HAVE AH LONG - WILL TRAVEL

As a teenager, one of my favourite Western TV show that I would like to watch was " Have Gun - Will Travel" that was aired on CBS from 1957 - 1963.

SEREMBAN OLD FOLKS HOME

I was in Form 2 in 1961 when I first saw the series. It was in black and white. The only TV set available for us to see then was at the dining hall for the inmates of the Rumah Orang Tua ( Old Folks Home), Range Road, Seremban. My father, the late Wong Kee Onn, was the Superintendent of Homes and we all lived in the government quarters provided within the Home. Father could not afford a TV set and at 6pm my brother and I together with some other teenagers who were residing in the staff quarters, would turn on the TV set that was mounted on the wall and watched the shows with the old folks. The latter treated it as part of their recreation, though they might not understand the English language, the action flicks spoke for itself!

THE SHOW

Have Gun Will Travel was a show with a difference:

1) No Red Indians on war paths chasing the covered wagons as settlers crossing the vast plains like the movie " How The West Was Won"
2) No US Calvary charging to drive the Red Indians back to their reservations

It was not just the typical Red Indians vs Cowboys story.

Just the title alone stands out: "Have Gun - Will Travel". To have an analogy it may suffice to coin it as " A James Bond traveling back in time to 1875, just after the American Civil War" with a good storyline of adventure,intrigues and educational!

THE WHITE KNIGHT - PALADIN

Paladin the learned gentleman, a formal Army Officer and West Point graduate earned his reputation of a professional gunfighter who would resolve problems without violence but when boxed into a situation , he would fight back with the ferocity more powerful than a wild cat and winning all the time.

His theme song as well as the closing song is always haunting:

" Have Gun Will Travel reads the card of a man.
A knight without armor in a savage land.
His fast gun for hire head's the calling wind.
A solder of fortune is the man called Paladin

Paladin, Paladin Where do you roam?
Paladin, Paladin, Far,far from home.

He travels on to where he must;
A chess knight of silver is his bade of trust.
There are campfire legends that the plainsmen spin
Of the man with the gun,
of the man called Pa-l-l-l-l-a-din"

Based in the Carlton Hotel, San Francisco, he donned formal clothes with a taste for fine wines, food and even cigars. He attended operas at times and after reading newspapers from across the country, he would send his Paladin call cards to potential clients who were in need for his services

Paladin was the MAN IN BLACK while working and when the job was done, a call card would be left behind that of a white knight ( chess symbol like a horse - the Paladin) and the words embossed over it - HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL" aka Paladin - a champion -for-hire from San Francisco.

Paladin not only packed a custom-made .45 caliber Colt Single Action revolver that has a holster that carried characteristic chess knight emblems but also had a backup derringer under his belt.

The attraction of this show hinged also very much on Paladin's soft side as well by his vast educational background with a flare for foreign languages, history and the knowledge of classical literature. Often quotes from poems would be used when confronting an adversary to resolve any grave situational crisis as personified by the characteristic chess knight emblem whereby the latter is the only chess piece that can move in 8 different directions to be placed as a strategic winning position on the chess board.

THE ACTOR: RICHARD BOONE 1917 -1981

Richard Allen Boone, a cousin of the singer Pat Boone and with a distant lineage to America's historically famous Pathfinder Daniel Boone, fitted very well to his role as Paladin.

He was educated in a military school, Stanford University, boxer ( accounting for his craggy nose?) , served in the navy during world war II, oilfield worker, painter, short story writer and finally as an actor by joining New York Actor's Studio where his classmates included the then unknowns as Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint and Julie Harris. He also acted as Sam Houston in the Alamo with John Wayne.

Richard really fitted the role as can be seen by his resume. The show ran for 6 seasons and had 225 episodes of 30 minutes each.


HAVE AH LONG WILL TRAVEL

" TAI YEE LONG" is a Cantonese term for illegal loan sharks.

In Malaysia , over the years, there have been many instances of loan sharks and money-lenders issues. Call cards will be placed everywhere for easy loans be made available. Stickers with their hand phone numbers are plastered everywhere on telephone booths, lamp posts, telephone exchange stations, directional signs etc. Even warnings and subsequent actions from local authorities do not deter such acts of vandalism.

Bantings are strung up at every lamp posts or at traffic light junctions. Offers of easy loans but the only snag being the high interest imposed.

Very often defaulters ran away to leave behind their debts for the family kin or guarantors to settle. There are instances whereby the families disown the debtors who are their kin to AVOID harassment.

Datuk Michael Chong, MCA Public Service and Complaints Department Chief is the VOICE of the downtrodden for almost 22 years.

He is Malaysia's very own equivalent of "Paladin" except he does not use a six gun. When the public comes to the Service Centre, Michael and his team will to listen to their problems and then act accordingly.

With good coverage viz-a-viz the mass media and vast networking, very often through round table discussions, solutions are found.

Michael's suave manners and his cool 'reasoning' has won many hearts. Even A TV series was spun based on his 'Pau Kong" cases akin to his ability to find runaway kids to Ah Long or loan shark incidents

MICHAEL HAS ONLY ONE FACE

However because of his willingness to help
all those who came to his office, in July 2008 Michael Chong was accused to have Two faces when he came out with a press conference pertaining to six reports of Ah Long abuse by a group which claimed to help borrowers.

" If you want to negotiate, it's okay but do not use force and the name of authorities to frighten people" He added that only the police and prison authorities were authorised to use handcuffs.

Michael has only ONE face and that is righteousness and fair play for all!

NEW APPOINTMENT
On 30-04-09 Michael was appointed as the adviser to the Home Ministry and his immediate response was to use his experience to tackle the many human trafficking cases and immigration issues and citizenship issues involving foreign women married to Malaysians

COPS RESCUE THREE FROM AH LONG ABDUCTION HORROR

• PM SHOCKED BY AH LONG CRUELTY

• AH LONG WITH DATUK TITLE AMONG 6 MEN ON THE RUN

• HUNT ON FOR "TOP MANAGEMENT" OF AH LONG GROUP

• AH LONG CHOPS OFF LIMB AFTER MAN FAILS TO PAY RM8,000

This headlines hogged the news in May & June 2009 and with the police acting swiftly.

The Home Ministry has 'declared war" on Ah Long who charge extremely high interests and use violent methods to collect their debts

MOST LOAN SHARK CASES INVOLVED HABITUAL GAMBLERS
From Januaray to June this year,the Chinese borrowers top the list of 341 cases with 241 cases and they borrow for business or gambling.

These gamblers are the defaulters and their families are the victims if the debts are not settled.

The gamblers lose their bets on international football matches and roulette. These people had been advised by the MCA Public Service and Complaints Department headed by Michael Chong to " disappear and not return" until they have enough money to pay back their principal sum.














Since early 2009 the MCA Public Complaints Bureau received 65 complaints from Malays who had borrowed a total of more than RM2 million from 'Ah Long' or loan shark.

The Malay borrowers were involved in the get-rich-schemes.




















AH LONG'S - NEW TACTIC
Michael in his latest Press Conference on 14 July 2009 warned that attractive and sexy women were deployed to the borrowers' homes or business premises to collect debts. These women would wait at the shops or homes daily till the debt was paid.


I have taken three days to create this post and it is worth the hours spent.

I 'm sure that readers will agree that from Paladin: 'HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL' in 1875

And now Back to the Future 2009 we have 'HAVE AH LONG - WILL TRAVEL'.

A GOOD PARALLEL!!!

Michael Chong is the modern White Knight .

Paladin Modern aka Michael Chong have added 'ummph' now that the Home Ministry is giving full support!