He says, she says...

Rashomon (Japanese,1950)
Set in the pre-modern samurai era, this multiple awards winning film is a 1950 effort by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. He is one of the most respected directors that the world had ever seen.
This movie is different in that the story is looking at an event from many angles and have prophetic dialogues interspersed between scenes.

Rashomon

It starts with two men, a woodcutter and a priest sitting under a shade of a ruined shrine named Rashomon, waiting for the rain to settle down, wondering the meaning of the strange story that happened in the courthouse. A third man joins them. Hearing them brood about a peculiar case and the rain that was not going to stop any time soon, the third man coaxed them to tell the details of the complicated tale.
The woodcutter started with his story. He was walking along the jungle track. He came upon a dead body and informed the police. He was called to testify in an enquiry.
The next to testify was the priest who had earlier saw the dead man leading a veiled lady on horseback. The third witness saw the accused hit with eagle feathered arrows and had fallen off a white horse seen by the priest earlier.

The man, woodcutter, priest

The accused, an infamous gangster, Tajomaru, tells his side of the story. He liked the veiled lady, fell in love with her and tricked her male companion to follow him in the pretext of showing some swords. He ties him up and pours his lustful desires on the lady. Initially resisting his advances, she relented and reciprocated.
After the act, in the typical samurai fashion, a sword duel is initiated by the lady to win over the lady as she is shamed for having two men! The husband dies at his sword. By then, the lady had fled the scene and could not be found.
The lady was indeed found hiding in a temple and was brought in to testify. Her version is different from her predecessors. In her teary-eyed rendition, she related how Tajomaru had fled the scene after raping her, she could not stand to see her husband's loathing judgemental eyes. She had stabbed him with her dagger and tried in vain to commit suicide.
Even the dead man testified through a medium.

Wife

After the rape, Tajomoru had begged for the lady to marry him. He had promised to change his wayward ways for her. She agreed to follow him but asked Tajomoru to kill her husband first! Shocked, Tajomoru had wanted to kill her instead for uttering such words. In confusion, the lady fled the scene and Tajomoru ran after her, leaving the husband alone. The disappointed husband does a harakiri on himself with the wife's dagger, which was laying around there.

Tajomoru

Coming back to the scene of the shrine and the rain, the two listeners are suspicious on the woodcutter's insistence that the murdered was killed by a sword, not a dagger as he was there at the scene of the crime. They cornered him to tell the real story.

Man

He, under duress, told his side of the story. He had seen the lady instigating both the men to engage in a duel to win her over! The fight ends with Tajomoru killing the man. The lady flees from the samurai. Tajomoru runs away with the swords. The woodcutter steals the pearl covered dagger to sell it off for a fortune.
Back in the shrine, a baby cries and the three men argue. The third man runs away with the expensive kimono covering the baby. The woodcutter says it is inhumane. In reply, he accuses the man accuses him of stealing from the dead. Just when the priest thought that compassion has disappeared from mankind, the woodcutter volunteered to take care of the baby together with his six other children.
Interspersed with a philosophical chat about life, sin, men, women and behaviours of human in general, this film is a delight to watch with minimal dialogue and minimal props.

Bade adieu in a haste

Michel De Lottinville

I personally do not know this guy, Michel De Lottinville, a teacher of pre-university students, a father, a friend, an author, a motivational speaker, a runner, a biker, a Canadian and a basically fun guy, from what I see from his blog.
http://michelfreedom.blogspot.com
I just happened to bump into this sharing of a letter on Facebook complaining about the inappropriate pictures of him appearing on terrestrial TV after his apparent suicide in his apartment.

Dear SJ Echo and NTV7 and any other media outlet that chooses to disrespect the life of Mr. Michel De Lottinville.
Your newspapers/channels should be ashamed.
You knew his name, you knew where he worked…. in fact, you published it.
The dead human being is a teacher, a father, a friend.
And all you chose to publish is the picture of the body and a video of the body hanging there? This is objectifying a human being. Someone loved. Where is the humanity? Where is the respect?
Mr. Michel De Lottinville was a classroom hero. An inspirational voice. A guy who lifted a lot of other people up from their own difficult struggles.
Those who know him will remember him for who he really was, and not for these final hours of his life that you like to promote. He is not an object.
[What] heartless ‘journalism’. Get to work….. if you are going to cover a story, cover it properly.

He must have been a heck of a guy liked by students and colleagues,
as evidenced by the spontaneous outpouring of emotions by all.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/9/11/nation/12005134&sec=nation

It is all about the bacon!

Dream job, job satisfaction or a job to satisfy the worldly needs?

Kevin Bacon: from Footloose

to Hollow Man - an underrated actor

A few years ago, someone  I know decided to to sell off his private medical practice. He had it up to his ears with all his daily dealings with people who were clueless in the 21st century with the pathogenesis of disease and were adamant that illness were mystic in nature and imbalances in cold, heat and wind in the body tipped us over to ailment. And that their grandmother concoction made them immune to sexually transmitted diseases! He fought the fight and surrendered the war of mass education of his patients and their guardians. Anyway, his clients/ customers/patients hold the custodian to his practice - they would decide his success or failure! He thought he was sent to Earth for higher callings. He left his practice and he is now happy rubbing shoulders with people who speak his language, with corporate figures in a medical centre. But is he really happy, I wonder! Even though they speak the same lingua franca with romanized alphabets, the businessmen's is plastered with many numerals and currency signs. Latin, unlike in the medical literature, to them is a dead language, just like humanity.
Another chap left his multinational company post as it was leading him nowhere - he had reached his maximum achievable level the conundrum of having to think of the future of his young expanding family. So, he took the bold step of venturing into private practice.

Beverly Hillbillies

After dealing with intellectuals from the local scene and abroad, he was in for a culture shock having to deal with hillibillies. He felt that he was overqualified to deal with his dimwit clients who had money but neither the culture nor the brains! He thought he had made a blunder by putting one foot into the quicksand. As he was almost swaying to the swirling pit of the black dog, he received a timely metaphorical smack on his head by the veterans in the business. "This is the life you chose for your family, now you either swim with the tide or drown -the choice is yours!"
Ten years down the line, he has come to terms with the demand of his job. He is happy, brings home the bacon and occasionally there is extra meat to 'throw some shrimp on the barbie'!
The perfect job is a myth. We have to make do with what we have. If we do not grasp what is available, we will be forever be waiting and waiting. Just like some jobless people who blame everything and everyone else except themselves for their woes. Regular prayers and soul cleansing manoeuvres proved fruitless and they are still waiting for that lucky break and that lucky lottery ticket win!
Have I told you about the man in the recycle business driving past in a spanking Mercedes?

Malaysian History

Response by Dr Ranjit Singh Malhi to ‘Non-Malays don’t understand Malaysia’s history'

Others

Sunday, September 09, 2012

Response by Dr Ranjit Singh Malhi to the Malaysian Insider article ‘Non-Malays don’t understand Malaysia’s history, says Perkasa’.

Dear Shazwan Mustafa Kamal,

(the Malaysian Insider journalist concerned)

I have spoken to my solicitors. The blatant lie by Dr Ramlah Adam  pertaining to me "checking" and "signing" the History syllabus is tantamount to defamation. They have approved the following response to be forwarded to The Malaysian Insider.

Dr Ramlah Adam has erroneously accused me (a blatant lie) of being paid to "check the syllabus". I have irrefutable documentary evidence that I was only appointed as a "Pakar Rujuk" to ascertain factual accuracy of our History textbooks (menyemak buku teks sejarah untuk mengelakkan kesilapan fakta). I would like to state categorically that in no way was I ever involved in checking the current lopsided and biased History Syllabus. In this regard, Dr Ramlah should either apologize for making a false accusation against me or provide solid evidence that I was involved in checking our History syllabus and that I signed it.

I would also like to add further that in my letter dated 3 September 2002 to the Education Ministry, I volunteered to "menyemak buku-buku teks sejarah" without any payment. The Education Ministry did [however] pay me an honorarium.

I am also dumbfounded by Dr Ramlah's (left)assertion that the non-Malays who came to Malaysia contributed "as either investors or labourers (kuli)". Make no mistake about it. Many cities and major towns developed and prospered due to the hard work and sweat of the non-Malays. A classic example is Kuala Lumpur. All historians worth their salt will admit that Yap Ah Loy was the prime builder of early Kuala Lumpur. It is sad to note that Dr Ramlah Adam provides a flimsy excuse for denying the rightful place of Yap Ah Loy in our country's history by saying that this is so because he was not the founder of Kuala Lumpur. Yap Ah Loy was definitely not the founder of Kuala Lumpur. Nevertheless, we can never deny the historical truth that it was Yap Ah Loy who was primarily responsible for rebuilding Kuala Lumpur after the Selangor Civil War. According to J. Kennedy in his book (A History of Malaya), "Until the coming of the British Resident to Kuala Lumpur in 1880, Ah Loy was the real authority in the town." He further states that Yap Ah Loy " ... did more than anyone to establish the little township destined to become Malaya's capital". Kennedy's views are shared by other historians. According to Margaret Shennan, "Kuala Lumpur was another town created by the enterprise of the Chinese". In the words of J. M. Gullick, "Down to 1879, Yap Ah Loy was Mr. Kuala Lumpur". According to B.W. Andaya and L. Y. Andaya, Kuala Lumpur in 1891 had a population of 43,786 with 79% being Chinese.

Dr Ramlah Adam makes a classic contradiction in her statements. On one hand, she says "The history syllabus is well-balanced" and that there is "nothing wrong" with the current history syllabus for secondary schools. She subsequently contradicts herself by admitting that the Form 4 syllabus had placed a lot of emphasis on Islamic civilization and that the government was working to revamp it. The learned professor should make up her mind and not beat around the bush.

I am a strong proponent of One Malaysia wherein every ethnic group is treated equitably under the Malaysian sun. I believe all Malaysians have a moral duty of ensuring that our students in schools study History that is not only accurate but also generally objective and well-balanced. In this regard, I would like to urge renowned historians and other educated members of the public to speak the truth and not what is politically correct to safeguard one's rice bowl. Let's take heed of Edmund Burke's famous saying, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing". May God always bless Malaysia!

I trust that you will do the needful.

Dr Ranjit Singh Malhi

I can't get no satisfaction**

After completing two full marathons, looks like there is nothing more to achieve. Everything else seems pale compared to the joy being a finisher in the 42.195km race. Still, life has to go on and the joints have to be spared to last to the dying days - like doing a Fauja Singh at a ripe age.
After the KL Marathon, our group of similar minded running junkies seem to find content in our weekly Sunday Bkt Aman runs followed by the thosai breakfast at Brickfields. To break the monotony, a few runs have been lined up for the future over the next few months. First on the list is 'Adidas King of the Road' on 9.9.2012. 
Predictably, seeing the name Adidas, one can imagine many members of the brand centric Y-generation coming in droves. Sure enough they landed there all geared up with sports paraphernalia up the brim that would put any every warm blooded marathon running Kenyan to shame. You name it, they have it - head sweat band, arm band for I-phone, head phones for music, compression pants and T, and spanking new, hardly worn fluorescent psychedelic hued tick embossed Nike shoes to match!
It is a good thing that they were indulging in a healthy activity on a Sunday morning rather than being slumped in a post Saturday party stupor. It also gives a good feeling to old dogs like us to this dressed to kill newbies panting, jaywalking and holding hands with their loved ones rather than chasing the clock. Guess for them it is one of their social function for them so that they update on their social media so that they can be liked by hundreds of unknown people.
The run itself was boring. The kilometres of tarred road undulating like a waking dragon was less interesting than people watching. The race started from the artificial bourgeois neighbourhood of Sunway to the dirty part of PJ Selatan where low cost flats lined the skyline. The air also became fetid with open burning in progress. The SMEs of the working class - repair shops, cottage industries and smoke belching factories paved either sides of the later of our route.
Still managed to catch up with a secondary school buddy whom have not been so active in the running scene of late. Running and chatting was a breeze until I politely asked him not to wait for me and off he went!

Again the trip back was hindered by sea of multicoloured singlet donning 10km 'just for fun' runner who were hogging (there is a reason why this particular choice of word) the roads, all three lanes. The 16.8km'ers  had to zigzag their way like a knitting needle through these boyfriend/girlfriend, fiancee, soon-to-be-married, just married, one night standers/ hit and runners, or whether their relationship fits into, who were walking arm in arm or arm to hip!

With the good organisation of the organisers, we breezed through the finish line and collected the post run goodies. The outing would not have complete without our weekly dose of thosai. And so we did. Raj and I (the only valiant soldiers of the group of 4 to grace this outing) had ours and returned home to do our worldly deeds. (unofficial timing: 16.8km - 1h42m34s, 2 minutes off last year's timing)

**I can't get no satisfaction- Even though it is bad English and coming from an English band at that, it is Rolling Stones' all time high ranked song. At the time of release in 1965, it created quite with its unpleasant lyrics.(It starts off fine with bashing of the early creep of commercialization into media. Then Mr Thick Lips goes for girly action but the girl says wait till next week as she is loosing streak (slang for menstruation!) But they try and they got by....

The sweet purr of a lonesome cat...

Concluding the trilogy of 'What my children got me for my last birthday to get self indulgent and get off breathing down their necks' is a CD of Alleycats' 1987 album 'Aku Kerinduan' (I am missing someone).

I am sure nobody would go out to buy this particular CD. It was probably a 'buy 1 free 1' offer after they had bought 'Do Re Mi' (the DVD) and Adele's Live in King Albert's. But I am not complaining...

Alleycats - lineup which kept on changing again
and again over the years. Shan, the other sibling,
disappeared from the scene many years ago.
Starting jamming at their town house in Lorong
Seratus Tahun in Penang, where FG and WSD
crossed paths many years ago, they have reached
heights that no Malaysian band has reached.

Alleycats always invokes fond memories of meeting back stage in DTSP in USM during one of their many performances there. Back stage, they were just regular guys, no frills, no prima donnas, and the backstage was light and easy with back up mainly a family concern with the burly father and even mother there! Many years later, met them again at PJ Hilton's Chillies - Loga and David.

The songs in this album were written by people who are vaguely familiar. I remember reading about them in URTV magazines whilst waiting for my turn at the barber's in RRF! [People like Juwie (a cross dresser who disappeared from RTM after being banned), Habsah Hassan (a prolific songwriter, used to pair with Ahmad Nawab). M Nasir who use to write many of their songs is not here. Probably, he was busy with his own solo career then].

Songs from Alleycats definitely cannot be bad. This compilation of songs in A-minor, melancholic in nature form an excellent platform to a relaxing Sunday afternoon laze after a diaphragm splinting belly filling banana leaf meal. The melody would rock you just nicely like how a mother would rock her kid to sleep. That, is definitely an experience worth labelled 'PRICELESS'!

 

Remember the time?

Remember the time when professionals were respected and their words were held in high esteem? Their words were accepted as the gospel truth. Their services were infallible, if mishaps do happen and it is nothing gross and out of ordinary, the blame would usually passed on to the divine intervention.

We are moving into a time when speech and decision by the learned are questioned, dissected, analysed, questioned and ridiculed in full view of the public. In some places of the world, professionals in the legal profession are placed in a pedestal just below that accorded to the Gods. In Malaysia, however, their submissions are discussed on social media and radio talk shows! Every piece of vertebrate with a bit ganglionic cells feels qualified to blurt out their 2cents' worth of gibberish input, just for laughs, ignoring the time when an action like this would imply contempt of the house held in supreme esteem called 'Court'!

Who can blame them when the basic facet of accepted norm is questioned? It is said that a 12 year old girl is eligible to state her consent for sexual escapades, a child molester is pardoned for having a bright future ahead if not for the temporary lapse in concentration in indulging in areas deemed private of a minor and that a statement from a person of the female gender cannot be given too much credence as they tend to exaggerate their sexual experience and easily form vivid fantasies! (And I thought only guys talked big about their testosterone derived prowess and acts!)