1978, the year of the Gibbs

Bee Gees with brother Andy
Credit: Pinterest

Each one of us, when we look back at our lives, whether we have had lived our lives to its fullest, still waiting for that magic something to happen or that the particular moment had just whisked us by, we can still reflect back at our moment back in our life where we were Kings.

1978 must have been an outstanding year indeed for the Brothers Gibb. They practically had a hand in most of the songs that made it to the US Top 100 charts that year. Their Saturday Night Fever soundtrack smashed through the ceiling. Many songs from the track found fame, fortune and accolades. Their song compositions for other singers (Yvonne Ellman, Samantha Sang, Frankie Valli, Andy Gibb) also made it well.

For me, 1981 must surely be the turning point of my life. It was the time that I try to develop my physical part of my life to indulge in sports. The sole purpose of my endeavour was to make my school leaving testimonial more illustrious to include sports participation. To my surprise, the aggressive training for the cross-country run apparently paid handsomely. Not only the course which appeared unscalable when I attempted five years previously was won over, but I also managed to overtake the house athletic captain for the sixth place in what may seem as a photo-finish if it were a sprint! I assured myself that there is nothing more I have to live for.

The lone surviving member of Bee Gees, Barry 2017.

Credit: smoothradio.com

Don't rest on your laurels!

There used to be a time in our childhood when we used to look forward to religious festivities. Besides being a holiday, it was also a time of free food and free pocket money. That was the time when waited with anticipation for our neighbours to call us to their homes for merriment. All that just memories of a distant era.

Now, a long holiday with the lure of cheap flights is the time we all look forward to planning our next holiday destination.

With the same mindset, my cousin and I zeroed in on Siem Reap, the town closest to ruins of an ancient Hindu which existed about a thousand years ago. It was lost in the annals of time also to be discovered by a Frenchman by accident during his expedition through the Mekong River to catch butterflies! So goes the legend!

Nature at its best for a picture perfect postcard

They still live under the euphoria that they were the rulers of the world; that their ancestors were the most civilised in the region and that their neighbouring countries, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, never existed once upon a time. Their great grandfathers were master builders who were descendants of the Gods. The wisdom of the Khmer kingdom spread from what is now known as Myanmar all the way through the uncivilised land of Thailand to Vietnam. The only semblance of resistance was in the form of the Champa Kingdom, a renegade offshoot of the Han Dynasty.

Their God-king, Jayavarman II, who established the Angkor Kingdom was himself a prodigal Indian prince who went wandering from his motherland to be held hostage by the Javanese. Later working for his captors, he conquered this land and became a turncoat to his employer.

A weekend visit helped to relive the history of the Angkor Kingdom that was made ten centuries ago. Successions over successions of demigod kings saw the region prosper of feats of engineering still awed by the 21st-century men. Transporting blocks of stones over the hill and a distance close to 100km with the primitive machinery of elephant power and river transportation is still unimaginable at this age.

Every leader who reigned here wanted to leave a piece of their legacy behind.The last of this line of Emperors is Suryavarnam II who managed to convince a million of his subjects to live their lives in Angkor Thom and contribute their heart and soul in the realisation of Angkor Wat, his heirloom.

The Republic of Cambodia is a minefield (pun not intended) for visitors who want to appreciate the beauty of Mother Nature in its most pristine state. Lush greenery lined by palettes of natural colours of the elements of Earth is indeed a sight for sore eyes. South East Asia's largest freshwater lake, Tonlé Sap is situated in the northern part of the country. This lake boasts to be a sanctuary to a plethora of freshwater fish species and a photo perfect sunset that humbles all adventure seekers.

One of the tributaries to Tonlé Sap Lake. This river has a reversal of water flow once a year as the annual monsoon floods the Mekong River and due to the difference of height in placement, it flows the other way when the lake is filled as the monsoons subside (the splendour of Nature)! Fertile precipitations induce padi planting and marine life.

Sunset at Tonlé Sap Lake. The path to this spectacle is lined by the sight of the poor fishermen's family who finds solace in knowing that their plight is acknowledged by NGOs and religious bodies who are out there to score brownie points and catch their fishes themselves.

Still living in the analogue world where play means getting the hands dirty and exploring elements of nature. A child is seen in the vicinity of the fisherman's village of Kampom Phluk.

No proper housing facilities and no satisfactory plan to fulfil schooling needs but wait... Do I see an advertisement for a data plan to digitalise their lives? Here comes WeChat, Facebook and Google. There goes outdoors and traditional childhood as we know it! Our chatty tour guide from the city lamented that he was going through what any Generation-X parent goes through in the 21st century - that his teenage is detached from reality and is not fulfilling her traditional duties expected of her. Like any other parent, he feels trapped in a lost generation, bending down backwards to satisfy his parents and going on all-fours to fulfil his parental duties. He feels used and abused.

Where life is simple. It is indeed a miracle. Mother Nature has it all for us, beauty, warts, cure and all. Sounds straightforward and truthful enough but do not be fooled. Pol Pot and his band of soldiers felt the same. They tried to erase Cambodian history and start Year Zero from 1975. He dragged lawyers, engineers and doctors to toil the land, ending with the unforgettable Killing Fields. 

Are they living in the glory of their colourful past? At least it helps them to propel the economy and bring in foreign exchange. To think that all these were long forgotten, in the annals of time after Kings after Kings with more bloated egos than the other conquered that their belief is superior, is unbelievable. And it had to take a foreigner, another colonial master from the West to accidentally bump into the ancient ruins reflects much of our societies' appreciation (or rather lack of) of our past.

Dubbed as the 'Stairway to Heaven' the steep knee-busting journey gives a panoramic view of Angkor Thom and its vicinity. 

A country in ruins? Just when they thought the worse was after the grandiose but disastrous Khmer Rouge plan to reboot the country, they are still plagued with insincere leaders with corrupt liaisons with vulture-eyed foreigners. 

I wonder what lurks within. Is that the serenity of pleased divine powers I hear or is that the graveyard of duped slaves and elephants who broke their backs and souls to appease the God-kings? Is that the testimony of the heights of human endeavour or product of inflated human egos?

The duel between Nature and Man-made structures. In the end, it is always Mother Nature has the upper hand! The famous gargantuan tree root which is a regular feature in Hollywood adventure movies, including 'Lara Croft and Tomb Raiders' as well as 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'.

Are they showcasing their culture to the world to appreciate or are they playing dance monkey to the tunes of the visitors of the more affluent countries? They are hoping to re-live their past glory but things are hard. Standing at the fringe of the nightlife hubs frequented by the party revellers, the locals hope for a dollar or two by ferrying them around on their 'Tuk Tuk' or humbling themselves to massage their feet of the visitors so that they can do more shopping and dancing!

Wat Preah Prom Rath Buddhist Monastery. A Wat is a generic place for worship in most Buddhist countries. In Cambodia, however, due to the sheer numbers of visitors to these places, the sanctity and serenity of Wats seemed compromised. Hence, prayers and meditations are usually done in monasteries, not wats!

The weather throughout our holiday was scorchingly hot, hovering around 30 degrees C. Even though it was late June and it was supposed to be the start of the rainy, we were lucky as we escaped the torrential pour as was the norm in this country. Rain would have ruined our travels as the roads were nothing to shout about! We would have had to mud wrestle with our shoes and the paths to visit the tourists' spots.

The four days stay in Siem Reap were more than enough to unwind. After the first two days of battling through the hot sun and the treacherous journey around Cambodia, the remaining two to chill down in chilling ambience and cooling beverages at the iconic Pub Street whilst the ladies indulged in some therapeutic shopping and traditional body massage.

The take home from this expedition is that we should not rest on our laurels. A good life does not promise comfort for eternity. In many facets of our life, we have to evolve with the changing needs of our surrounding and be perpetually ready for the uneven patch that may lie in front of us in the future. We should use the experience of others to safeguard ourselves!


https://mma.org.my/publications/e-berita/226-berita-mma-august-2017/file

What chicanery!

Image Credit: freerepublic.com

Is it not funny that people who are the least experienced in a particular subject are loud in their criticisms of the said issue? They hide in the company of the same (nimble)minded and are vociferous in the call for their ideology to be accepted by the main stream. They seek the nod of approval of their herd who by then had been blinded by their rhetorics which seem to make perfect sense to the feeble minds. The flock vehemently uphold their shepherd's pointers without once invoking the faculty of reasoning. At the back of their reptilian brain, they have their doubts, but they find it easier to conjure up to their master. For fear of cognitive dissonance, they give in.

Imagine a man of God who vowed to take celibacy as his aim of life advising his assembly on the best way of bringing up children. He may not be the best person to be knowledgeable of the nuances of attending to the needs of a child embroiled in the ever-changing and confusing world of adolescence. But, hell no, his indulge in age-old scriptures qualifies him to pass sweeping statements of the correct way of rearing the lamb. Never mind if it risks the danger of the helpless lamb to the slaughter, it must be right as that is what our elders say. It does not matter if the dynamics of the world has changed.

Then there are those who, with their limited experience dealing with a small number of children, proclaim that they have the foolproof method that can do wonders out of our offspring. They may have done well with their kin till now but is that proven track record that everything will be hunky dory till His kingdom comes?

What can we do? Rather than clashing head-on to show that no one size fits all in parenthood, is it not wiser to just agree? Nod the head, mumble a few grunts of approval, mutter a few explicit under your breath, grab the popcorn and wait patiently for the drama to unfold.

The fellow who blows his horn the loudest is likely in the biggest fog.

Son of God vs. Bat of Gotham

Batman vs. Superman (2016)
Dawn of Justice

Gone are the days when superhero stories used to spur that feel good feeling, that warm feeling that assures us that the truth will protect us, that the good would always prevail over evil. That doing good is the only thing to do; that there cannot be any other way of doing things; that good would not hurt anybody. These days, however, we have come to realise that things in life are so straight forward, not so black or white, that they are not so cut and dry. Everything comes in shades of grey. We sometimes have to appear to be unkind to be kind in the end. Doing something seemingly good may turn out detrimental to another's intention. One man's meat may be another's poison. It may not pacify him to hear that the unfavourable action is actually for his good and that he should see the 'bigger picture'.

Part of this film delves with what is doing good and whether a good deed does indeed bring only a good outcome. Superman, who is seen here as a God-like creature who descends from the sky with his thunderous might to help humankind, does hurt innocent bystanders as collateral damage in his fight against evil. Just because his actions are perceived as done with purest of intentions, the pain is, nevertheless, hurtful. The rage, the feeling of powerlessness turns good men into monsters. Which lives count and which do not?

With this background, the story shows the gargantuan clash between Superman (who seem to portray God-like qualities, a two-dimensional view of life) and Batman (who represents the human cognitive faculty which tend to rationalise things rather than expect something wholesome). In between this clash, or rather in an instigating manner is the epitome of evil, the devil persona, Lex Luthor.

The media is the means of creating mass hysteria and fanning herd mentality to sway people here and there. People soon realise that they are not the centre of the universe and doing good is not a unilateral thing. It has repercussions. Criminals are like weeds, pull one, and it grows another. People hate what they do not understand, and they cherry pick what they like to hear. Everything believes that they are here for a reason, but some die before achieving anything. Others reach senescence without knowing they have completed.

In the modern world, God is said to be dead and the people through their mental faculties have killed Him. In this Godless world, Man is left to his own devices to fend for himself. With the constant lure of the evil forces that thwart him from his quest of taking the race to a higher level of civilisation, he can prevail. History has shown again and again that his race is a resilient one. Catastrophes after maladies have erased many more well-footed species on Planet earth, but he has survived it all.

A predictable noir

Please Murder Me! (1956)

We have always seen Angela Lansbury as a busy bodied middle-aged lady who simply appeared as jinx causing mayhem and murders in 'Murder She Wrote' the TV series. I bet you have seen here as a drop dead femme fatale. Here in this classic noir movie, she is one.

A predictable story of a lawyer (Raymond Burr of Perry Mason fame) defending his girlfriend (Myra, Angela Lansbury) who is charged with murder. The case carries a heavy emotional burden on the lawyer because he was saved in Iwojima (WW2) by the girlfriend's husband. As expected, the lawyer is being used to get a get-out-of-jail free card. Myra actually has a college boyfriend waiting for her.

The attorney soon comes to realise the trap. The ensuing story is how he ensnares Myra to bite the bait to expose her deceit.

Inevitable or we made it happen?

I learnt a new word day, Dilettante. The term 'a dilettantish person' could be a pejorative term used against an individual who has no inclination to the sense of appreciation of the finer parts of the arts or one who tries to be arty-fartsy even though he is not trained to do so. On the other hand, it is anybody's right to appreciate arts and its beauty. One does not have to be taught to value this branch of wisdom as represented by the veena wielding Goddess Saraswati. It comes from within, and it makes a person complete.

To the simple-minded, this song may sound superfluous, narrating something obvious, something trivial, something unscientific. For example, the first line of this song asks the listener about the movements of objects and the origin of wind. A scientific minded smart alec would sneer about the low and high pressures propagated by the rise of hot air and the need for the wind to fulfil this 'vacuum'. But that is not the point. Only a connoisseur of the branch of art would appreciate these innuendoes! It takes a different of an animal to 'see' the beauty of words that lie beneath.

This 1962 movie, Parthaal Pasitheerum (Seeing is Satiety), is especially relevant now as it has India's war with China as part of its storyline. A wounded soldier, Sivaji, returns home to rekindle his love with his beau. This result of this blissful union is this poetic depiction of cause and effect in a philosophical sense. It is something akin to chicken and egg story; which of the pair of the lovers started the love process first. Did love just happen or did it happen because they made they made it happen? Like that too, many of the things around us happen because it happens or we made it happen, directly or indirectly by our actions or inactions?

Another amateurish attempt at translation and interpretation of this number. Even though the song may not be groundbreaking but the melodious tune that accompanies its rendition may add of yet another purpose of our existence on Mother Earth - to immerse in the nectar of mesmerising music.

Did the branch/flag move first, then the breeze came or
Did the breeze come then the branch/flag move?
Did the Moon emerge, for the flower to bloom or
Did the flower bloom at the sight of the Moon?
Did the song appear before the beat or
The beat followed the song?
Did imagination precede the rhythm or
The rhythm follow the imagination?
When eyes open, the scenery came or
The sceneries came because eyes were opened?
When an age is attained, the desires come or
Desires come and one matures?
When the words come out, the mouths open or
The mouths open to let the words come out?
Because of femininity, shyness comes or
did shyness come, hence the femininity?
The running, the searching, the singing, the yearning,
Can we call it love, affection, compassion or stake?

http://www.lyricaldelights.com/2016/08/23/kodi-asainthathum-song-lyrics-and-translation/

FG asks, Sh*t happens, or we made it happen? Do we deserve the brickbats that are hurled at us? Could we have averted all these curved balls? Could it happen any other way? Could we have taken another door and still be stuck here, or probably in a worse situation? Should we be thankful for what we have, grateful that we still have what we have? Is it mere pacification, akin to giving a nipple to soothe a crying neonate? Or is the real challenge in life, living the life is fighting whatever that comes like a true Stoic. Like King Rama who conformed to the whims and fancies of the people around him just to maintain the Dharma despite hurting many around him. He lived by a set of rules that looked at the bigger picture and the benefit of the Greater Good!

Are we any different?

Scorpion Orchid (2001)

Lloyd Fernando

Everybody has their perception of what is right and what is wrong. People feel that their point of view is correct and they cannot fathom why the other cannot appreciate what is as simple as night and day. Why are they so dumb? Why do they do what they do?

This book which is set in the 1950s Singapore in the midst of social unrest. The country, which started as a confluence of races had prospered significantly. Every race had their idea of what success is. As long as each other had the liberty to do their thing, everyone was happy. The precarious balance just needs a slight jolt for the status quo to be tilted. This tipping is what happened in this historical tale.

Four young men, Santhi, Guan Kheng, Sabran and Peter, friends from Sixth Form find themselves in the middle of a riot. There is widespread turmoil in the city-state. Singaporeans state their dissatisfactions to the colonial masters, the British, for their control of the economy. The natives were demonstrating against a colonial company. The strikes progressed into a full-fledged mob situation, and the whole city is under siege. Locals attack whites and anyone who appear Caucasian, including those of mixed parentage. Peter is of Portuguese ancestry.

In the midst of this turmoil, four friends and another common friend, Sally @ Salmah, try to understand what it means for people of different backgrounds and origins with different cultures to live together under a falsehood of nationhood. Are we just putting up a front of cooperation and mutual respect when the going is good? Can this understanding withstand the test of time or the turn of tides? Are we quick to blame the bogeyman or blame an outside element for our shortcomings just to ignore our faults?

On the other hand, are we so different from each other? When you remove the particular item that stereotypes us, it may be difficult to tell us apart, as in the case of Sally who was actually Salmah with a checkered past. It also shows us how different people deal with a threat to their motherland. Some have one foot on their new found homeland and the other on the place of origin. At the slight hint of upheaval, they are the first to scoot off. Then they are those who know no other place to call home. They would go the whole nine yards, putting their life and future on the line, for the glory of the only country they know as home. Which one are you?