and reached a cave guarded by an old couple who, Kamal says, are immortals.
“If you tried to pass them without their blessing, you would cough blood and die,” he said.
Inside the three-metre-high cave, Kamal saw gold bars stacked like a pagoda, US$15mil (RM46mil) in jade and US$10mil (RM31mil) in diamonds and stacks of US dollars.
“I took a gold bar and knocked it on a rock. It was really gold. The treasure is the wealth of the dynasties that ruled China. Their wealth was also kept in other mountains and in vaults all over the world,” he said.
About three years ago, when Kamal watched Nicholas Cage's movie National Treasure, he laughed.
“The treasure in the movie was small compared to the wealth I saw in the mountain,” he said.
Next, Kamal told of his meeting two years ago in Kuala Lumpur with Dr Wong Eng Po, a royal physician from China.
Dr Wong placed his hand on Kamal's bald head, then immediately bowed in front of Kamal and ordered his five followers to do the same.
“He said I was the reincarnation of Emperor Nurhaci (1661-1626) of China. He felt an energy on my head which was superhuman because an emperor, unlike an ordinary human, has to think more.
“I'm the reincarnation of two emperors of China,” Kamal added.
He elaborated that a few years ago, the royal family decided he would be the sole administrator of the royal wealth kept in secret accounts in about 1,000 banks worldwide.
“This means that 86.7% of the world's money belongs to me,” he said.
Taking out several folders, Kamal said: “You're lucky, I brought documents.”
He produced an A4-sized paper with the photographs of the national treasure, the immortal couple and several “official-looking” letters from an international bank certifying he has an account of five trillion euros (RM20tril).
“That is a small amount. I have more money in other banks and institutions,” he added.
I wondered why his name has not appeared in the Forbes' list of world's richest people. And a suspicion lingered about his claims.
However, I could not authenticate his documents since the bank was closed for Chinese New Year.
Kamal has not made any withdrawal from the account as “it is not money that you can move just like that”.
“The money is under the control of Indonesia, Germany, Britain, the US and the Euro Central Bank and I've got to go smooth with them,” he said.
“I can't use the money directly but I will invest in certain projects. Like three trillion euros (RM12tril) to green a desert in China.”
Curious, I asked what was the difference between a billionaire and a trillionaire.
He replied: “A billionaire needs to show he has the money. But for me, I don't need to show that I got money. I can travel in a bus. I can wear slippers.”
Born in the year of the dragon, Kamal believes 2012 is his year. In March, he says he will negotiate with institutions such as the IMF to be recognised as the Emperor of Indonesia.
He says he's rich. But his story could just be as rich.
Let's hope he is not another Elie Youssef Najem, the so-called Lebanese billionaire who made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Pact of loyalty at a price

Downhill (1927)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
People may frown and sneer at me watching silent movies. After all the advancement in acting and sound systems, it can be mind boggling to have one sitting through a full length silent movie as if you are living in a world filled with the hearing impaired or speech challenged people! What is important to me in a film is not the glitz of props and razzmatazz of ornaments draped around the actors but rather, I am a sucker for good stories. Of course, a silent movie is not silent. There is an ascending and descending crescendo of musical score. Only the actors are acting, not speaking to be heard.

I recently watched one of the oldest silent movies that I have watched - Downhill, a 1927 Alfred Hitchcock directed British film.
There is more to silent movies than Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin's antics. As speech expression is a handicap, the players compensate with sometimes, exaggerated, facial expressions and hand gestures. It is interesting to see the fashion sense of the swinging twenties. Actresses have started expressing their independence and escaped domestication by leaving behind the long mane and were seen all spotting well oiled short boy-haircuts. Hats were the favourite fashion of the day but I cannot help but compare their bucket hats with drooping brims to the Penang City Council night-soil workers of 60s, but that is just me!
The fixation to pearly whites had not set in as their teeth (of the actors) appeared stained like a betel leave and nut or paan chewing addict!

The story... may appear melodramatic, ala-Indian movie like!
Bretwick, an all rounder school captain is accused of inappropriate behaviour with a school canteen servant. Being a true friend, he takes the blame knowing well his best friend is the culprit and that the friend may lose his scholarship if convicted. Bretwick is then expelled. Coming from a high heeled family, he leaves his affluent life after a tiff with his father for not believing his sincerity.
Working as an assistant with a drama company, he befriends a famous actress with expensive taste. Inheriting a £30,000 windfall from a dead Godmother makes it easier to win her heart who obviously is interested in his bank balance. They marry and as soon as his money runs out, her liaison with her old boyfriend is rekindled. He is chased out penniless.
Starting anew in France as a fifty-francs-per-dance dancer to entertain old bored housewives, he realises the obvious fakeness of mankind. Well, in the 50s in Malaya, this type of job would be called (for the female) 'perempuan ronggeng' or gigolo in modern times. He is in the lowest ebb of life, depressed and homesick.

From Marseilles, 'rats from the docks' type of kind souls, actually, ship him back to England.
He becomes delusional and his entire life appears in front of him. When all avenues were deemed close, in blind instinct, the prodigal son comes back home to the open arms of the parents. Truth is known, everything is forgotten, forgiven and life is reinstated in its previous glory.
Outdoor shooting was still at an infantile stage here, maybe neonatal, as evidenced by jerky penning and limited brisk exposure of shots. It is interesting though to glimpse at the real streets of London. It is the street, not studio as I do not think they had mammoth studios with make believe towns yet! They did not know the importance of spring cleaning and gotong royong, the lanes were strewn with garbage. I think only when Dr Ronald Ross impressed upon   people the relationship of clean air and malaria, was proper street cleansing understood. [Malaria, mal=bad, air=air]
 Overall, it was an entertaining flick. Just that the Western story lines have changed over the years, Indian movies have got suspended in time still churning out one melodramatic feat after another.