One Sentence on a Yasmin Ahmad Film

This picked up from Amir Muhammad on Facebook, and I thought I'd pass it on here :

My book YASMIN AHMAD'S FILMS will be available in November. It's my impressions of watching all 6 of her feature-length films, as well as many commercials, in the month of September. It's not an obituary, neither is it a conventional book of film criticism.

We are currently proofreading the manuscript, and it suddenly occurs to me that it would be nice to have the final pages of the book given over to other people's views. People who have watched and been touched, excited, tickled, by the films. (Think of this as the 'viewer's version' of the coda at the end of MUKHSIN).

So I'd like you to have your say! Please write one sentence on any one of her 6 long films:

- RABUN
- SEPET
- GUBRA
- MUKHSIN
- MUALLAF
- TALENTIME

I think each film will have 1 page, and I will try to cram in as many views as I can. Write about a specific scene, or dialogue, or performance, or the entire film. Write about how it made you feel, or how it related to you, or analyse why it works (or maybe doesn't work) for you.

Some ground rules:
1. The sentence can be in any of the languages used in the films.
2. The sentence should not be more than 20 words. If you are writing in Chinese, then no more than 20 Chinese characters.
3. Send ONLY by email to matahari.books@gmail.com with the heading MY SENTENCE, together with your name and location. Let's make this international!
4. Deadline for submission: 30 September noon (Malaysian time).
5. You can send in more than one sentence, but I will choose one per person.

Due to space constraints, I may not be able to print all the sentences. But here's a hint: try not to pick one of the more 'popular' films, and you might have a better chance lah.

We haven't decided on the retail price of the book yet. But all my writer royalties from the first edition will be donated to the Mercy - Yasmin Ahmad Fund for Children.

A 'teaser' of sorts for the book is my article for the Canadian magazine Cinema Scope here.

* I didn't know what to call this Event on Facebook, but I think Reunion Party works as well as anything else. Yes, use this as a chance to reunite with the films!

regards,
amir.

Censorship and Creativity

Just read the following article in The Malay Mail which made me feel incredibly sad and angry.

Haven't seen Yasmin Ahmad's films yet - but having read the article would very much like to.

But the issue of censorship destroying the creativity of artists here is a perennial one. And I can't see it going away any time soon.

Malaysian art must reflect real Malaysian life (and not be some idealised mirror of how the powers that be would like life to look for their own political purposes). Else honestly, what's the point? Malaysia needs artists with integrity - whether they be writers, playwrights, film makers, visual artists or whatever - who will tell their own truth about love, relationships, race, religion and all those other human issues that affect us all here. (Mat Salleh that I am i consider myself an 'us' not a 'them').

The alternative is that the people with real talent and the power to tell us something about ourselves shut themselves away where they will not get hurt. Or they cross the oceans to other parts of the world where they feel they can have a voice (but hey, will that voice be heard so loudly when there are so many other people whose voices are being heard at the same time?)


MOVIES: Killing ’em softly with their cuts
Meor Shariman

Dec 23:

IT looks like the National Censorship Board has dampened the spirit of another creative and visionary young local film-maker, Yasmin Ahmad.
She's one of many fresh and exciting young directors, whose passion to take local films to new heights has been tamed by our ‘moral police,' who still decide what local moviegoers should and shouldn't watch.

But we will continue supporting these bold directors, who go that extra mile in the name of art.

We hope they won't stop trying to be different and daring, despite being hampered by the Censorship Board who seem to be practising double standards – they butcher the kind of scenes in local movies that are often left untouched in foreign films. Now back to Yasmin. She tried to be as honest as she could in depicting the reality of Malaysian society in two recent films, Rabun and Sepet.

But that, as expected, didn't go down well with the Censorship Board committee.

Her first film, Rabun, shown over TV3, had a scene where an old loving couple take a bath together. That was deemed indecent and was chopped.

There was nothing revealing or obscene about that scene – it's quite common for married, couples, young and old, to bathe together.

The scene was meant to be inspiring as it shows how loving the old couple still are to each other despite being married for so long. After all, Rabun is a tale of undying love between the old couple.

The film was well received by both critics and viewers.

Now, Yasmin's latest film, Sepet – which was shown for a month without any cuts in Singapore – has incurred the wrath of the Censorship Board.

Sepet was first scheduled for a February release with nine cuts. Now, it has been banned.

Yasmin recently met with the committee to discuss the censored scenes. But she came out of that announcing she would quit film-making. (Yasmin made the announcement and shared her experience in a website, www.yasminthestoryteller.blogspot.com) THE NIGHTMARE When Sepet was shown to the Board, it was lambasted by most of the 12-member committee with a few appreciating it. One member said, almost in tears, that Sepet was the most enjoyable movie she ever saw and congratulated Yasmin. Another proudly said that Sepet was a Malaysian movie.

Unfortunately, the rest didn't feel that way. Many even made some ridiculous comments which showed how ignorant they are.

Sepet is a love story between a Malay girl and a Chinese boy – which is not unthinkable in our multi-racial society.

But one committee member's contention was that Yasmin didn't raise the issue of religion; he also asked why the Malay girl didn't try to convert her Chinese boyfriend. He said it would please the Malay audience if the Chinese boy becomes a Muslim at the end of the story.

Another member picked on the scene where Adibah Nor, Ida Nerina and Syarifah Amani lovingly combed each other's hair by the staircase.

His complaint – that scene would encourage Malay women to go back to their bad old habit of picking each other's lice! And if all that weren't discouraging enough, another member brought up the scene where a Malay character was seen in a non-halal Chinese restaurant. That set the stage for the bombshell – the committee decided to ban Sepet! It claimed it represented the rakyat (the people) and ‘had shown the film to some members of the rakyat and the rakyat wanted the movie to be banned'.

With that, Sepet – a film winning rave reviews outside the country – won't be having a cinema audience here.

THE DOUBLE STANDARDS GOING by Yasmin's nightmarish experience, the censorship board committee seems to be confused or is suffering from short memory.

Don't they remember approving films with a similar plot to Sepet in the past? Inter-racial romance is also the theme of Skop Productions' Sembilu 2005, the most-anticipated love story next year.

In Sembilu 2005, a Malay girl falls for a Chinese boy and the latter doesn't convert in the end.

The film has already been approved by the Censorship Board and will be screened in March.

As for the scene in Sepet where a Malay is seen in a Chinese restaurant, there was a similar sequence in Metrowealth Movies Production's Hingga Hujung Nyawa.

That was screened last July, and in that particular scene, a man even bought food from the Chinese restaurant for his dying wife! What was most absurd must be one committee member's complaint about the hair-combing scene in Sepet. It sounds like he's worried that female employees in Government departments will start picking each other's lice during office breaks after watching Sepet! With such a mentality, do we want such a censorship board committee to represent the viewers' choice on what films we should watch? No wonder why our film industry is lagging behind our neighbours like Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.


Drop by Yasmin's blog
for the whole story.

Goodbye Yasmin

you mustn't be afraid of death
you're a deathless soul
you can't be kept in a dark grave
you're filled with God's glow

Rumi

My heart breaks today at hearing that Yasmin Ahmad passed away last night. I did not know her well personally but like many people reading this - I felt that I close to her through her films and writings.

She was a truly beautiful individual, a speaker of the common sense that needed to be spoken, and an award-winning filmmaker of immense talent. She portrayed with great warmth a multi-lingual, multi-racial Malaysia in her work and broke down barriers that hadn't ought to exist but sadly do.

(Here's one of her advertisements, made for the 50th Merdeka Day, showing her work in miniature. If kids can get it right, why can't we? :)



She talked of the need for Malaysians to tell their stories and perhaps that is the best way that we can honour her memory, especially if we can summon the same kind of courage, honesty and love. For although we did not have Yasmin with us for anywhere near long enough, there was so much that she taught us that we carry forward.

Al-Fatihah, Yasmin.

Postscript :

fooie on Yasmin the irreplaceable. Zedeck Siew on Yasmin the Storyteller. Adflin can't believe it.

Tea and Tagore

Well, Happy 144th Birthday, Rabindranath!

Raman - praise be he who makes book things happen - held a celebration today for Tagore's birthday at Silverfish.

Tagore is of course, India's greatest modern writer, and won the Noble prize for literature in 1913 with Gitanjali. He was incredibly versatile - not only poet but also short story writer, novelist, dramatist, essayist, painter, composer of songs and political activist too.

Singers from the Bengali Association performed a couple of Tagore songs; an elderly lady who had come up with her daughter from Seremban had actually met the poet when she was ten years old and read a poem in English and Bengali; Professor Quayum gave a talk about Tagore's life and work; and then there were further readings from Prof. Lim Chee Seng, poets Wong Pui Nam (in Mandarin) and Raja Ahmad Aminullah (in Malay). Tagore precious to all of them. (But where was Yasmin Ahmad who makes a point about the universal appeal of Tagore in Sepet? She was also going to read.)

It was a pleasant evening apart from the fact I sat on the floor and got a numb bum! Many friends there including Diana Cooper, Saras, Datuk Shan, Ioannis and met Sharanya Manivannan for the first time since she got back from India. Plentiful Pakoras and sweet jelebis to eat.

And for me a good introduction to Tagore. Knew his work mostly through the works of the various Indian writers (notably Vikram Seth). Now making a start on reading him and bought a book of thoughts and verses taken from a selection of his books:



Shall no doubt be peppering my pages here with his words of wisdom!

Yasmin's Poetic Heart

Nothing is more beautiful than the written word ...

In today's Starmag, Abby Wong pays tribute to Yasmin Ahmad and her love of poetry, which she says :

... was endearing because it was a passionate, pure, spontaneous, crazy kind of love. Whenever she came to Kinokuniya Bookstores in Suria KLCC, where I used to work, she would look for me and read me a stanza or two from poems such as Nobel Prize-winning Mexican poet Octavio Paz’ The Tale of Two Gardens. ... As she read out loud uninhibitedly, the words would waft through the air and roll between shelves, intoxicating unsuspecting customers. She had a lilting voice, one that was filled with zeal and intelligence, but that was by no means ever pretentious. ... Some customers, the curious ones, would trace the words back to their source and find her in the poetry section.

Celebrity Literatis!

Andrew Leci is interviewed by Anu Nathan in Starmag's ReadsMonthly supplement about his first novel Once Removed.

Now Andrew is a bloke I feel I know very well, even if I have never met him, because he's a sports anchor for ESPN and in our house, there's nowhere to run from the rugby matches on TV! (Let me tell you that I can hold my own in any conversation about the sport, but I actually only watch it for all the wrong reasons ... which I'm sure you can guess!)

Once Removed though, is far removed from the sports pitch and is the story of a British expat at large in Kuala Lumpur of the 1970's.

I am not going to be winning any Booker Prize for this one. I wanted to write something that would maybe provoke thought about the way we see expats and the way expats see us ...

And as Anu points out he seems:

... blithely oblivious to the fact that, in many eyes, he’s an expat himself ...

But actually, I must interject, this is what does happens to us long-term mat-sallehs!

I didn’t want it to be an expat book but it sort of turned out that way. Yes, it does reinforce a stereotype. But I think the whole point is that you have to question those stereotypes.... That’s what makes it interesting.

(Rehman Rashid's reviews the book today in the NST.)

I must say that I find it a little strange that Marshall Cavendish (after having tumbled to the fact that coverage on local blogs were the main factor behind the initial boom in sales of Kam Raslan's book Confessions of an Old Boy) haven't made a conscious effort to harness blog-power when promoting other books!

Send out at least a press-kit at least (and a copy of the book would be nice!). Make sure that you have a website set up to promote the book! (Raman of Silverfish and Philip Tatham of Monsoon Books are a lot more clued up!!)

Anyway, elsewhere in ReadsMonthly there is some other much good stuff. Award-winning filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad writes about a favourite book: Rumi's Bridge to the Soul. This I think is beautifully said and delightfully disingenious:

This year, 2007, marks Rumi’s 800th birthday. The motley entourage that gathered on the day of his funeral indicates the sort of pluralism that is now frowned upon by certain quarters. Me, I’m too ignorant to take sides here. There are mighty arguments for and against pluralism, no doubt, and the proponents of each will present a seemingly airtight case. And yet, all it takes is one tiny pin prick, does it not, for us to be able to breathe again?

(I'm amazed and delighted to see that Yasmin has 5,000 books at home!)

Ted reviews of Clive Barker's Mister B. Gone, and Martin Spice is kinder to John Berendt's City of Falling Angels (now in paperback) than I felt like being.

Launched

Playing catch up here with news of recent book launches.

One I haven't blogged about at all (and feel guilty for slipping up on!) was Amir Muhammad's tribute to our late great filmmaker, Yasmin Ahmad's Films.

The books was launched on 18 November at Sunway College because Yasmin had given a talk there just a few weeks before she died. Here's a recording of Amir's speech and you can read a bit more here :


Am planning to read the books alongside watching the DVD's ...

Below is a picture of Animah Kosai's daughter, Sarah, cutting the ribbon to launch Farish Noor's book What Your Teacher Didn't Tell You (another publication from Matahari books) at Central Market Annexxe. I took the pic from Liza Manshoor's Facebook page as my own attempt, taken from way back, was blurry and horrid.



The book was so hot off the press there was still steam rising from it. It is also an extremly beautifully produced book, illustrated throughout as you can see from these sample pages, and the content - which grew out of Farish's lecture series at the Annexxe - is fascinating on Malaysian culture and history, looking at it from fresh angles. (Small wonder then that Amir M managed to shift a record number of copies (149 copies in 2 hours!). Couldn't wait to start reading this and gobbled down the discussion of Hang Tuah going back on the LRT.

Here are a couple of videos from the launch - first very talented support act Dizzy & The, and then Farish's speech.






I also went along to Nik Nazmi's launch of both the English and Malay versions of his new book at Itudio Studio in Kelana Mall. (Here's Nik's account of the event.)The venue was bursting at the seems and handed out free saunas to all who were trying to crush inside (pre-requisite of being a politicians - you don't suffer from claustrophobia!). Selangor Chief Minister Khalid gave a very good speech and I appreciated the fact that he recited a poem by the late Usman Awang about the Malays.

I finished the book when I got home - it's very sensible and well-written, and as with Farish's book - you just hope that people will read and become that much wiser.

Biggest congrats to all.

Telling Tales

Malaysians have a lot of stories to tell but not many people are telling them ...

Yasmin Ahmad in today's Star.

That's as true when you talk about writing fiction as it is when you talk about films. And it's sad because those stories deserve to be heard.

Congrats to Yasmin on winning the Grand Jury Prize at the 27th Cretell Women Director's Festival.

The Poppies Bloom Again

The lists for this year's Popular-The Star Readers Choice Awards have been announced :

Fiction :

1. Velvet & Cinder Blocks by Ioannis Gatsiounis

2. Map Of The Invisible World by Tash Aw

3. Scary Ever After by John Ho

4. Or Rauby Kuan Guat Choo

5. Kirkby: The Life And The Loves by Dr Shaari Isa

6. Never Been Better by O Thiam Chin

7. Inspector Singh Investigates: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint

8. Little Hut Of Leaping Fishes by Chiew-Siah Tei

9. Chinese Stories In Times Of Change by David T.K. Wong

10. Match Fixer by Neil Humphreys

Non-fiction :

1. 50 Days: Rantings by MM by Marina Mahathir

2. I, Too, Am Malay by Zaid Ibrahim

3. Taxi Tales on a Crooked Bridge by Charlene Rajendran

4. Yasmin Ahmad’s Films by Amir Muhammad

5. Malaysian Politicians Say The Darndest Things Vol.2 by Amir Muhammad

6. Tropical Affairs: Episodes From An Expat’s Life In Malaysia by Robert Raymer

7. Even Madder About Malaysians by Dean Johns

8. Do You Wear Suspenders? by Lydia Teh

9. Ceritalah 3: Malaysia, A Dream Deferred by Karim Raslan

10. Life, The Malaysian Style by Peggy Tan Pek Tao

 The award is a mighty good thing for local authors who fully deserve recognition, and introduces us to titles that we may not have heard of. (For me, that's several of the above, including John Ho's graphic novel.)

When the award was first initiated, I wasn't too sure that a book prize awarded according to public votes was the best way to decide the thing, but I do actually love the way the public are involved and the books are proudly displayed upfront in branches of Popular (because let's face it, local books have too often been the poor relations).

The voting forms are in the print copies of The Star (details here) and there are prizes to be won. Closing date is July 31st. The winners will be announced at BookFest@Malaysia 2010, which will be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre from Sept 4-12.

Postscript :

More on each of the fiction titles here.

NegaraAnda

Although I'm not a one to speak (being a last vestige of the unspeakable white colonizers of this fair land) and am thus a bit of an outsider when it comes to celebrating the upcoming Merdeka celebrations commemorating 50 years of independence, I do wholeheartedly agree that all Malaysians must be free to create their art honestly and without fear of legal or physical reprisal ... because otherwise what can be created that's of value?

Therefore this:

Joint Statement by:
Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI),
Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ),
Institut Kajian Dasar (IKD)

10 August 2007

Constitution guarantees Malaysians' freedom to celebrate Merdeka

Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI), Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) and Institut Kajian Dasar (IKD) stress that the Federal Constitution guarantees Malaysians' freedom to celebrate Merdeka in any peaceful way they prefer. In fact, freedom as enshrined in the Constitution is central to the celebration of Merdeka. If we are not free, what independence is there to celebrate?

We express our gravest concern on the latest assault on artistic and cultural expression launched by some McCarthy wannabes in politics and media. Wee Meng Chee, a Malaysian student in Taiwan has attracted demonization in media and threat of legal action by politicians for writing a rap-song "I love my country, Negarakuku" with the national anthem Negaraku as its chorus, and sharing it on youtube.

We hold that Malaysians are mature enough to discuss and judge for themselves the content and form of arts. Political intervention into the world of arts hurts both arts and democracy. Unfortunately, before Wee, musicians performing genres like heavy metal and rock, movie directors like Mohamad Amir (sic!), Yasmin Ahmad and Tsai Ming-Liang, actress (sic) in Vagina Monologue, have all suffered harassment, vilification, censorship or ban for "offending" or "challenging" national culture, sensitivity, history, etc. in one way or another.

Malaysia, whose initial celebration 50 years ago and formation 44 years ago we are now supposed to celebrate, has become the greatest measure of political correctness upon which every artistic and cultural expression needs to be examined. Albeit without explicitly evoking Senator McCarthy's language, some Malaysians have set out to eliminate the crime of "unMalaysianness", a fact other Malaysians must now stand up and speak up.

We stress these three positions of principle:

1. The Federal Constitution of Malaysia explicitly guarantees every citizen "the right to freedom of speech and expression" (Article 10.1.a). While it also allows the Parliament to impose restrictions "by law", parodying the national anthem is not one of the eight permissible grounds. (Article 10.1.b) We remind all quarters that the suggestion of evoking a charge against Wee under the National Anthem Act has therefore risked defying the Federal Constitution itself, a more serious offence than any parodying of the National Anthem.

2. No one should be prosecuted or persecuted for their artistic expressions so long they are not propagating violence. Those who disagree with certain artistic expressions should reply with artistic critiques or counter-expressions, rather than banning or them or persecuting the artists with the state's power. The same principle applies on academic, social, political, religious, cultural views, where an opponent to a particular view should strive to defeat and debunk the view s/he opposes in free debates, rather than silencing whomever s/he considers heretic with the state's power. If we cannot hold on to this principle, we are making a mockery of the Article 10 of our Federal Constitution.

3. Inter-ethnic and inter-religious harmony cannot be promoted by suppressing freedom of expression. Suppression will only drive misunderstanding and animosity into frustrations and anger which will sweep everyone when suppression is no longer possible. Bigotry and hostility can only be addressed and eliminated under open and rational debates, where everyone respect each other's freedom of expression insofar no violence is used or advocated. If some are intolerant to views they consider insulting or offensive, the society must promote tolerance and respect, rather than conceding to emotional responses of the intolerant lot. Otherwise, if everyone protests against everything s/he considers offensive, perhaps no issue can be discussed publicly. This will only kill democracy as the state can dictate on matters of importance without public scrutiny and participation.

Thomas Paine said it aptly, "Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one." The white-terror Senator McCarthy brought to the US in 1950s – investigating and persecuting left-leaning artists under the charges of un-American activities - testified the danger when the government's power goes beyond the necessary.

The monopoly of Merdeka outdoor celebration by the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry has signaled earlier a dangerous trend that our nation's Independence or its celebration is now seen as the Government's prerogative or private property. The zest to persecute Wee is but the second manifestation of such mentality. Malaysians, regardless whether they agree with Wee's views, must stand up to defend the right to celebrate Merdeka in any peaceful way they like, against the assaults of the Little McCarthys in politics and the media.

This statement is initiated by WAMI,

Jointly issued by:
Wong Chin Huat, Chairperson, WAMI
Gayathry V., Executive Director, CIJ
Khalid Jaafar, Executive Director, IKD

Saturday's Star Studded Cast of Readers

Yesterday's Readings@Seksan went off well - the audience a bit on the small side though, mainly I think because many people are still away because of the school hols, and because there are a lot of Hari Raya parties going on. Haslina Usman couldn't make it (but will another time) and I was lucky that I managed to co-opt in a couple of last minute readers.


First up was Karina Bahrin who recently had her first story, the quirky A Woman in Five Pieces, published in Urban Odysseys. She read part of a new story The Unofficial Wife and it sounded excellent. She is currently working on a short story collection, which I think is very good news for all of us.

Sufian Abas (below) turned up with his new protogee, a young poet called Mimi Morticia (above) whose first collection Tangerin & Nicotin (the title is virtually the same in English) he has just published. The official launch is actually today at Central Market Annexxe.

I was so happy to be able to rope her in for the event. She also read a very short short story from Sufian's new collection Matanya Teleskop, Hatinya Kapal Dalam Botol Kaca (badly translated as His/Her Eye's a Telescope, His/Her Heart's a Ship in a Glass Bottle.)


Uthaya Sankar (below) is an award-winning writers of short stories. (He says he prefers the form because he has a short attention span, which seems as good a reason to me as any!). He last read at Seksan's last August and today gave us part of his story Nayagi, Mistress of Destiny in Malay and his friend, Monash lecturer Symala Dhoraisungam Samuel (pictured below after Uthaya) read the English version which appears in an anthology called Sea of Rainbows, edited by Muhammad Haji Salleh and translated by Institut Terjemahan Negara Malaysia.


Shanon Shah (below) is an award-winning singer-songwriter, a passionate human-rights advocate (particularly when it comes to issues of gender, sexuality, HIV/AIDS and Islam). He has written for both print and online publications (including The New Straits Times, Kakiseni.com, and Muslim WakeUp.com). He is also a playwright - his debut play Aircon has now had two sell-out runs.

Two of his essays have recently been published in collections : The Khutbah Diaries appears in New Malaysian Essays 2, and today he read the opening of Muslim2Muslim, his very powerful piece that appears in the anthology Body2Body, which starts with the furor surrounding Animah Wudud's appearance at an international conference in KL.

I am twisting Shanon's arm to come back and sing for us another time!

Remember me telling you some time back about the rather "Graham-Greenish" (my desciption, not his) novel Ioannis Gatsiounis was working on? I read a draft of it some time back, and am very happy to learn that in a much trimmed back form it appears as a novella called The Guest House in his new collection of stories Velvet and Cinder Blocks: I'm really looking forward to re-encountering it. Ioannis read us his story The Rat Tooth - extremely good.

Amir Muhammad, bless him, when he knew that we needed a last minute reader ran off to a nearby cyber-cafe to print off an extract from his new book on Yasmin Ahmad's films to read for us. Although of course the main focus is on the films, I like the fact that the commentary in the side bars takes off in interesting directions.


Afterwards, Chet, Leon and I went over to D'lish for a bite and to toast our birthday boy, Eric Forbes (above).

Thanks to all who came and the brave souls who read. Thanks to Seksan for the beautiful space, and to Jess and Kenny who came early to help me set up.

Keep your eyes on this space because there will be Readings again soon - just I may be away end of Oct because of the Singapore Writers' Festival so dates may have to be moved round.

Things Fall Apart ... Perhaps

Was intrigued by this article which appeared a few days ago in Utusan (yes, another one, am actually fascinated by the literary articles in this newspaper which venture into territory the English language newspapers don't seem to touch.)

The writer (who strangely remains anonymous) is talking about a state called Anomie, a lack of regard for the generally accepted social or moral standards, or as Wikipedia kindly defines it for us:

...a reaction against or a retreat from the regulatory social controls of society

Actually the link to the Wiki page is relevant since the writer of the Utusan article seems to have drawn from it very heavily! (Play this game - google names from the article and then look for the English version on the Wiki page - how many can you find? How many sentences are direct translations?) If nothing else I call it lazy journalism.

That doesn't worry me so much as how flawed the argumentation is. The writer doesn't seem to grasp at all what anomie is or how it applies to either film or literature! (Of course, it's such an intellectual word to fling around!) So, Malay novels are getting written in "bahasa rojak" (fruit salad language - a whole mixture of lingos in other words.) And we're supposed to accept this as an example of anomie???

This mixing of languages, known in linguistics as code-switching is a natural feature of the way Malaysians speak, constantly shifting between languages and levels of discourse ... and why shouldn't this be a feature of the films and literature of the country? I am happy to see some of the young writers and filmmakers here exploiting this freedom.*

There's a paucity of other examples in the article from the Malaysian scene. Nothing much about literature, though this of course is the promise of the title. And the writer includes just one indirect reference to film ... Sharifa Amani's shaved head in Yasmin Ahmad's new film Muallaf. In what sense is this an example of anomie? Please do enlighten me! Social values going to the dogs because one actress decided to go "botak" for the sake of art?

Well, I'm not convinced.

All authors and filmmakers worth their salt have a duty to reflect and criticise society. Literature and films should be dangerous and uncomfortable. (Or what are they for?) And writers must above all be true to themselves.

Writers like Camus, Dostoevsky, Sartre, Lermontov wrote from a deep sense of dislocation in their time, still seem streets ahead of many of their contemporaries, and produced some of the world's greatest literature.

And Camus won a Nobel ... the prize you covet so much on behalf of Malay writers. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned here? This from his acceptance speech:

Each generation doubtless feels called upon to reform the world. Mine knows that it will not reform it, but its task is perhaps even greater. It consists in preventing the world from destroying itself. Heir to a corrupt history, in which are mingled fallen revolutions, technology gone mad, dead gods, and worn-out ideologies, where mediocre powers can destroy all yet no longer know how to convince, where intelligence has debased itself to become the servant of hatred and oppression, this generation starting from its own negations has had to re-establish, both within and without, a little of that which constitutes the dignity of life and death.

I actually suspect that there is plenty of anger and alienation for local writers and filmmakers to draw on if they are brave enough. (For it takes great courage to write boldly and honestly.)

With this I end my little rant, dear Editor of the lit page of Utusan. I am so glad that you have the space to raise important issues ... but I do hope for some more carefully fleshed out arguments!

Postscript:

I realised after writing this that the term "bahasa rojak" actually is used to address very real concerns that the Malay language is becoming debased, especially by the incorporation of English words which are then "Malayised" with suffixes and prefixes and local spelling. I must say that I very much dislike this too, not least because it also debases the English language! An upcoming conference at Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka addresses the issue.

However, while I am all for a purity of the language in publications and on the airwaves, writers of fiction, playwrights and filmmakers must choose the version of the language they feel best serves their purposes, particularly when they represent Malaysian voices . This could be "bahasa rojak" or a plurality of languages. I hope that this issue is brought up too.

No Reading While Walking

Yesterday, I caught the ad the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism is putting out on ASTRO to support the Bangsa Membaca, Bangsa Berjaya reading campagn. It showed lots of people ... reading in public places, and looking really happy about it: a sort of fantasy piece in the style of most information ads produced by government departments. (I'd have hired Yasmin Ahmad to tug at heartstrings and do for books what she did for Petronas, or the guys who put together pop videos for MTV to make reading irresitibly "cool" and trendy to the younger generation. But I guess there wasn't the budget.)

Anway, the ad shows ordinary Malaysians reading at home, in cafes, on the LRT ... and then on escalators in shopping complexes ... and then while walking down the street!

As a certifiable bookaholic, I have been known to try to wring out every second of reading time I can from the day, and read in all kinds of circumstances. (Hey, funny they didn't show anyone reading on the loo! Most of us apparently do enjoy a read there.)

But I learned that it isn't such a good idea to have your nose stuck in a book when you walk down the street, the first time I painfully wrapped myself round a lampost.

And Malaysia has these open monsoon drains everywhere which would swallow a committed reader in a nanosecond!

Perhaps there should be a health warning on the ad?

Anyway. Let's imagine that we have been given free reign and an unlimited budget to design a reading ad for ASTRO, what would it be like? Pitch your ideas in the comments, and if any of you work in the advertising industry, I'll let you be the judges. Prize? Just the warm fuzzies of the heart from knowing that you will have served your nation.

A Pretty Good Week.

Cast is off now, but I have to wear a sort of glove like thing that acts as a brace for my hand. The bone has healed, but the soft tissue not yet. My hand feels weak and tingly and my wrist still hurts like hell if I bend it at all. But there's an improvement from day to day, and I've started to write longhand with it again which is a terrific relief because I just couldn't think properly with my right hand out of action!

Tuesday got invited to a do for International Women's Day by the US Embassy. Only twenty or so Malaysian women invited - the others dynamic ladies doing stuff like rescuing battered wives, heading corporations, leading political parties, giving legal representation to ingenous people. Beside them,I felt a bit of a fraud. What do you do? people asked. Deep breath. Well, I'm actually an arty-farty-literatti these days I said, and I guess I got invited because I twisted the arm of the embassy last year to fly us out a writer (Oscar Hijuelos! *sigh*) for our literary festival. It was very nice to see Jamilah again - she was so helpful in organising the whole venture. In fact I think that the main thing I got out of organising the literary festival (or KLitfest as dear old Dina Zaman insists on calling it!) was the links I made with different organisatiosn and foreign missions.

The Deputy Chief of Mission who was hosting the event gave a speech about liberty and democracy (as you might expect) and the wonderful contribution made by women and how Malaysian women in particular are a force to be reckoned with. He told us that Condoleza Rice was going to celebrate the day by meeting women from Afganistan and Iraq.

There was a buffet spread but it was so hard to coordinate plate and teacup and plaster cast and keep up a flow of polite conversation with people. I really worked the room though, chatted to as many women as possible. Tried to interest them in promoting my creative writing course to their organisation. (Every opportunity is a marketing opportunity!)

Ohhhh ... and there was the most divine chocolate cake I've ever tasted - crisp crust, light mousse filling - wasn't successful in getting the recipe though. (State secret, apparently.)

Afterwards I walked to KLCC to take the LRT home, but once I was in Suria I decided to go to TGV to catch Sepet. I'm usually so lazy about catching films at the cinema and genrally don't end up seeing them until they finally make it to ASTRO. But Sepet was a must-see and I'm just sorry I didn't go for the premier with the My-Word-Up guys.

I found it a tender, gentle film, with some very funny moments. The casting was excellent, especially the young leads. At last a Malaysian film that addressed the issue of race and cross-cultural friendships, and made the point that each culture has so much to give to other cultures. (There was a little heavy handed didacticism at moments, but I find it easy enough to forgive that.) Loved the way that the dialogue moved between languages - English, Malay, Cantonese, Hokkien - reflecting the way that Malaysians really do negotiate communication.

The only thing I really didn't like about the film was the ending which I felt was a cop-out and the only part of the film that came across as drama-minggu-ini-ish.

Really enjoyed hearing the reactions to it from the audience (almost entirely Malay)around me - who were clearly very much enjoying themselves.

After the film several people came up to ask me what I thought about it because they found it odd to see a Mat Salleh (European) watching a Malay film. One girl asked if I wearing the cast on my arm in sympathy with the character of Keong!

I have a second debt of gratititude to Yasmin Ahmad - every time I take the LRT someone gives up their seat for me immediately, without my neeeding to put on my pathetic look. Still I do hope that this generosity of spirit is prompted by the cast on my arm rather than my looking like a senior-citizen.

Wednesday I was back in town again to chair the video conference with author Toby Litt at The British Council - a great chance to pick up some insider information about writing. This of course deserves an entry of its own.

Thursday had lunch with Oon Yeoh, vegetarian dim sun and noodles at Nature Cafe in PJ while we talked about possible happenings for MPH Writer's Circle. (How do I get drawn into these things?) We also had a chat about publishing, though Oon Yeoh is not into publishing fiction.

Thursday was the second session for my course. It went really well and the group has gelled. Everyone was more relaxed, sceptisicm replaced by a willingness to play and share stories. And it's fascinating to see where the imagination leads when you let it.

I realised when I got home that night that something strange had happened to me: for the first time in months happiness has come and bitten me on the bum.

Going Out and Finding Art

One of my New Year's resolutions which I didn't actually get round to writing down (due to present fuzzy brain syndrome perhaps) is to get out to see more local plays, films, and art exhibitions. I haven't been good at this. A lack of money over the past several months hasn't helped. But there's also an indolence about me, particularly as I so often have to wade through the Why-aren't-you-staying-at-home-cooking-for-me-caring-for-me scenario, which means that I have to pick my outings quite carefully, and friendship maintenance tends to take priority over going out to see something. (Should actually combine the two rather more, shouldn't I?)

We moan about how KL is a cultural backwater, when there's plenty of excellent work by local artists out there. It is vitally important to support the work of others.

This week I really have made the effort. Went to the opening of an exhibition Lenswork by Five at Darling Muse Gallery. I thoroughly enjoyed the photos - many of them hand-tinted to great effect. Particularly enjoyed the more "architectural" photos - love old buildings and as in Alex Moh's picture left, old wall with layer upon layer of peeling paint and the accidental beauty of plants growing in tin cans.

Love the way that photography affects the way that I see the world around me. Perhaps I am inspired to start taking black and white photographs again. (Okay another resolution taken right now - must get my SLR cleaned up - fungus-fuzzy lens syndrome has struck - along along with the indolence which prevents me from doing anything about it.)

Didn't however, enjoy the crush of people and hope I have a chance to go back and spend quiet time with the pictures I like best.

Yesterday made it to Kelab Seni Filem's showing of Ho Yuhang's indie movie Sanctuary.

I've know Yuhang for a while. It came as a surprise to learn that he is a filmaker. An award winning one at that. He always used to hang out in Raman's shop, using the computer. Really a nice guy - always makes me laugh.

I was teasing Yuhang last night - not only did he write and direct the film, he was also doing all the front of house selling the club memberships.

Sanctuary tells the story of three people:

Lai is a perpetual gambler who whiles away his days at a pool hall. See's days are monotonously spent at a photocopy center with its endless duplication. The Old Man has found peace and comfort taking care of a sick partner in his old age home. See would like to mend a rift created long ago between her and the Old Man, and Lai consistently refuses See's requests to put an end to his betting. Can these three people find a place where they can reconnect?

The film was ... and now I scramble for words ... unusual, for sure ... almost a non-film if you see a film only in terms of dramatic action. Sanctuary focuses on the small details of the everyday lives of these folks in unflinching detail. There's little dialogue, little outward show of emotion from the cast.(At least two of whom have never acted before.) But the film feels so totally honest and you have the impression that you are watching real lives, real tragedies unfold. I really liked it and would love to see it a second time.

There was a q&a session afterwards, chaired by Yasmin Ahmad (so that's her - my goodness, she's so beautiful!).

Hmmm ... now what are my chances of being able to make it for the showing of Amir Mohammad's films tonight?

What You Already Know

I intended to go to the SUHAKAM conference on Human Rights and Culture last Saturday, but all manner of things conspired against me (an overheating car, a dearth of taxis, a rainstorm pretending to be a typhoon). Writer/Playwright Kee Thuan Chye sent me the text of his speech though, and I thought you would like to see it, since it underlines many of the issues I've raised on this blog.

As he says, there's really nothing here you didn't know already. Just that sometimes it's necessary to say it in big enough forums.

Freedom of Expression and Culture in Malaysia: Telling You What You Already Know

By Kee Thuan Chye

Let’s start with a number of disclaimers. First, I’m here as an individual and not as a representative of any organisation.

Second, I’ll be talking about freedom of expression and culture, specifically relating to the performing arts in Malaysia.

Third, there’s nothing I would tell you that you don’t already know. You know, I’m sure, that there are major constraints to what can be articulated in the arts. You know that there is censorship.

You know about the actions taken by the authorities on recent films and plays. The most famous must be the one on The Last Communist, a film written and directed by Amir Muhammad. I haven’t seen the film, thanks to the Home Ministry. What I’m going to tell you about it is based on reports and it won’t touch on the film’s merit or its content.

According to reports, the film is a documentary that road-maps the small towns where Chin Peng, the leader of the long-defunct Malayan Communist Party, lived and fought against the British. It was originally passed by the Censor Board – without, it has to be said, any cuts. In fact, Special Branch officers were given a screening of it. That was something never done before but hey, why not, to be on the safe side? After all, Malaysian artists have always worried about what Special Branch might think – and the consequences of their thinking. So, before Special Branch comes after you, better forestall it. Get their approval first. Speaking as an artist, I’d say that’s pathetic. But what to do? That’s how it is. Special Branch can make or break you – and I’m not joking. I speak from personal experience.

In 1986, I was the actor in a one-man play called The Coffin Is Too Big for the Hole. Wow! That was 20 years ago. It was a Singapore play. It was a story about a man who had problems burying his grandfather. You see, all funeral plots had to be of standard size but his grandfather’s coffin was of the traditional Chinese type, which means huge. It was bigger than the standard-sized plots. So the grandson had to find a way to convince the authorities to make an exception. Not a play to upset anyone, wouldn’t you say? But you know of course that for plays to be staged in this country, a permit has to be obtained. In KL, City Hall grants it but City Hall must have the approval from Special Branch first. OK, fine, maybe the authorities think policemen are the most cultured people. How dare we dispute that?

The producer of The Coffin Is Too Big for the Hole did all the required stuff – submitted the application together with a copy of the playscript. Meanwhile, we carried on rehearsing the play. After more than two months, we were due to open but there was still no word about the permit. We panicked. Money, time and effort had been put into the project. Opening day came. Still no permit. We panicked even more. Our producer went to see City Hall that afternoon. Guess what? Sorry, no permit. And no reason given. What? We were going to open in a few hours and no permit? That night, people who came to see it had to be turned away.

So, you see, never screw around with Special Branch. No, that’s not right. We didn’t even screw around. We did all the necessary things. We followed the proper procedure. And yet.

So, the Censor Board probably did the right – albeit pathetic – thing by arranging a special screening of The Last Communist for Special Branch. And guess what? The cops thought it was okay. One of them said that people might even be bored watching it.

So, the Censor Board passed it. And then, two weeks before it was to open at the cinema, something happened. A Malay newspaper published a series of articles denouncing the film as a glorification of Communism. One of its editorials advised Amir to document the lives of Malay heroes instead. And the beauty of it is, according to Amir, none of the journalists had seen the film or asked to see it. Neither had the historians or politicians they interviewed for those articles. They hadn’t seen it but they had a lot to say about it. And these are intellectuals or at least thinking people. How do we make sense of that? Well, as they say, Malaysia Boleh. We can do anything. We can bend the rules, we can change them at any time. We can talk about things we don’t know anything about. And we’re all right, Mat!

After the attack by the Malay newspaper, the Home Ministry retracted the Censor Board’s approval. The Ministry said it did so because there was a public protest. But there was a public protest too when the approval was retracted. Groups of people spoke out against it. But, a la, they don’t count lah. Even the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage felt the film should not be banned. He said the film was not offensive. It was not about the struggle of Chin Peng. Chin Peng doesn’t even appear in the movie, not even a photograph of him. To prove his point, the Minister arranged for a special screening of the film and invited Members of Parliament to view it. Some came. Many felt afterwards there was nothing at all to all the hoo-ha that had been generated. But that didn’t change the Home Minister’s mind. The ban stayed.

Apparently, there’s more to this episode. In an interview with The Star, the Home Minister revealed that he exercised his powers to ban the movie partly because the timing of its release was not right. Why? Because it was a week apart from the celebration of Umno’s 60th anniversary.

Ah, Umno. No wonder. This also explains why the Minister made the statement at one point that the movie had to get approval from the Umno Supreme Council, not the Cabinet. This of course is not right. How can the Umno Supreme Council decide on a matter that concerns the Film Censorship Act? Even the Minister of Culture thought it was not appropriate. It should be the Government that decides, not the Umno Supreme Council. I’m sure you know that too.

Interestingly enough, Umno Youth had also been in on the act – one year earlier. The organisation protested against the making of the film even before it was shot. I don’t know about you, but I find that shocking. Why has it come to pass that politicians are interfering in the making of culture? I have dwelt at length on this issue of the banning of The Last Communist because I think it says a lot about the kind of society we have become. We are obviously insecure, obviously paranoid, and, far worse, obviously confused. And yet we are supposed to be embarking on an exciting journey towards developed nation status by the year 2020.

We have seen from this example the narrow agendas and petty fears of politicians and journalists. If you bring in the examples of the films Sepet and Gubra, both written and directed by Yasmin Ahmad, films that have been reviled for non-artistic reasons, you will meet another set of people who haven’t realized that the world is bigger than their coconut shell – I’m talking about racists and religious extremists.

The all-important question, however, is this – do they represent the majority of Malaysians? But then what do we mean when we say “Malaysians”? And that’s when it gets very complicated. Because I know and you know that there are Malaysians who are considered more Malaysian than other Malaysians. And when it comes to the crunch, the Malaysians who are considered more Malaysian tend to have more say. And even if only a handful of them were to express unhappiness over an issue, chances are they would be given attention disproportionate to their numbers. Right or not?

That explains the banning of The Last Communist. That also explains the closing down of the KakiKino Film Club that was screening foreign art films at Finas – until a member of the public complained that it was showing pornography. Actually, these foreign art films sometimes contain scenes of nudity but that’s as pornographic as the nude women in classic Renaissance paintings. These paintings, by the way, are proudly exhibited in famous museums and art galleries throughout the world but you probably know what our censors do with them when they appear in magazines. They take out their marker pens and blot out the parts that get them wild – either with moral indignation or delight. I’m not sure which. But they’re vandals all the same.

Let me now tell you about The Vagina Monologues and its fate in Malaysia. The Vagina Monologues is a critically acclaimed feminist play written by American playwright Eve Ensler that speaks out on issues important to women, such as rape and violence against them. In 2002, two theatre groups in KL collaborated on a performance of it that ran for 5 shows. They managed to secure a permit for it from City Hall. Encouraged by the success of the show, the producers decided to extend the run. But this time, when they applied for a permit, did they get it? No. Why? Because when a scholars’ association in Kedah read about the workshop in the newspapers, they filed a complaint against it. An objection raised by people all the way from Kedah, who had not even seen the play. Does that sound familiar? It seems to have become a Malaysian habit to denounce something one has not seen, hasn’t it?

The Black American writer James Baldwin once wrote: “Ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” Replace the word “justice” with “culture” and that observation is just as apt. We Malaysians are truly in the grip of the tyranny of a minority. This minority is dictating what we can see and do.

The movie Sepet presents the multicultural reality in our society by showing slices of Malaysian life and centering on the love between a Chinese boy and a Malay girl, but in Parliament no less, an MP no less, with the titles “Datuk” and “Dr” no less, said that the film did not reflect national identity. He criticized the movie for its “rojak language” and “inappropriate scenes”, one of which is of a young man in his underwear. Do we Malaysians not speak “rojak language” in our everyday life, throwing in Bazaar Malay, English, Tamil, Mandarin, Cantonese, Iban and so on? And don’t some of us sometimes go about in our underwear at home?

A more important question – what does that MP mean by “national identity”? Well, I think you know the answer to that question.

I suppose the MP would also concur with the Malay press for denouncing Sepet also because it has a scene in which the Malay girl meets the boy in a Chinese coffee shop which has a stall selling pork rice. Isn’t it enough that the Malay girl doesn’t eat the pork rice? Is there a law that says she can’t step into such a coffeeshop? And if she did, “national identity” would be in serious jeopardy? Relek la.

Really, what we already know from this is that there are people who do not want to embrace pluralism, multiculturalism, and the idea of Bangsa Malaysia. Well, that’s fine. If that’s how it is with them, they’re free to adhere to their own beliefs. It gets to be a problem, however, when they try to make their beliefs prevail over the activities of others who don’t share these beliefs. That is a blatant infringement of human rights. The repercussions of this have a great negative effect on the arts. Because the arts foster what is positive and life-affirming and progressive and democratic.

And it’s not only the arts that have been short-changed by this tyrannical minority. As you know, we now cannot discuss Article 11 of the Constitution. The Constitution, mind you. That piece of writing on which our whole nation is founded. And the gag order comes from no less than the Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia. Because, he says, such discussion can cause tension in our society. OK, as authority-fearing Malaysians, we won’t say that such an order goes against the spirit of Article 10 of that same Constitution, the Article 10 which guarantees freedom of expression. We won’t say that. But then, if we think hard about it, isn’t the Government sending out confusing signals? We are all Malaysians but the Government does not seem to treat us equally. We are a democracy and yet not so. We are mature people and yet we cannot participate in mature discussions. Is it because one sector is not mature enough? Well, the Government is then continuing to pamper a spoilt child, a child who is given to ranting and raving, throwing tantrums, threatening to erupt in violence. Shouldn’t the Government lead them to the mature path, teach them tolerance and rational understanding? We are in a globalised world. We are going towards Vision 2020. At the very least, the Government could tell them, “Look. If you don’t agree with this and that but most others do, just respect what the majority wants. Respect the rule of law, the principles of the Constitution. Don’t create a fuss, don’t act like samseng. If you resort to violence, we’ll have to take action against you as stipulated by the law.”

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the simple logic in that. But perhaps a rocket scientist would point out that if the Government actually did that, it might not continue to be the Government. And that’s the rub. Nobody wants to bell the cat. And yet this minority that behaves in such an unreasonable and unruly way needs to be pulled up before it gets totally unmanageable. It’s already getting away with posting death threats on the Internet against one of the organisers of the Article 11 forums. What happens if at some time in the near future it gets away with murder?

I have been in the arts for 30 years and I’m appalled that instead of improving, the situation has got worse for artists. The restrictions are still there. Sixteen years ago, I directed a play called Madame Mao’s Memories that was about Jiang Qing and not at all about Communism, but it was not given a permit. That same paranoia is still here today. In 2004, the play Election Day by Huzir Sulaiman was rejected by City Hall because it contained the names of real people like Dr Mahathir, Anwar Ibrahim, the lawyer Sivarasa, etc. Even the mention of Guardian Pharmacy was not allowed. Why that was so is anybody’s guess. Now, apart from these unfathomable restrictions, we artists also have to put up with the new insidious phenomenon of not offending the sensibilities of the tyrannical minority – because all it takes is a complaint from them to shut down our show.

But why pick on the arts? It’s not a danger to public safety – or national security. A play or a film is not going to cause the audience to run amok, start a revolution. The reach is small, minuscule, compared to the exposure politicians get on national television. That’s the real theatre now. The big stage is the political stage, where an event can be telecast live to millions of people and made larger than life. Reality is being theatricalised by the politicians in power every day. They are the big-time actors, their PR consultants are the mega stage managers. They know how to use the medium to theatrical effect. The brandishing of a keris and its threatening implications are beamed to millions of homes to ram a message through. If any censoring is required, it should be for something as racially divisive as that. Instead, it was allowed to be a dramatic act on a big scale. No theatre company could have that kind of luxury or be able to afford such coverage. And yet puny theatre companies can have their productions closed down because some member of the public makes a complaint. When huge numbers of the public complained about that keris drama, they were told to be silent.

The Prime Minister says we are a nation with First Class infrastructure and Third World mentality when referring to our poor maintenance of public facilities. Perhaps he should extend it to mean the mindset of Malaysians who disrupt activities, including cultural ones, because they feel that their beliefs are under threat.

It is the arts that are under threat. And there is precious little that artists can do to defend their rights. Not while the Government and the people give in to tyranny. Recently, we celebrated our Independence Day, symbol of our freedom. But are we really free? Are we free from fear, free from ignorance, free from prejudice?

I don’t think I need to tell you the answer. You already know it.