use strict;    # or DIE : )
use warnings;  # or SUFFER : )

my %hash = { one => 'this', two => 'that' };

my $reference = \%hash #the \ tells perl to store a reference

# then you can use the reference like you would the hash by DEreferencing it

print "$reference->{one}";
# prints this

##</code><code>##

push @kung, \%item;
print "Kungfoo is ->", $kung[0]{foo}, "<-\n";