Putting the Genie Back

It's been quite a while since I saw Robert De Niro in a good movie. About a year or so ago, the movie he acted in was so slow moving that I actually fell asleep. No offence meant as by now I should know that having a good cast does not mean a good movie. The story, the directing, the line, the cinematography, and many more contribute to the make of a good production. Let's not forget the twist and turns - however painful some maybe - which makes the audience sit up just as the they thought it was predictable. And it does not have to be an action movie at all. No sirree, it does not. One fine example is the latest De Niro movie 'The Intern'. That, by my reckoning, is a gem and a must watch. Oh OK, I've watched it so it is now listed as a 'must watch again'.


Now, before I continue, I think I should state that I am not a film critic. However since this is my blog, I can pretty much write my opinion on what I think is good or bad (smile), hoping that in no way at all the words I write or have written, can be considered seditious. Speaking of which: Prof, do hang in there, buddy. Now that more academicians have begun voicing their concern particularly about your freedom, you may yet walk free. OK, so I'm not one of those academicians. In fact, I'm not even an academician but who gives a shit, right? But I'm with you just as I believe many more academicians, and not, are. And Prof, just think this episode as one of the twist in movies (easy for me to say, huh?).


With a fine cast which include the hot Anne Hathaway, the twist in the movie may not be as profound as I mentioned above. In fact, one can describe it more as subtle even to the point of not noticeable. But it is there and one just have to follow the dialogues pretty close to catch it. That. however,  can be somewhat difficult when one's eyes are glued to that Ms Hathaway who  is in a role far different from those sci-fi/action movies I've seen her in. In 'T.I', she play a precious almost innocent-looking young mother and wife who heads her own on-line sales company.


De Niro, meanwhile, has a role which is not of a toughie, but one I love best. It may not win him the Oscar, but to me, it was simply the best I've seen of one of the best actors around. In a scene where he and Ms Hathaway had a snack late at night, Ms Hathaway said a line which became part of the title of this entry: Can't put the genie back in the bottle. Oh babe, you looked so darling precious! Oops! Want to know more the scene and movie? Watch it. Honestly, I am anticipating a sequel. But just as in real life, somethings are better left as it is. The same, sadly, cannot be said about the situation in this country of ours.


Of late, the news are splattered with stories about the rebels within that political party, a name that not only I, but many loathe even to mention. A hideous, heinous, party with a 4letter(word) acronym where members think of nothing but themselves and their party. To date, only one - and he is actually walking the plank now - had the brains to think about the nation first before that party. Even then, it was uttered only once and since then, never again.  I pray that there'll come a day when the party and all its members, most especially the office bearers and all affiliated with them, will come to and end soon. We may not be able to put the Genie back in the bottle, we can then start looking for a better future. Till then, we just have to accept their presence and menace as another twist in the history of this beloved country of ours.

A Future Beckons

The man walked out of the mamak restaurant towards his car and decided to head back home. He glanced at his watch and the time read half-past 2 in the morning and called his wife to tell her he'll be arriving shortly. He had been with a few friends discussing their dissatisfaction in matters of the nation where each of them voiced their opinion on ways that might help. With rising living cost which many can no longer afford, more than a few have no other recourse but to borrow from Money-Lenders, licensed and not, having pawned (and lost) many of their possessions in the early days of the regime. Soon, there will be nothing left but their very soul.

During the course of the discussion, the man had stood and raised his voice, roaring above the din of the TV sound system to emphasise his point: "This next election, we must vote the regime out!", expecting a euphoria of agreement but was instead, greeted by a deadly silence not only from his friends, but the entire shop. Suddenly, everyone stopped talking and pretended to look the other way. Even his friends. Except Guy.

Guy pulled Man's right hand and asked him to sit down them whispered in his ear "You should not have said that! It's dangerous and they could have heard you".

Shaken by Guy's words, Man looked around at the crowd in the restaurant, paying special attention to anyone who did not look familiar but could not make anything about them: the elderly couple looked too thin and frail; the young man, more of the hip-hop kind and with the hat on his head, he did looked like the Gestapo, one from the many World War II movies he had seen; and the young lady, pretty and innocent looking, was coyishly talking on her cell phone and in all probability with her boyfriend. No, Man deduced. There's no one here that may be a member of the regime's intelligence.

"We are supposed to be a democratic nation..." Man said in a voice far different than when he was standing.
"Democratic nation, my foot!" whispered Guy. "They've been rigging the elections from Day One and this moment we are in now, is the penultimate to it all. Just one more is all it takes and we'll be their slaves".
"No! I'll not let my children be slaves to anyone! And not to them certainly, not them!". Man stood up and walked towards his car.

As he reached his car, four figures suddenly appeared from a van parked next to car. What happened next, no one really know. But Man must have felt electric shocks from a single shot of a Taser Gun and was already in spasms when he fell to the ground. As his conscious begin to fade, he must have caught the sight of the pretty and innocent looking young lady he saw earlier and heard the words "We are from the Love Squad! Nobody! Nobody dare challenge our beloved leaders!", even as he felt the front of a boot cracking one of his rib bones. Such was the standard procedure told by the lucky few that managed to crawl away. Man's wife, will spend a very long morning waiting.

/-



One good thing about being a Sit-Down Comedian is that I can write just about anything so long as I keep within socio-boundary of respect for my fellow human. Leeches and Jackasses, along with bootlickers, are way another story.

Anyway, one take the fiction above anyway one wants to. But to several Malaysians, the ending part is already a reality. Maybe not to the letter, but it has happened in form. Ops Lalang, BERSIH 1 - 3, Memali, ISA detainees, are the ones we know of. What about the ones we do not now of? Could Ahmad Sharbani, Ong Beng Hock and perhaps many more make up the list of Serial Victims? A few of them are ladies, I should remind you. Dare you with utmost certainty be certain that you or your kins will not be in the list? Even if you can, dare you watch your friends or neighbour being carted away for a wrong they do not even know of? If you want to stand up for the country you love, then please, sign the petition below:

NO TO NEW SECURITY BILL!

or go: https://www.change.org/p/yb-senator-tan-sri-abu-zahar-ujang-ahli-dewan-negara-summarily-reject-the-d-r-38-2015-majlis-keselamatan-negara-2015-bill


We may win, we may not. But if you do not do anything at all, the we will surely fail. Then, only the Sound of Silence will accompany you.