For a clock with its 9th hour mark pointing towards the East, the hour hand at 1:30 points towards which direction?

In a standard clock alignment:
* 12 is at the Top (North)
* 3 is at the Right (East)
* 6 is at the Bottom (South)
* 9 is at the Left (West)

Given condition: The 9 o'clock hand points towards the East.
This means the entire dial configuration is rotated by $180^{\circ }$. Let's map the new positions:

* 9 $\to$ East
* 3 $\to$ West
* 12 $\to$ South
* 6 $\to$ North

Now let's find the position of the hour hand at 1:30:

* At 1:30, the hour hand is exactly halfway between 1 and 2.
* On a standard clock, 1 and 2 lie between 12 and 3 (North-East direction).
* In our rotated clock, 12 is South and 3 is West. So, the area between 12 and 3 corresponds to the South-West direction.

Therefore, at 1:30, the hour hand points towards the South-West.