500gms (Oct25)

 

Young lad in his twenties was going in later that day for 5 1/2 years. His father came over to indicate his presence at the usual table under the veranda. The day before the dad had revealed the matter during the detailing of his own history with the justice system here. In his case the man had been sentenced to hang. After a six month process of appeals and $79k legal fees provided by his brother, the chap escaped the noose. Six months on death row, how was that endured? how did he cope? Unfortunately, only blanks came back; there was little to say. Don’t think too much, one of the common standbys among the Malays, was offered. Otherwise prayer & exercise. (In younger days the fellow had been far from observant.) The man's own dad had stood by him throughout, as had the wife and all the other siblings. The mother had died by that stage. One other thing: he hadn’t wanted the children brought in for visits; that was too much. The man said he couldn’t cry, if he was heard right. Perhaps he didn’t want the children to set him off. The partner and friend, close friend who was looked upon as an abang, elder brother had his sentence carried out. When it came down to it, for defence, the pair had blamed each other. The evidence had finally supported this particular man. Luck in his favour, he said. The son was indeed a chip off the old block. Carbon copy, dad said; meaning the physical characteristics. Coming up to the table, the strong resemblance was clear. Busy texting on his phone, the lad gave only a brief look. He had been in before. Dad too had been in a number of times, apart from the last occasion. Dad had taken a second wife over in Batam. His sons knew, but not his daughters. The first wife also didn't know. The reported screaming and dragging out on death row had confirmed earlier reports. There had been pills offered for settling nerves, which the man had declined. The young lad later went to his bike parked along the side fence of the market and rode off alone, presumably not to the prison just yet. Married and fathered a child; the earlier sentence had also been for possession and dealing. Twenty years ago when the senior had been sentenced to capital punishment, he had been in his thirties; not much older than his boy now. Dope both cases. Singapore's position on it in the current liberalisation in so many jurisdictions complicated matters now. Chap had been told about Ronald Ryan in Melbourne back in the mid-60s. Five or six weeks ago the fellow had popped up out of the scrum at the market, helloes progressing to fist bumps and eventually chat. Only friends knew of his history, even twenty years later. Now for some unknown reason, the white guy was included. The worry of course was the quantity next time for the lad.   

 

 

 

 

Sparring at Shadows (Long Live the King)

There he is our man alright in London, just behind the Pres. Must inevitability grate with the Arab, perpetually that shadow falling. Current liberalisation (post-Khashoggi), trialling slowly in Saudi. Slowly. Women driving; getting about without male escort; some racey hijab fashion that showed lines & curves. Howsoever, for all that, for all the dosh, the Porsche, finest clobber, jetting about first class, G-R-A-T-ING. Nevertheless, despite that, nice to see smiles kept up, genuine warmth for orphans, for elderly & disabled. One of the kampung lads of Modh’s gen., who knew the man from early days before his marriage, while the pair prayed together at the wooden (likely atap roofed) sarau opposite the market, reported the chap was not flying back home with the President. No. Going himself, under his own steam, over to the States, in fact. A certain tone in the pal’s telling that seemed might have echoed the original. Man needed to stand on his dignity every once in a wee little while. (Difficult incidentally guessing what the Viet President was doing in that company joining Charlie’s big do. WTF?)

 

Publication news: Blind Terror - Panoply

 

Hallo all

Hope everyone is keeping very well.

A publication to announce, another flash just appeared in Panoply up in the States. This zine carried an earlier short of mine back in May 2020.

Blind Terror is centred on my adopted neighbourhood in Singapore, a stone's throw from the wonderful Malay market. Under 500w, hope you like it. No pay wall—

https://panoplyzine.com/blind-terror-by-pavle-radonic/

Blind Terror – by Pavle Radonic Geylang Serai, Singapore A screaming girl directly across the way wouldn’t let up, yesterday early afternoon in continual fits and starts rising and falling. Then in the morning renewed again…

Leading Hand

Yesterday was one example and this afternoon another. Surprise was always a factor. Diabetes was rife in this region, as were motorcycle accidents. Male in both cases these. In the afternoon a chap coming over from Block 11 was on the phone, clutched to his ear. On the right side the short, empty sleeve of his grey polo swung free as he walked. Not a known face; easy & loose in his stride. Yesterday in the shade of the veranda at Upper Geylang returning from town, a man coming on was thanked for making way in the passage. Short wave of the hand at the midriff. Orange-saffron tee or polo; dark forearm. Not possible for this man to answer in kind as there was no hand appended . The flesh of the stump seemed properly formed; neatly rounded, as if machined smooth. A foreign worker—at that age local amputees were rare. (Even the motorcycle cases were older men, usually the first generation of riders.) Stony and unresponsive the Orange-saffron. Sometimes one could convey something even in passing; in fact there had been a tap on the shoulder of a younger man in a chair that same day, pretty well received. This other did not allow. It was usually impossible of course. In this culture people often approached the elderly, lame or crippled to present a quick note in the hand. Both men here were the right too. As it might have been in medieval warfare, the leading right.