The State Of Maturity From The Allah Debacle

In factual, it is wrong to say that Allah is one God and Holy Father (in Christianity) is another. Allah and Holy Father is actually the same. God has many names / aliases and never forget that Islam and Christianity are branches of the Abrahamic teachings via the sons Ishmael and Isaac. The Bible and the Quran holy book specifically share the same thing in common that there are no other gods except than God himself. This was also muttered at the end of each of the 5 daily prayers in Islam which speaks of there is no other god than Allah (God) himself.

When the initial verdict of Allah ban was overturned, hardcore Malay groups went into such frenzy to convey the indirect message of 'how could this happen' or 'we're being threatened'. All the sort of excuses you use to say that something goes against your way. This is indeed what can happen if the Lina Joy case was overturned instead of dismiss. Simply because of religious pressure on judiciary, society and the point of saying that the official religion cannot be challenged and so forth.

Simply to put, to restrict the word Allah exclusively to one race is somewhat not reaching to the real zenith and understanding of doing such action. You still need to check back on other things to do so before proceeding. You have famed Malay scholar Munshi Abdullah writing Allah in the Malay history books, the word Allah is mentioned in the old Malay translation of the Bible, people in Sabah and Sarawak refer to that and otherwise.

So what about the state anthem?

When we were boys in school, we used to sing the National Anthem and the state anthem at every Monday assembly. In that case, the state anthem of Perak was called Allah Lanjutkan Usia Sultan and the tune preceeds the national anthem in terms of tempo, and structure. The word Allah (God) is mentioned in there twice and this song preceeds the present National Anthem.

The first line reads - Dilanjutkan Allah Usianya Sultan
The last line reads - Allah Selamatkan Negeri Dan Sultan

Note that this song existed since the 19th century even before United Malays National Organization was formed. So that means that people there understood that the one God that we knew is translated into either Tuhan or Allah. You basically do not call an idol and worship it by calling it Allah, don't you? Now then, if these quarters are against and still believe that the word Allah is to be used exclusively by Muslims like these mob group called UMNO do, then why the hell do we hear other people and other students saying "Allah selamatkan..." when singing the state anthem?

If they are pursuing the mantra there, then you will have to dare change that song by replacing Allah with Tuhan if everyone is to sing that state anthem. That is if they wish to live up to the claim that Allah is used exclusively by Muslims.

The Allah debacle has clearly established a few lines that can be understood by readers and those who would spend some time to think about it.

1. It establishes who are the moderate and hardlined people that are involved in the subject. It seems that PAS line has established a moderation line by saying that it is okay to say the name Allah as the Malay translation of God, provided it is not misused, and in move that is applauded by the few - which is to have a dialogue session with the Catholic church.

2. The hardliner stance, particularly from the mob group called United Malays National Organization and NGOs affiliated to them (e.g Perkasa) have showed that the ones that get spooked by such stance would be those non-Muslim people. And as such, the 1Malaysia concept gets mired down to the drain because of that. There is growing fear that other races and religion are put aside by force over Islamisation thing.

3. It establishes the main characters either moderate (like Khalid Samad, Nik Aziz) and the hardliners like those from UMNO, Ibrahim Ali, etc..

4. It clearly reflects the state of immaturity by most of the people who are in connection with UMNO. They are monopolizing the word but in fact that it is to be used by all people. Same meaning, but a different concept. An interesting notion to be mentioned in there is that this is also a way to make the fool of people...ala Projek Membodohkan Melayu. Look at how the Judiciary page got hacked and the message that was left. It reflects the immaturity that most hardliners are right now.

5. As Mahfuz Omar said the other day, it is also a possibility and a way of UMNO to divert other issues including the sugar problem, Altantuya, RMAF engines and otherwise. UMNO is facing internal problems that are not known to most people, with the MSM in their pockets / ownership and control by the Home Ministry.

6. It reflects the product of education. Reading but without understanding. The thinking happens because you don't really understand what the Quran was talking about. Also, the style of teaching also happens there as well. The style of shut up and listen, no questions ask. You can also notice that it's like a game of monopoly out there.

But little is known that such move by the hardliners are going to affect most people in the Eastern part (Sabah and Sarawak). And these two states want to have their own autonomy not to have the Federal government telling them what to do and those restrictions. In the end, it's them that's going to suffer. That's part of the whole consequences. Remember that Najib once said that East Malaysia is BN's fixed deposit? They are standing to lose the F.D if such things prolonged and angering the people there.

Most of the hardliners come from UMNO. Why they would spew such racial-oriented remarks is actually for themselves. UMNO is fearful that their hegemony of power in the last 50+ years is eroding and the support from their own race is ebbing down since most of them are starting to get more literate, and aware of what's going on in the country. The only thing that counts is the pakcik makcik from the villages and people who are not well educated.

Now that the issue has gone public, we can now identify characters that claimed to be pious, playing the 'holier than thou' mantra but instead do something that the Devil would be in support of, like corruption, adultery, murder and etc..It is also interesting to note that one party do not represent the faiths. God does not appoint popes, priests, imams and so on. It is a religious instituition that appoints them.

Jacksonmania and His Last Two Singles

It has been more than 4 days since the shocking sudden death of Michael Jackson and Jackson mania has hit the world again. All of his music records were sold out in most music shops everywhere when news hit the world and every media shop is playing his video music, including the recorded Dangerous world tour.

Back in the mid-90s, in Malaysia, some people would refer the initials of M.J not as Michael Jackson but actually to the then Domestic and Consumer Affairs Minister, the late Tan Sri Megat Junid Ayub, M.J that is given that he makes rounds on the 'sell Made In Malaysia goods' campaign.

Back to the real story.

After the History collection, Jackson released two but not as great albums namely Blood on The Dance Floor: History in The Mix and his final recorded album, Invincible. The last two singles known to hit the airwaves after You're Not Alone is the title track from the former and You Rock My World from Invincible featuring Chris Tucker.

When you hit 40 you are not as great as before because of your age, you will not be able to perform those stunts, including the moonwalk or the vocals as great as before. Jackson tried to repeat the feat being at 50, but as the saying goes, it ain't that easy as before when you try to repeat your gags.

In my opinion, these two tracks are the last two hit singles from King of Pop, and though it is not as popular as the greatest smash hits, these could be the good farewell in retrospective for MJ.

Salute!

Blood On The Dance Floor

You Rock My World (From Invincible)

X-Men Animated Series Retro

The X-Men animated series to this day remains the #2 longest running animated series in the entire cartoon history behind Batman: The Animated Series. It features the characters drawn and designed by Jim Lee (noted for character anatomy dynamics) and shows all the comic storylines, particularly those written by Chris Claremont in his first stint at Marvel in animated format.

Note: This excludes The Simpsons.

Episodes Run and Overview

The series had a successful 76-episode run from October 31 1992 to September 20 1997. All of these episodes were executive produced by Stan Lee himself and Avi Arad, with Joe Calamari. Then Marvel publisher Bob Harras was the creative consultant for the production. Much of the story arcs seen in comics like the Legacy Virus, Sentinels, Savage Land, Days of Future Past and The Phoenix Saga were successfully translated into episodes run. These episodes were produced by Saban Entertainment, the company distributing Power Rangers worldwide and they were broadcast under Fox Kids and it was shown almost every weekend on their networks. After the successful run of the first X-Men movie in 2000, the series had another successful rerun but it was Disney who broadcast the rerun when they bought the broadcasting rights from Saban in 2001.

Each episode had a consistent average rating of 8 out of 10. Out of the episodes, only 2 were noted to draw flak and criticism from fans. Episode 24, Mojovision, featuring the voice of Andy Dick as Mojo was rated 6.8 while one of the final season's episode, entitled Jubilee's Fairy Tale was rated as the worst episode ever of the series.

The opening title sequence featuring the name of mutant and their abilities were designed by Dave McCarty. This title sequence would serve as the basis for another Marvel animated production series, Iron Man. However, the final season featured a modified title sequence.

At this time of writing, I have watched the first two seasons of the run. Season 2 remains the best of the lot because of its overall cohesiveness. The main plot is about Mr. Sinister and the Savage Land. Most of the episodes are connected to one another featuring a small segment of Professor Xavier and Magneto at the Savage Land, bookmarked and setup for a 2-part showdown called Reunion.

The Fall of The Run

Arguably the success of the 5 seasons was due to the efforts of two men, Larry Houston and the supervising producer Scott Thomas.

Season 5 was supposedly ended at Episode 70 with the conclusion of the two parter Storm Front. However after that, Graz Entertainment, closed shop due to bankruptcy and the writing duties and storyboarding went directly to Saban Entertainment with the production seen by former Batman animated series producer Tom McLaughlin. However, no sooner by March 1997 after the release of Episode 73: Old Soldiers featuring Captain America, Fox Network has decided to cancel the series. But they allowed Saban to release the final three episodes that they had already worked on.

Influence in Film

The first X-Men movie mostly has a storyline that was influenced by the first season of the animated series. If you are to compare the story in the first film and the first season, you will notice that are many similar elements in the film. The only exception is that the episodes focus on Jubilee while the story in the film focuses on Wolverine with Rogue as supporting because Wolverine has brings more character appeal to the fans and Rogue, with her well documented beginnings seen in comics complements of showing a character on the run to a key member of the team.

Pre-Harry Potter Influence?

The character relationships and dynamics of Rogue and Gambit served as the influence of the relationship of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour by JK Rowling. Like Gambit, Bill is a charmer and has the panache while Fleur, like Rogue can be sometimes an aggressive tough-as-nails character. At least either one of them is a French character except from different origins. Remy is a French-New Orleans guy while Fleur is from Southern France. At the end of the Harry Potter series, Bill and Fleur were married, had three children. Likewise, in the X-Men: The End, both were married and lived in Valley Solada except that their fates were in contrast to Bill and Fleur. The Extreme X-Men series by Chris Claremont has prominently examines their relationship there.

Theme Tracks

Anyone can remember the signature opening theme that was used in the first four seasons. During the production stage rehearsals that I was involved in school back in 2000, a schoolmate of mine managed to perform the opening track by just recalling from memory alone. We had one piano in the school hall and he played it during rehearsal breaks.

Another theme that I believe was the second best would be the harmonica Bishop's theme. It gives the feeling and inference that Bishop is one tough ass who would love to tackle baddies a la cowboy style.

The theme track is available at this site for download in MP3 format.

I Want to Watch It, How?

Currently you can watch all the 76 episodes of the series on YouTube. But the number of videos are doubled. This is because YouTube has a restriction that will allow a maximum of 10 minutes per video. These videos can be watched but without the opening and end titles.

References:

1. X-Men Animated Series on Wikipedia
2. Interview with Bob Harras (1992)
3. The Episode Guide of the series

Race Factor or Illegal Land?

In this past week, Selangor Chief Minister, Dr. Khir Toyo is one subject that is vilified by the non-Muslims of the state. Yes, last week, the Shah Alam Municipal Council, perhaps under his jurisdiction and direction demolished an old Hindu temple in the state itself, despite protests from the Indian community over the excuse of the site being on the unapproved land.

The actions of the municipal council has drew anger from the community and even the Indian cabinet ministers themselves including Samy Vellu over the fact that nobody even Khir Toyo would not bother listening to their pleas before proceeding with the demolition work. I'm sure this means that they have no respect for the Malaysian minority community. Two weeks ago, a question has been raised over why municipal councils imposed the bumi quota over number houses to be allocated to them in each housing estate, that is not stated in law. Why would municipal councils do that?

If people are not happy, there would be a fracas, in which 14 people got remanded. But then the argument of illegal land seems legit, and the timing of the MIC stepping in shows that they are not sincere and not really showing their true intentions of representing the Indian community. All in all, they are just the same as the MCA, enjoying money and privileges, while the big community suffered. Beatings were reported on the day and the municipal council is blamed for the ruckus started. It's just like the police supposed to safeguard the welfare of all only to foment ways to create trouble out with the ordinary.

Image by Mob

Lawyers are not spared from the beatings. And now the MBSA will paying for it with damages of up to $100 million as they and the police are being sued by them. Then, as to show how Khir is vilified, they (MIC) decided not to throw a state Deepavali open house, only to retract it later on finding it is too harsh over one decision as what Malaysiakini says.

Some say that Khir Toyo boasted that Selangor was the first state in Malaysia to have a pork free zone. No more pig farms to beat river pollution. No exporting of pork to other states. The latter statement seems to show the sentiment of disrespect for the Chinese. Maybe it's because Singapore generates a high demand for pork, I supposed. But then, maybe logically it's a temporary reprieve until a centralized facility is built. Then again, building one facility has its own cons: just like a computer network, the risk of site down is high if all data is centralized into one machine. Maybe not, for we have forgotten about the east coast states. What about there?

Khir wasn't the only one that is vilified. Last week, Malacca CM, Mohd. Ali Rustam got into the spat with the PPP over the allocation of seats. There was famous remark. And then UMNO didn't bother to go deeper over his remark and found him nothing wrong. Four months ago, he got into the spat with pig farmers with demands to reduce output of pigs maximum in the state only to agree to the 48000 with the intervention of the MCA.

Updates:

I came to notice that many of commentators here have clarified and updated some info regarding the incident above as of this time. First, thanks for the feedback. Secondly, I've made some revisions of taking the last piece of portion out to get things to the point.

Well, let's pay more attention to the potential election matter as we, citizens, have the right to say who is fit to run the state or the nation. If you do not like how things are in Malaysia right now, then don't vote for the incumbents!

Oil Price Hike: Where Will We Be?

DCA Minister Shafie Apdal said on Thursday that an oil price hike is imminent given the fact that the latest crude oil prices has spiked up to $90 per barrel, given of the demand by the U.S in facing its winter season and the current face off between the Turks and the renegade Kurds at the border town of Turkey-Iraq.

This will be the fourth time in four years in the Abdullah Badawi administration that the government has raised the price of oil given the fact that the amount of subsidies forked out by Petronas and the government themselves ballooned according to the latest price of crude oil. To most of us, it means more money has to be forked out for food and transportation, the core two needs that a working man will have to pay out for. There is also a possibility, according to Petronas CEO Hassan Merican that Malaysia could be a net importer of oil by 2010 if the demand of oil increases 4 percent each year until 2010.

A Malaysiakini comment has clearly spelt out of what is to be expected in the next six months. Just be prepared for the worst has come. Secondly, with this scenario, the possibility of throwing general elections to stop Anwar Ibrahim, particularly cannot be done by this year itself.

A question is borne out of this scenario: with the price of oil going up, which are path we going to pick? The path of the common man, or the path towards better quality of living?

The Common Man's Path

To a common working-class man working in Malaysia, fuel hike means had to squeeze some more of necessity usage for use of food and transportation. And this can be a domino effect to their daily routine. Eventually it would builds up to creating more stress and tension to a person so much, if uncontrolled, it could destroy what is inside of a human being.

Just imagine, had the price of fuel remain at the price of before 2002, people do not have to pay that much to enjoy a bowl of noodles, regardless of anywhere we stay in Malaysia. Let's say back in 1999, the price of a bowl of noodles is at $2.80, in 2008, the price could be at $3.80 or so. The inflation rate is $1.00 per 10 years. Right now, just imagine what can you do if you can save $1.00 out of the price above? You can use it for other purposes such as accumulated savings for future use or something else you can name for yourself.

Some may blame the price hike of oil at oil players like those at Haliburton, NYME and investors for being greedy and speculative. You can say that those big fat rich men enjoyed the riches after playing the mercantile market, reaping the big profits while the others suffer. Are we going to result to being Mr. Payback, a vigilante fighting for a common man or calling for Michael Moore to save the day? Elite capitalism?

Back to the Malaysian context, the ex-journalist whom I met at Hari Raya Open House the other day pointed fingers at Mohamad Yackop for the problems of limited growth of Malaysia economy. He accused the government for not being proactive in improving the economy, saying that the progress was hampered by some ridiculous policies especially the NEP. He also poked a question at Yackop himself: The Sing dollar value is 2.3 times more than the ringgit, which is about 22% undervalued than the value before the pre-Asian financial crisis but worth 1.5 against the dollar. Why has no effort be done to strengthened the ringgit? The ringgit should be at $2.92 against the dollar right now (in his words) And Yackop's answer was just one line: Let the market decide.

To him, it was an answer that he could not accept. A common man would be convinced that having a strong ringgit would reduce the cost of imports of various products, including oil. Coupled with reduced tariffs - sure, I would be spending $263 against $302 to buy a barrel of oil. Imagine the amount of savings per barrel, $40! I can use $40 for other things....!

The next person he poked at is Shafie Apdal with another question, why all things go up but nothing has gone down? Shouldn't there be a review of price for people to enjoy? Shafie never answered the question..to his disappointment.

Well, looking at the common man's perspective has many points, and the conclusion is that the government's failure to go more proactive approach in improving the economy, not relying on FDI and Economic Corridors and other things is dragging the people's feet down.

But have you look at the other side of the coin?

The Path of Better Quality of Living

I had a dinner chat with a schoolmate of mine during my secondary school days yesterday over this matter, and he seems to prove a point, with an aim to help people going towards a better quality of life, in terms of how society progresses into a better one, in context of reaching the Vision 2020 goal.

Have we look at how Singapore people had a higher quality of living than we do? If yes, the answer is because that the government is constantly encouraging them to stand on both of their feet. Sadly, this is what many people are unaware of: the government is trying to get them not to rely on them any much longer. The truth is subsidies, when viewed at a long run can be a crutch, shortcut that people would cling on. Imagine the amount of subsidies, if taken off can be used to other things for development. For example, according to my friend who stayed in UK for four months, the card machine there still uses a magnetic stripe card, whereas in Malaysia, we have the privilege of using a chip-based card. At least a billion ringgit has been spent for the financial sector as to improve productivity in financial services...with unused subsidies!

Perhaps this also encourages people to be more aggressive in achieving success in business without assistance. You see that almost every Singaporean at least owns a high-end level of a car and at least an apartment on their own, without government assistance to help them. This is because of that methodology that their government introduced...self-sufficient, self-reliance to achieve better good.

Inevitably, prices go up and up and it never goes down at all. Let's take a look comparing the price in 1993 and as of now. Sure, it went up, but what is the probability or a better question, how many occasions do we see prices going down? I mean, we are talking of consumerism here!

Now, in the current situation, is Malaysia prepared to take better path of living or merely sticking back to the common man's path? It seems that given the population status and average of amount they earn, we are still clinging onto the common man's path.

A Homage To Il' Maestro

Well, everyone in the world is in mourning over the passing of The Maestro himself, Big Luciano Pavarotti.

You can't miss him for his trademark big frame, cheery face and a big black beard, always on stage with his trademark big frame tuxedo.

When I was a kid I remembered him visiting Pangkor Island twice in '94 and 2002. And I read his recollections in an article of Reader's Digest - prominently speaking of the time getting stuck at the Milan airport in 1972. Of course everyone finds that he's the most outstanding of the Three Tenors beside Jose Carreras (who performed the 1992 Barcelona Olympics theme song with Sarah Brightman) and Placido Domingo.

But the one difference between the him and the other tenors in my mind that shows the line clearly is that he participates together with current generation artists say U2, Ricky Martin and hey..even Spice Girls shows that even an old horse do tries to reach out to the younger generation. Maybe the fear that latest generation might not understand opera or classical music in the next thirty years or so.

Another thing...he's the only one so far to hit 9 high-C notes in succession...wow!

I did have a few tracks of him performing from the Grand Theft Auto III CD, but unfortunately I've lost the CDs back a few years ago. I can't even remember the track titles but I can easily recognize some of the rhythms. It is very hard for me now to recall which track is my favorite until I've played some tracks back home.

No doubt that my personal Pavarotti track is indeed the La Donna E Mobile from Verdi's Rigoletto. I think that's how I want to say ADIO to the Maestro.

Forgotten Promises

Surprised to find out that close to 400 people viewed my previous post 'Civil Disobedience'. I've checked the statistics and turns out that a lot of them got redirected from MalaysiaKini (maybe it's their spiders tracking the magic word.)

And this would be the continuation and related to Civil Disobedience.

The Mamak Man from Merbok has accused LKY of saying that newspapers are partisans towards one party and also accused him of showing the sympathy towards the Sun as being the only newspaper in Malaysia to show the truth and promote Bangsa Malaysia - something called as deliberately part of the opposition's tactics.

I have to admit that the statement by Lim Kit Siang is indeed true. The Star deliberately blacks out yesterday's statement that Malaysia is an Islamic State. I believe it is borne out of the fear of as being the largest English newspaper in Malaysia, those guys are under pressure not to make something out of the guidelines fearing the backlash from the mob-rule group. Besides, the English newspaper is read by all groups of people, not just one - hence the extra caution measures.

Extracts:

This is most extraordinary and unthinkable – MCA newspaper The Star “blacking out” the MCA policy statement on the “social contract”!

The Chinese newspapers gave front-page headline treatment to the policy statement issued yesterday by the MCA Presidential Council following the shock declaration of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that Malaysia was an Islamic state and not a secular state.

Strangely enough, the policy statement was reported by the Sun but it is also conspicuously omitted in the New Straits Times and the Malay newspapers.

Releasing the MCA Presidential Council statement, MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said the Federal Constitution should be the reference to resolve controversies or confusion over the social contract.

(Lim Kit Siang)

********

What is theSun up to? Are they fighting for a Malaysian Malaysia? Is this what (Datuk Seri Dr) Lim Keng Yaik says is a newspaper that fights for Bangsa Malaysia?" he asked.

"Bangsa Malaysia must be founded on the social contract, the country's principles of law, not outside this (aspect)," he said, reports Malaysia's national news agency Bernama.

Zainuddin said theSun should be viewed as a newspaper that supports the DAP because it fought for a "Malaysian Malaysia", which is the DAP's objective.

(ZAM)

But has ZAM read LKY's statement of the current affairs in Malaysia? That is the question I am keen to find out. Hey...this doesn't appear in the Sun alone. But let's remember a line from his remarks on Sunday:

" We've now forgotten that. It's now 2007 and after 33 years, we've forgotten what Barisan Nasional (National Coalition Front) is."

Indeed he speaks the truth. The purpose of BN as said by the late Tun Razak Hussein was to stop politicking among each other and go for nation development. But it seems that the squabbling among BN component parties has started again. Just as the saying by LKY, you do yours and I do mine. What is worst is indeed the grim reality that we are facing and yet the big guys in Bolehland do not and I presume they are stuck back in the 80s: We are entering globalisation and if we do not work together regardless of creed and race, we will lose all the 33 years of effort in one swift stroke.

Am I saying something that is close to Civil Disobedience? The symptoms that might force the hand of this cure called Civil Disobedience. Another sign of the disease is this:

Given what ZAM has said in paper:

Zainuddin said theSun should be viewed as a newspaper that supports the DAP because it fought for a "Malaysian Malaysia", which is the DAP's objective.

"What is theSun up to? Are they fighting for a Malaysian Malaysia? Is this what (Datuk Seri Dr) Lim Keng Yaik says is a newspaper that fights for Bangsa Malaysia?" he asked.

Actually, this has nothing to do with DAP's tactics or whatsoever. As I've said previously, we are suffering from the racial polarization, all because of ignorance, and the believe of each toeing their line, doing their own work and stick to their own race. So far, have I seen people in private companies going out together for lunch in a mix race, as Bangsa Malaysia? Hardly, because of the ignorance.

What is spoken by ZAM implies of the intention by the Bolehland guys of keeping the groups seperated, each championing their own race and with those policies such as proposal of changing from English Common Law to Syariah Law further means of providing a back door in heightening religious tensions among the three big races.

As LKY said, if all the newspapers are sided to one party, "The Chinese press are sided to one party and the Malay press are sided to another party. Is there any Malaysian press where we can talk as Malaysians and as Bangsa Malaysia?" (according to him, where else but The Sun?)

The words of wisdom is indeed there: "You cannot play on one race only. If you do that, you're going to burn all of us (Malaysians) alive."

But I had the hunch that those Bolehland guys think we're talking bullshit and try to keep on playing the hero that saves the day. In this scale and scenario, it will not work. This has been the umpteenth time that the Mamak from Merbok has spoken something that drew the ire of the thinking Malaysian community after his accusation of bloggers as stupid and calling for a blogging classification program. Everyone thinks that's a stupid idea. Every online community member in Malaysia who has blogs got insulted.

And top men at Bolehland seems reluctant to admit their mistakes. An Indonesian referee got assaulted by cops. Have the officers forgotten their promises to the police force in terms of rules of engagement?

Clearly, not only this scenario, we people are starting to forget the promises made many years ago. It's time to think back and stop for one minute before things go out of control.

Listen to this man, the ex-IGP Rahim Noor: “That means my identity card or passport must state that I am a Bangsa Malaysia. My religion must also be left out as it is strictly between me and God. "

The Merdeka Retrospective

I think today would be a good time for me to provide my commentary on the state of Malaysia in view with the nation's 50th anniversary coming next Friday. It is high time for me to provide my own retrospective. It is important for people to understand more of someone being inside Malaysia, as a citizen of this nation so that they may have a better perception of the actual reality rather than understanding by cover.

The first 50 years:

I did spend some time to sit down and ask my relatives including my family and my dad (interestingly was born 7 weeks before Merdeka) about what Malaysia was like before the 1969 riots. Most of them told me colorful stories of them able to mingle with their non-Chinese neighbors without fear of discrimination.

Everyone had high enthusiasm of what is going to happen in the future with big plans for nation development, economy and social along with the Tunku at helm and having some of the non-Malay ministers like V.T Sambanthan and Tan Siew Sin - Tunku is a man who understands the importance of respect and sensibilities of the other races and is willing to make compromises for others..minorities to be part of Malaysia. For him, he aspires an utopia, like JFK does. When my family was in Melaka in 1967-1970, the house that they stayed is at an estate that comprised of a mixture of races. They never show hate or greed but instead treat themselves as friends for life. At that time, there was only a secular state - a state with mixture of people from various races.

And then 1969 riots happened. My family stayed in the house whole day, afraid of getting bashed up.

After that, there was no more Bangsa Malaysia. Not even during the Hussein Onn period and the disco era of 1977-1981, when he tried very hard to . I talked to one of dad's friend, who was also from Ipoh - told me of the change in the NEP and the education system - was showing the shape that is against what Tunku had idealized. Take for instance of the secondary level History syllabus - before the 70s, there was a fair spread of covering history of Asia, Europe, Malaysia and Islamic. When I was studying Form 4 and 5, almost 1/3 of the Form 4 History syllabus was Islamic History...don't you notice that there is something wrong there? It's like subverting everyone to follow the ideals of the predominant and leaving no respect for the dignity of the others?

The lack of foresight and the incorrect decisions in the education system made has caused many people to be focusing on passing exams, incapable of speaking well in English, causing an embarrassment to the foreigners.

Although there have been changes to the nation in the last 50 years, there are still things that has yet to be eradicated in order to achieve what the Tunku idealized for all time. You still have high crime rates, corruption still high, political interference, bureaucracy, and incompetent people who still cling to power. There's still more to do and we can never achieve Vision 2020 as what Dr. M once spoke of.

I've read recent cases of potential policy changes and I feel that some ridiculous decisions are made because of the lack of foresight, insight and shallow perception by politicians.

Merdeka is like Malaysia's way of saying Selamat Hari Raya or Gong Xi Fa Cai to the nation itself!

What I want for this year's Golden Jubilee Merdeka:

• Better reduction of red-tape interference and bureaucracy.
• A much more better education system that focuses more on creating productive people that are able to think of their own, make good decisions, practical and contributing more to the people.
• A change in governance where government guys are able to look into things with better insight and wisdom together with better depth of perception.
• A fair chance for everyone to speak out of their problems and suffering.
• The nation's economy must be as strong as the its state before the Asian Financial Crisis before year end. That will put a big stop to poverty and as well as improving the quality of living for middle-class people.
• Put a stop into corruption and malpractices of high-ranking officials
• A major change in policies including a retooling of the NEP as to give other Malaysians, especially our non-Malay friends to contribute more to the economy.
  

The next 50 years

No...that's not all yet. Do you know what I wish in the next 50 years given of the current situation? The Tunku wants a Bangsa Malaysia, a society where people can live together in diversity, not by racial division as what some policies are. At times, I find it very frustrating to bear with some laws and policies that are indirectly enlarging the gap between the races. Does this say that I cannot talk to an Indian friend of mine just for casual acquintance? Does it mean that I can't go out for a drink with my Malay schoolmate?

Where is the unity and diversity that people want? We are free of the past already. We are already free of May 1969 already. Why can't we drop the mob rule mentality and live on together with people? So much blood has been spilled. Innocents and minorities are the ones that suffer more while the guilty walk free.

I could times where ridiculous things happen because of mentality. I hope that line is blurred out in the next 50 years. There are people who have great knowledge and perception out there who aspire to make the nation a better place. Have we forgotten the words of MJ's song Heal The World? Why can't we take that message to guide us now?

It's a harsh world out there, with incompetent officials making things worse for the citizens - they are the ones that suffered most now -. In Europe the society structure / hierarchy is already moving forward, not like Malaysia that is still left behind. Even we are losing to our neighbor Singapore in terms of social structure and order.

All in all, I just want to go back for the happier, sepia times of Malaysia.

Teachers Day Retrospective

The following text is a posting to commemorate the Teacher's Day celebration at St. Michael's this Friday morning. I came to understand that this retrospective might be added to this year's school magazine which I am not sure whether it will be featured or not.

Let's assume that the content will be edited for the purpose of length constraints. Here is the completed text which I just finished just now.

For every student at the age of 12 - the younger the better - living in Ipoh, going to St. Michael's Institution is a dream that they would definitely want to achieve and a privilege. Through positive word of mouth that covers achievements in various fields, you name it academics, sports and so on - that's how St. Michael reaches its reputation as one of the best schools in Malaysia.

Starting day one in St. Michael's is like walking into an unchartered territory with you being on your own. From then on, you start to make friends, acquaintances. You start to know more about the school, who are the teachers that are in the morning / afternoon, the teachers that teach the class that you belong. With that, you get to be familiar with the school environment, the school's culture. You get to say that I am happy to be in such school as St. Michael's. But the biggest effect that a student will feel would be, that he will have some sort of emotional attachment with the teachers that might be teaching them until they finish school.

The truth is that when you step into St. Michael's you will never walk alone. The very first person that will help you to get use to the environment is always your class teacher.

Looking back after finishing school 5 years ago prompted me to recollect my years in the school. Of course life in school is like a daily family drama. There are moments of happiness, sadness and anger that no student can escape from it. You may not learn to appreciate the efforts of some teachers whose personality you hate most but when you move into the working world as I do, you will have a change of perception of your former teachers. It is through them that I learned things such as we go on, we cannot always depend on others to hold hands with you all the time. It is through them that I learned that you either take their word or you don't hear them. It is through them that you learn to be treated as an adult. As nature's law, a man tends to go wiser as he grows older. I could see from the other perspective that teachers had more things to do than a student would do. He / she has to prepare lessons, mark your homework, has to tend to their family and more misc. jobs. Imagine the amount of work your are given...it' just a portion of what they have now!

See how fortunate you students are? Shouldn't we say thank you to them once for a while?

Like I've said just now, St. Michael's is more than a school. It is a place where there are annual moments in school that will inspire you to reach your potential. Everyday when I went for the morning assembly, the teachers and the principal would be talking about things that will try to inspire you and perhaps motivate you to do something that will benefit and give a boost of reputation to the school.

I was inspired by their words. I was also inspired by my seniors. That's why I set out to achieve things personally and for the school before I finished my time here. I won some sports awards (Special Achievements), I led a team of members performing stage crew work for 'Desert Song', I appeared in the newspaper twice - recalling that, now I realized that it was the teachers that inspired me to do so. At that time, I could feel that my time in there would be running out.

I came to understand that to this day some teachers still cannot understand the rebellious behavior of some students. The reasons are: students now have the kind of maturity that is not seen compared to the students 20 years ago. There are teachers that still go by the book - the book of the 1980s or even to exert their 'shut up and listen' influence. If they are to stick to those, you can never win the respect and appreciation of students. We are now in the new millennium, not in the 1980's. Thus teachers will have come out with something innovative to attract their interest. I watched the movie "I Am Not Stupid Too" and I came to realize that teachers will have embrace new approaches prove their ability to inspire students.

Secondly, the school will need to learn a new principle: flexibility. We cannot always depend on precision. Sometimes there are things unavoidable where we may end up a little late or early like recess, lessons. I am still surprised to see that this was hardly practiced in school. We are not robots that must be precise in everything!. We are humans that make mistakes in our lives. It is part of the life's parcel. Why aren't we doing this?

Recalling my times sitting in classroom during lessons, I believed through observation and psychology analysis that the enjoyment of learning actually comes from a teacher's magnetic personality. If he / she has the charisma that draws the attention of students, maybe a good sense of humor and the most important of all, creates the proper atmosphere / motivation, then the teacher has already won the respect of students. Sadly the number of those teachers - those ICON teachers - that has that kind of personality - dwindle as every year passes by. Were it not for them, I would not be writing this mail.

There are ICONIC teachers who inspired me - who eventually made me aware and understand life better as I move on. Who are they? They are:

1. Mr. S. Saminathan - my Form 2 class teacher - has the wonderful sense of humor that I enjoyed it a lot.
2. Mr. Louis Rozario - the principal - were it not for his true Michaelian style of leadership and motivation, I would have a different understanding and appreciation of life.
3. Mr. Zahari Badri - my Form 3 Living Skills teacher - he has that kind of curiosity that and things that inspired me to do better - I remembered he asked me other things about my electric project and even things like my life that I never asked.
4. Mr. Mohd Darus Daud - my Form 4 and 5 teacher - I really loved his personality and style.
5. Mr. V. Paltoray - At first he was strict, but I started to appreciate him and enjoyed his lessons very much
6. Mrs. Adeline Tan - My friend's mother and teacher. Lovely, but when she retired, I admit that the quality of school plays are degrading.
7. Ms. Tan Mee Hoong - taught me a few things in life that I have to tolerate and understand about
8. Mr. Lee Kem Siang - One of the ICON teachers that has that caring personality and wonderful character that I would appreciate eventually.
9. Mr. Koi Siew Chay - A larger than life figure which I respected him and we would have a good talk in years after I left school.
10. Mrs. Oo Phaik Tin - my Living Skills teacher, the best of all the three years I learnt L.S
11. Mr. See Thian Seng - used to help me through some things. Wonderful man, before he came the state assemblyman for Port Weld.

I am delighted to be given the chance to offer my retrospective of my school times and at the same time wishing my teachers a Happy Teachers day.

Melvin Mah
(1997-2002)

Wanton Punishment: The Living Daylights

This is supposedly yesterday's post. But because my line got blocked yesterday, due to unforseen circumstances, I was forced to delay my posting and doing my assignment. Anyhow, with tomorrow being an off day for me, since tomorrow is the King's installation day, I would be able to proceed on with doing some work of my own.

On Monday, I have mentioned that I have bought The Man of Stone, the 7th arc of Punisher Max written by Irishman Garth Ennis. My friend Edmund was very excited of hearing my commentary about the Man of Stone and here it is, exclusively since being released a week ago is the review of The Man of Stone.

BTW, the TPB cover for the arc is not from issue #39, but instead from issue #41. Here is the final cover: That's my favorite cover for the arc as well!


A word of warning: the storyline literally ties up whatever loose ends that are found in the two storylines: Mother Russia and Up Is Down, Black is White. If you do not understand what these characters say and mean in the current story, please read those two storylines first before reading this.

Art wise, the art is drawn by Leandro Fernandez who also drew Up Is Down, Kitchen Irish and The Slavers. The coloring is done by Dan Brown. Brown is famously noted for his brush stroke coloring. Hence his coloring scheme and lighting tones is very familiar to readers who also read Up Is Down and The Slavers. The mute color scheme illustrates the harsh world of The Punisher. It is augmented with hard and top down lights - a term used by cinematographers to symbolize drama and tension.

Basically, the premise is mainly about settling the score. You need to read the final part of Mother Russia to get the idea. Frank knew from that moment after rescuing the girl that some guy will be looking for him someday as to seek the answer behind the assault at the Suhdek ICBM complex. Rawlins, the man who tried to assassinate Castle for pissing the cabal of generals was selling him out as revenge and attempting to even the score against his ex-wife Kathryn O'Brien. She's back on a vengeance mission - hunting six ex-Taliban men who she was involved in ten years ago.

Here's the quote from Castle in Mother Russia:

"I think one of the Ivans figured out who we were. I was even kind of counting on it towards the end...It doesn't seem to bother you much the virus being destroyed. As a matter of fact, a suspicious man might think you set the whole thing up."

This implies that the Man of Stone himself...Nikolai Zakharov is obsessed for the truth.

If that is not convincing enough, refer this from Mother Russia:

"The generals crawl back into their holes intent on burying Barbarossa in the deepest darkest eyes-only files they've got. Don't know if they'll be pissed enough to come and fuck with me."

This above implies that Rawlins had come to assassinate Frank in Up Is Down. Ultimately, Castle taped his confession as the proof of their intention of screwing him - which is using as blackmail.

"The Russian government keeps the silo business under wraps, which isn't difficult once the screaming starts about the airliner. All the same, someone figured out we were not Al-Qaeda: someone who might come looking for me some day."

Man of Stone literally examines Russia and Zakharov, a relic of the Cold War. It questions a man who was hated during the Cold War and his influence in the current Russian ideology. After the fall of the Communism and under the stewardship of former president, the late Boris Yeltsin, Russia has been turned into a country of democracy and capitalism. However, Yeltsin's leadership had some problems. He attempted to shape the country into following the new direction but it caused more problems than positive results.

In the process, Russia became soft enough. If there is an incident happening inside here that risks more consequences should a matter is spilled out, they are preparing to keep in under wraps and tight. As mentioned in Mother Russia, "Moscow is full of mental pygmies". They have started to show more cowardice than it was before during the Cold War. In World War 2, cowardice is punishable by death with the implementation of Order #227 on July 28 1942, signed by Stalin. That order became known as the "Not One Step Backwards" Order. If there is a truth that leaks out to the people, you can expect a revolt like the Bolshevik Revolution. A government would definitely try to avoid a scandal.

This quote from Zakharov from Act I of the story provides the meaning to the text:

"No one in Moscow wants to know. The idea of U.S involvement in the attack terrifies them. To confront Washington over such a matter would be unthinkable. They are cowards. They dream of mushroom clouds and wet their beds."

It is this story that Ennis posed a question to us: shouldn't the Communism ideology be dissolved in this kind of situation where the world is right now? We are now witnessing the case where the dark side of capitalism - which defeated Communism during the Cold War - through the corporate crimes and the hegemony committed by the pencil-pushers of the U.S Government. Zakharov, through experience knows the tricks that the Americans would pull in order to achieve victories. We have gone through two World Wars. What if there is a World War Three happening in 2012 onwards? World War Three happening because of the hegemony of the USA? Another modern Holy Crusade? Up Is Down, Black Is White - maybe the next day we wake up, it is war and the world goes the other way round, cuckoo...period.

"Maybe there is hope for the Motherland after all!" - Formichenko, Mother Russia.

In this kind of situation, maybe we might need a figurehead like Zakharov to save the day.

Afghanistan is currently a place nearest to Russia where the military from nations like Britain and America would be hunting Islamic insurgents and extremists who are alleged to be part of the terrorist cells, Al-Qaeda and Osama. Zakharov cannot do it in Russia, he would be charged if he does his plan in Russia - where's the best place for fighting where no one can hear you? Of course it is Afghanistan. In this kind of situation, where's the best place to fight your wars when you are in a neutral country?

Whatever the actions that Zakharov did clearly mirror what Russia is currently doing against the rebel state of Chechnya. Like in the story, the situation in Chechnya is deteriorating so badly that Moscow is increasingly faced with a series of options, all of which are unfavorable to its strategic and security interests.

The highlands, the desert, the spots that fight well for a guerrilla fight - that's Afghanistan. In the 80s, in the quest to defeat the Russians, the Americans help the Mujahideen. But now, as of their double practice, the Americans are hunting those people down. That's what hegemony is. In fact, fighting in the place like Afghanistan is a nod to the late 80s movies like Rambo III and even Timothy Dalton's first film as James Bond - The Living Daylights. Of course, there are a lot of casualties in Afghanistan. Even the common people are killed and beheaded. In Act II, a reporter was beheaded for trying to snoop more about the Man of Stone. This is Ennis's nod to Daniel Pearl, a reporter was killed under the similar circumstances.


"Put him on the next plane to Moscow - in a diplomatic bag." - Leonard Pushkin

Both Frank and Nikolai have the same thinking as both are from the military. They know how the other one thinks. Just as Frank watching the news of Nikolai clearly implies a plan of inviting him back to Russia to clean up the mess that is Suhdek. Rawlins, the common denominator in this situation is a physical representation of the hegemony of the U.S.A. You can be sure that those sly tricks that he had in the sleeve represent the dark side of capitalism. But the common weakness of being a soldier is that you are bound to follow orders. That's one of the General soldier ethics. One moment he helps, one moment he double-crosses, as seen in the third act.

Ennis clearly clarifies and emphasizes that Kathryn is a all-rounded woman that never involves in those common cliches such as a damsel in distress. She has a vendetta and a score to settle. Perhaps it is a revenge against the humiliation suffered since she got stranded in Afghanistan since 1996.

Unfortunately, a lot of people complained about the fact that O'Brien is killed at the third act. But I felt that it was slightly rushed here. In writing an issue, you are only limited to 24 pages maximum per issue. So I guess that there was a problem in pacing and probably, Ennis had to rush in that issue. People are starting to like O'Brien as a popular all-rounded supporting character. Personally, I felt that O'Brien had done her role well in the entire arc. What is there for her to do after finishing her vendetta mission? Evidently, there was line that she spoke of in part 5:

"After that, comes the big question. What happens next. With hubby gone, I'll have no one left I want to kill. No battles left to fight. Little bit scary. The only job I know how to do and I never want to do it ever again. It's like what does that leave in my life, you know? What am I going to do with myself now?"

That's the situation that Vietnam vets are facing right now. During the war, they are able to handle million-dollar military equipment in order to defeat the Communists and the Vietnamese military. After the war, when they come back, they are booed by people. They struggled to find jobs, and getting hated by people anywhere. That's the disillusionment that every soldier faces in fighting in a hollow war.

Back to the O'Brien matter, her death was somewhat similar to Alec Guinness posing his question of his character Obi-Wan in the first Star Wars movie. What else can he do after in the Death Star? What else can he do? If he decides to stay around alive, there's nothing much he can do and consequently he was pushed back to the wall. So that's where he insisted that his character to be killed. But the thing of O'Brien killed by a land mine is somewhat could not be understood. It could have been better if she got wounded during the skirmish at the helicopter or being shot at by an unknown assailant - but I think it's rushed.

Somehow, the way of removing her off the board is paving the way of introducing a hard-ass all-round independent character, Jenny, that will be featured in the next storyline, The Widowmaker (issues 43-49) (January - September 2007)

In here, Man of Stone questions the role of people being in the military being asked to fight in war that has no purpose, whereas it is billed as a war against terrorism. They were sent to fight in war that is opposed by many parties and their own people. During the fight, over 5000 people were killed in two fronts, Iraq, and Afghanistan. People are tired. But they were sent here because the U.S wanted oil to supplement and stocking up their resources. The U.S is becoming like a parasite, as Zakharov commented. Rawlins, as the U.S is starting to be a parasite - not a soldier as he said to be. In the final act, Yorkie (seen in Kitchen Irish) felt that the war is not for good but instead keeps claiming more lives than meeting its purpose. Every year, it costs close to $100 billion to fund a year for war and in the end, the U.S Treasury is way below zero. Every taxpayer's money is used up for this worthless war. It was no longer fighting the Cold War, as I have mentioned before.

Clearly, Man of Stone fills up the gaps / blanks left out in Mother Russia and Up Is Down. The characterization is at is very best, with the characters such as O'Brien, Rawlins and Zakharov is defined clearly including the past history of the moment he was called as Man of Stone. What makes a man exact a vengeance? It is like whoever unleashes the killer side of you. So, whatever that is started in In The Beginning is finally coming to a close in this story arc.

"To manipulate a man is a careful project. Too light a hand and he follows to his own whim. Too heavy a hand and he will turn on you."

Wanton Punishment Part II

I had a good head start in writing the Search Agent script. The head and mid section is running fine. But not the lower-half and the tail section. The program isn't taking in the dynamic variables that I've assigned to. That is why I am taking the chance of trying to do this at home. However, I hit a snag when I could not install this in SQL Server 2005. Once finished installing, there are other things to do including turning on port 1433, installing SP2 for SQL and testing the database. Spent the whole day trying to fine tune the bottom half but without good progress.

I was wondering whether if one of my marketing dept. colleague, Geraldine was trying to snoop people's private business. I mean, trying to ask whoever could not come for the sports club early morning run tomorrow the reason for unable to participate the event. Eventually, almost everyone reluctantly agreed to turn up, except for me in the department. My Technical Director was asking everyone who initially said nay to coming for the run. Geraldine anticipated that the four common reasons of inability to turn up for the run would be: personal appointment, lazy to get up, no shoes and just blankly no. I was under the first reason, but my mandatory personal appointment at 8 a.m. prevented me from participating for the run. I have no intention of saying no, but having a seminar tomorrow morning until 11 a.m. prevented me from this.

My friend from Lahad Datu wanted to visit K.L and me tomorrow. Originally, his plan was to be here for about two weeks. Part of it is to help her younger sister to register for college. Unfortunately, the plan hit a snag. The National Service camp in which his sister was assigned to rejected her request for early leave, claiming that by leaving early means delaying the course. They recommended her to finish the first module until the 7th of May. This means that possibly he would only be coming for about 10 days on the 9th. A sad thing for him though. He had missed numerous occasions including last week's PC fair, and wanted to visit Ipoh end of next week.

Wanton Punishment

As promised, I would be reviewing the next two story arcs of The Punisher Max. The next arc after Kitchen Irish, Mother Russia details the story of former SHIELD director Nick Fury being assigned to send Frank Castle to Russia to retrieve a deadly retrovirus called Barbarossa. I had a feeling that the premise is a combination of Mission Impossible II or Resident Evil: Apocalypse since it involves virus and a child as the McGuffin thing. Note: A McGuffin is a Hitchcock-coined term for a plot device.


What is interesting that is worth exploring is the bureaucracy and the hideous secret plans hatched by a small group of generals. This literally refers to a cell of groups - think P2, Masonists, Illuminati - hatching a plan as part of the greedy policy of global domination at all costs. The recent news of Paul Wolfowitz, the World Bank head being under scrutiny is largely due to the fact that he neglected the Bank's main objective in helping nations and also combat poverty in Africa. What he did was serving America's hidden purpose. Remember, Wolfowitz is one of the architects beside Rumsfeld behind the Iraq 2003 invasion, prior to his appointment in 2005. The White House continuously support him even though he admitted that he was behind the mess. The mess is already there, other members wanted him out.

Back to the earlier statement, sometimes an assignment contains a hidden purpose as written in Mother Russia. Unknowingly, when Nick agreed to the assignment, the cabal of generals had a hidden plan in hand. With their extra hand, Rawlins, in the Middle-East, they recruited a number of people to hijack a plane and crash it into Moscow. The purpose was to divert the Russians from paying attention to the mission, should things go wrong. However, not all Russians are totally stupid. Some of them actually can see through what Americans do, like our Man of Stone himself, Nikolai Zakharov. Fury became disillusioned over the fact that America became a greedy nation that is out to achieve their objectives by playing dirty. In fact, while they - on behalf of capitalism - defeated communism at the early 90s fearing of communist subversion, they in the end became the main capitalist subversion in the world. They play dirty - whatever tricks in the sleeve, legal and illegal as to ensure that all nations submit to the will.

Nick Fury was raised with believes before World War 2. During the time before World War 2, there was only the Depression era and the American Dream where everyone thinks of America as a paradise and a migration location. However, things turn ugly after WW2, starting with the Truman administration, the US leaders pursued a grand imperial strategy with the aim of staking out the globe. They wanted to achieve dominance at all costs.

"I can no longer sit back and allow communist infiltration, communist indoctrination, communist subversion and the international communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids. " Jack D. Ripper - Dr. Strangelove or: How I Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb

Mother Russia's main theme is actually the examination of the Russians, being disillusioned following the fall of Communism in 1989. As I have mentioned in the previous post, Francis Fukuyama famously declared that the greatest achievement in history would be the fall of Communism. With that comes the end of the Cold War. Of course, the Russians are the ones that were on the losing side. When that happened, they crawled back to the shadows and sob themselves away in sorrow. Most began to question of their roles in the post-war. The Man of Stone himself knows how the Americans act and think. Going back to the first part of Mother Russia, the old man Formichenko thinks that the Russians had lost the respect after the Cold War. In the past they were heroes, soldiers, having fought against the Nazis in Stalingrad. Now most people perceive Russians as gangsters and cutthroats, not those who make the reputation and being respected by other people.

Alexei Pajitnov, the man behind the Tetris games, remains one of the few from the Eastern Bloc who is respected by people around the world disregarding the creed. The Tetris game remains the longest selling electronic game ever. The game lasts days, hours non stop until you can't go on anymore.

With Communism out of the way, the Capitalist began to spread their influence towards the world. As the saying goes, while you try to fight something you hate, you eventually become the thing that you once hate. But smartly, Zakharov knows how they think:

1. They do not start a nuclear war. That's their policy
2. If there is something happens perpetrated by them, they will not respond to a call. Because they have people listening to Russians response in Moscow!
3. Most of them are Caucasians
4. The Russians today will start to panic and makes things worst if an ominous rumor reaches to Moscow - "Moscow is full of mental pygmies, like the kind they send to run the missile silos"
5. They are clever, imaginative and tenacious.

But an opinion by Zakharov is worth considering. Maybe Communism is the solution to the current problems the world is facing. Maybe it should not have fallen, maybe there is still the Cold War around. Like Iraq, the Americans chose to attack places they wish to eradicate and build places over it and using the resources in the enemy nation as their own. Being a parasite that is.

In the climax, Frank decided to play chicken on him by launching missiles all over Russia. It's like playing a bluff in poker. Maybe that's how he got the reputation as The Man of Stone. He just knows that there is no nuclear going to happen and leave it there. In the end, he thinks him as a "Russian born here by mistake."

Up Is Down, Black Is White is by far the most cohesive and the best story line ever written in the Punisher. It is actually a back to the basics story of a man's seeking out to punish the sacrilege committed by a grim hollow man. Nick Cavella, whom managed to escaped Castle at the end of In The Beginning is back but this time he had a plan of how throw Frank off the edge by committing the sacrilege of digging the grave of his family and desecrate it. The video footage broadcasted on TV provoked him and Castle went on the killing spree of 70 people in one night, unlike anything before.


Note: The title was taken from the tagline of Miller's Crossing starring Gabriel Byrne.

What makes Nick a hollow man? Bad influence from her Aunt? How he handles his assignment that goes over the edge and puts the Mafia and the Chinese gang in war? He is also meaningless, he relies on his subordinates as his cannon fodder. A leader is supposed to show his leadership by setting himself as a role model, not being bailed out by Carmine Gazzera's sister. He thinks he is above all by committing the murders. The truth, as Frank revealed at the end, is that he doesn't do it. The reputation that he has will carry to one point where he cannot go on.

The other thing sub-themes in here is perhaps about the little cabal of generals as in Mother Russia are desperate to cover their secret by hiring Rawlins - their instrument man and O'Brien's ex-husband to kill Castle. As the teaser said, "Cavella's scheme unleashes a wave of violence that rocks New York to the core, other predators start to come out from the darkness. Scores to be settled, blood to be spilled." Being an instrument man means that he is trained to do whatever he is ordered to do so. That means that Frank had an upper hand and can use the hand to blackmail them.

Kathryn had gained the respect of Castle through her admission. After being sent back to jail, it was admitted that he was not supposed to be a trained animal to be set loose on the enemies of the state. Her role is clearly augmented and expanded well here. Her motivation of saving Castle was clearly the spark of conscience seeing that he was once a family man, thrown into the mess. As for her, she was thrown into the mess with five failed marriages and being recruited at Princeton, senior year. This clearly implies that the Bush Sr. administration had subverted her and turned her into what she is now...to be used in the Gulf War - Desert Storm. After that, what can she do?

Nothing can bring back the dead. Not even the power on earth can do that. But the massive murder as the result of the sacrilege this time struck fear on thugs alike. They fear that little crimes means big punishment on them. That's a big domino effect caused by this little act. But the main thing is that there is more characterization here than any other story arcs. Not even Mother Russia can beat this thing.

Wanton Punishment Part I

I still really got nothing to do today. I kept reminding myself that I only one more week left minus Thursday before the JIRA evaluation period expires. And then my P.A. did nothing serious to pay attention to this work. Please, come on. We got to finish this, then I want to do something else. I've seen other colleagues at work with tasks in hand. What about me? Are you leaving me behind?

One thing that annoys me is that my Indian colleague sitting next to me kept crying at certain times. She must have been hit hard since her father passed away last December, sometime before my grandmother does. But it's already four months already and she's still mourning? Maybe it's the Indian folk music that she played and listening through her earphones makes her something like that. But she's still staying back in that circle of mourning. The truth is that you can't stay in there forever. You need to move on. Can't she get this to her senses?

Anyhow, since today marks the official release of The Punisher Vol 7: Man of Stone, I will be writing three parts of wanton punishment in retrospective about one of comics finest and popular vigilante: The Punisher. In case you do not know, here is the TPB cover of Man of Stone.

Most fans agree as I do that Irishman Garth Ennis, who writes The Preacher is the only man who can write The Punisher at its best compared to anyone else. The Punisher is the modern day incarnation of Josey Wales as modeled by Forrest Carter (1925-1979) in its Wales duology titled Gone To Texas and The Outlaw Josey Wales respectively, with the latter being made into a film starring Clint Eastwood. Like Wales, Frank Castle is a man who lost his family to evil and resolved to wage a one-man war against crime. His modus operandi is not on revenge -to him revenge is a dark emotion -, but punishment where there are circumstances where law cannot punish the guilty. His rules are somewhat similar to the Hammurrabi Code concept: "an eye for an eye." The Punisher is the best selling title in Marvel's MAX line - aimed for adult, matured readers only. Full of violence, profanity, uncensored stuff all intact. That's where The Punisher should be.

In each of the story arcs, Ennis has placed a common theme and sometimes Bond references (He's a James Bond fan BTW) in the storyline and setting. If you go through the arcs, you will notice that these themes represent the crimes that are committed by the USA - which is part of its hegemony - the quest for Global Domination. Famed critic Noam Chomsky, in his book Hegemony or Survival outlines the sins of America in its greedy quest to become the undisputed superpower on the planet.

The first story arc In the Beginning marks the return of Frank's associate Microchip, but this time working with a team led by a rogue CIA agent Robert Bethell. In 1989, Francis Fukuyama declared that greatest moment in world history is the fall of Communism and the Cold War. In here, Frank was questioned of his role in the new millennium - just as in GoldenEye, Bond is questioned of his role in the post Cold-War era. For both men, they were the past. Whatever he did was during the post Vietnam War is now under question, and maybe no longer be accepted. To Microchip, Frank is a direct relic of the Vietnam War. He thinks that Frank never has enough of what he did, ever since the moment he became the Punisher back in Vietnam. Some of the scenes were referred to in the prequel to the series, Born. In the world where we live in fear of Al-Qaeda and the post-911, the CIA thinks that they can erased his past criminal records clean and give him a clean slate by making hunting the terrorists including Osama Bin Laden.

Castle always work alone. At times, trust is something that gets a person killed. He had encountered double-crosses. The latest double-crossing by Microchip is something that he'd never forgive. He gave Microchip a chance to run while he is alive but in the end...was punished for squandering the opportunity before Frank changed his mind. James Bond is described as a blunt instrument for the government - an extension of its dirty work. Frank saw through this and immediately said no - knowing that he'd be manipulated - something evident later on in Mother Russia.

Bethell is a corrupt agent who would smuggle drugs for weapons and money. His crossing with New York mobs coupled with Nicky Cavella and his gang made him an easy target. He's a CIA agent - he can do anything - good or bad - and maybe things tilting to your favour. And while Frank is held captive by Bethell, the gangs think they can eliminate two birds in one stroke. Lewis Larossa modeled Cavella after actor David Strathairn but in the later arc, it's different since it was drawn by Leandro Fernandez. A common cliche in stories is the recurrence of a female damsel-in-distress character that most people seem to be tired with. Thankfully, it was avoided. Kathryn O'Brien is the partial flipside of Castle - an instrument of the corrupt bureaucracy, an unlucky woman who had to do the worst to save her image and sanity. Wisely, she was written as a all-round character with her own independence and the ability to take care of her reputation.


The second story line, Kitchen Irish was mainly about Irish gangs in New York fighting for the will left by an old man Nesbitt worth 10 million dollars. The premise is somewhat the famous Gangs of New York, fighting for control in the turbulent period of 1847-1863. The questioning here is of some people are still stuck back in the past. The past actually serves as lessons for us, to remind us while we move on, taking care to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Many of Irish people are still scarred over the fighting between the Irish Republican Army and the pro-British faction during the 30 year civil war of Northern Ireland, the worst being the Bloody Sunday in 1972. Ennis, being a Irishman himself suffered during those times there. In the later point, Michael Morrison lamented:

"What are we like anyway? All that misery and bloodshed back home and we come to the States and the best we can do is just fucking carry on with it? Did you not even hear what Maginty was saying? We don't have to slaughter each other! We can get what we want without that! We're free now...free of the frigging past!"

In GoldenEye, Bond's ex-partner turned villain, Alec Trevelyan's motives was purely blaming on the past: the British sending his ancestors, the Cossacks of Lienz to their deaths in World War II. In Harry Potter series, Voldemort turned bad because of the past where his Muggle father, Riddle Sr. abandoned her mother, Merope. See the coincidence? It's like letting the past shaping you into a pervert and succumbing to the evils conjured from it. What about the River Rats? They are still kids inside...playing pirates!

The Continuity IRA is also a political example of the syndrome. To that cell, anything short of a total victory is like capitulating to the British. People are sick of fighting already. They want to go on and rebuild their lives rather than destroying because of a group of perverts. In this context, there is no Kingdom of Heaven. A kingdom of heaven is a place where there is no fighting, everyone living together in harmony, each respecting one another, work together. Some don't like it...take the Nazi Germany for example. Purity of race?

Here's one of Tyler Durden's quotes in Fight Club:

"The people that you're after are the people you depend on. We cook your meals, we haul your trash, we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances, we guard you while you sleep. DO NOT FUCK WITH US."

There was a saying that once you are a baddie, forever you are a baddie. This would be the case for old Napper French. He had enough of doing the past job and retired to a happy life until the Dublin nigger Maginty dragged him back into the gang fight. The past haunted him and it showed clearly to the little boy. The question is no matter how hard you try to forget the past, why does it come back to haunt us?

A problem with the arc is that there lacks the opposite sex relationship between a man and a woman. Ennis attempted to address one by putting it here, but it is not until when we reach the later story arcs, that we have somewhat a complete working relationship between man and woman later on. However, though it worth to point this out, Frank ended up being the supporting character of the story. Kitchen Irish remains the least cohesive story arc of all. Maybe it is full of black comedy as the MAXI series and it is not serious enough. The arc is pretty independent of the others. In the next few storylines, neither one is associated with Kitchen Irish. But perhaps you should take the inspiration from The Devil's Own or Gangs of New York as the source of reference when reading this. Or maybe read Frank McCourt's memoirs such as Angela's Ashes or The Teacher Man.

An interesting side note about Kitchen Irish is the locations used. For example, Pier 86, The Intrepid Museum is Frank's setup point for The Westies and the gangs fighting here. For those who do not really know which part is it in New York, it is located on 46th Street below the Joe DiMaggio highway. That's Pier 86. Secondly, the fictional O'Malleys bar used in the shootout is actually the McSorley's Old Ale House, located at 15, East 7th Street, near St. Mark's Square.

Next: Mother Russia and Up Is Down, Black Is White