The Chinese and their kungfu

If it had not been Teoh Beng Hock’s brother-in-law that day but instead it had been a Malay with a songkok wearing an Umno or Perkasa shirt, these Chinese would have quickly stepped aside and would not have even dared stare at the chap.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Do any of you remember Chen Kuan Tai? He first made prominence in 1970 when he starred in the movie Chinese Boxer. That, in fact, was the first time I ever went see a Chinese movie.

Since the 1950s I had been going to Hindustani movies and my favourite wasNandoni Mannan (I think that was what it was called but it was about 50 years ago so my memory fails me). My favourite Hindustani actors were the Kapoor brothers -- Raj, Shammi and Shashi. And, boy, were those Hindustani actresses just lovely creatures.

By the 1970s I had discovered Chinese martial arts movies. The One-Armed Swordsman, The Blind Swordsman, and so on, were the favourites of the 1960s. And then, in 1970, the ‘unarmed combat’ movies appeared, starting fromChinese Boxer, Vengeance, and the other movies such as those starred by Ti Lung.

It was not till 1971 that I really became hooked on what we now call kungfu movies. Bruce Lee came onto the scene with Big Boss followed by Fist of Fury the following year and then the other classics thereafter. I probably saw each movie at least ten times and still do watch them even till today.

I was so enchanted by Bruce Lee that I signed up to learn Taekwando. When I got my first dan black belt I went on to learn karate but was quite badly injured during a sparring session I had to stop (the senior black belt karate chap was so upset that I was using taekwondo moves on him that he beat me up good and proper).

Until today my body still suffers from aches and pains. The rash punishment of my body has finally caught up on me and I suffer from a serious spinal and neck problem because of the bashing my body suffered 40 years ago.

Nevertheless, I can still hold my ground against a violent attacker, unless that person is also a martial artist and 30 years younger than me. Or else in three seconds I would make the attacker eat dirt and grovel at my feet.

I used to have great respect for the Chinese kungfu martial artists. I was so fanatical I would attend all the competitions to see the various kungfu masters demonstrate their skills. All I wanted was to practice taekwondo and karate. Nothing else mattered.

I saw the photograph of the MCA gangsters beating up Teoh Beng Hock’s brother-in-law in Galas recently. The impression I used to have of these types of Chinese has changed a lot. In the old days, the Chinese would take on those of their equal or someone said to be ‘tera’. They pride themselves on taking on someone of some ‘reputation’. Today, these types of Chinese beat up weaker, defenceless people.

But have you noticed that these MCA gangsters only dare bully their own kind? If the person in question is another Chinese from the opposition then they will become very garang. If, however, the other chap is Malay, in particular from Umno or Perkasa, these Chinese will be meek and subservient.

If it had not been Teoh Beng Hock’s brother-in-law that day but instead it had been a Malay with a songkokwearing an Umno or Perkasa shirt, these Chinese would have quickly stepped aside and would not have even dared stare at the chap.

The Chinese of today are gutless. Forget about Chen Kuan Tai, Ti Lung and Bruce Lee of the 1960s and 1970s. That was 40 years ago. That was just in the movies. Those are stories about heroes fighting against the powerful and unjust who persecute the weak. Today, the Chinese pick on those who are not able to fight back and who the law will not protect because they are not aligned to the government.