‘THE RESIDENCY YEARS’, THE CINEMA AND TUNKU --- AND RELIGIOUS STRIFE AND TODAY'S MALAYSIA.
…COULD IT BE FOREIGN HANDS AT WORK ON THE CHURCHES, SO MALAYSIA BURNS?
by Mansor Puteh
PROLOGUE:
Malaysia and Malaysians are lucky that we do not react in the same manner as the others who could be made to over-react with the slightest provocation.
So what seemed to be a sure disaster, did not happened, much to the chagrin of those who were trying to create the destruction of the country and its social fabric, which was not torn, just shaken slightly.
Malaysia could never come in the way of the other countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Malaysians are made of sterner stuff, who do not bend or falter. Even Iran was able to withstand intense provocation better than we can so its perpetrators are not able to do much other than to chew their own teeth in despair.
As it had happened before, many times before in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan and other countries which have been torn to pieces not by those who were living in them as their citizens, but the strife and destructions that were wrought by foreign elements who masqueraded as the locals and started the first fire which later ignited the countries.
This is a very cheap and simple way to distract them from staring at their common enemies, so they fight with each other thus saving their real adversaries who do not admit having created new terrorist groups in those countries.
All that they had to do was to burn down a house of God or a prominent building or personality, and the factions from the other side will retaliate while the foreign agents leave the job to the locals and see what sort of destruction they could do on each other.
This seems to be the latest strategy used by the enemies of those countries to destabilize them further so that they are left behind in development and modernity.
Whereas these were some of the most peaceful countries in the world where one can roam far and wide in without worrying about one’s personal safety. And the American Peace Corp had sent their volunteers to live among the rural villagers who were embraced like they were their own kinds.
Now the Americans and other westerners can’t be sure of their personal safety sitting in entertainment centers or hotels in the cities of many countries.
In Malaysia, there were elements which had tried to create fiction between the Melayu here and those in Indonesia. But they had failed.
But because of that those whom the Indonesians had earlier targeted, the tourists and visitors from the west and businesses owned by Singapura were spared.
* * * * * * *
It is eerie, the way I see it; that the documentary on Tunku Abdul Rahman called ‘Bertahun di Residensi’ or ‘The Residency Years’ which I wanted to produce by looking at him from a new perspective and angle with non-verbalized questions posed in it, has become more significant today than when it was first shot on 20 June, 2009.
This documentary called 'Bertahun di Residensi' or 'The Residency Years' had a naiveté about it. On the very first day itself, I managed to unveil the safe in the official residence of the first prime minister of Malaysia called The Residency that had not been opened for more than 30 years.
They opened the safe and found 44 items owned by Tunku which are estimated to worth RM400,000 and they are described as 'national treasures'.
Fortunately, there were no personal papers belonging to Tunku which incriminated political personalities, so the authorities in Putrajaya were first to come to the function so they could seize them before they were shown to the public, if such papers were in the safe.
The discovery of the safe was all due to the production of the documentary that had brought me back there for without which the safe would still be in its original position without anyone wondering what it might contain.
I was quite familiar with the residence having visited there when I was young, when my sister, Rokiah stayed there with her husband, the nephew and first adopted son of Tunku and Mak Engku, Tun Sharifah Rodziah Barakhbah. So I got to visit the residence and later stayed briefly at the Residency Lodge which was just outside of the main entrance of the residence.
And without using words, I had described how Tunku might have felt if he was allowed to 'return' to the country which he had managed to free from the yoke of colonial British rule.
I did it by showing a shot from a helicopter courtesy of the Polis diraja Malaysia's (PDRM) helicopter unit where I showed the iconic buildings all closely related to Tunku - Stadium Merdeka, Dataran Merdeka, Parliament buildings and the Residency and the city which is now sprawling with many tall buildings.
One commentator remarked in a preview screening of the film how he wondered the capital city of Kuala Lumpur which I am showing in the opening scene could not have happened in the way it did if it was not for Tunku.
From the height, we could not show anyone below in the streets. And the unspoken question I wanted Tunku to ask, from the presentation of the imagery or symbolism is if everybody in the city and the whole country are happy, and if they are living in perfect harmony and in the true spirit of Muhibbah.
Or, if that is not so and if there are still squabbling and discontentment and enmity amongst fellow Malaysians.
These are the questions I want to pose by showing this shot. They are there, but they are not asked verbally. Those who are not familiar with film techniques, can never decipher this particular scene so that it looks like what it is a shot of the city from a helicopter.
Even the painful strains of the ‘rebab’ do not ring a bell in them. But they are supposed to carry loads of meanings, in the context of what is happening in the country today, with the religious strife and church-burning and what else.
Therefore, what I later want to show with the showing of the Residency from the sky and the arrival of Syed Abdullah in his new Proton Saga at the Residency is how the Tunku wants us to return to this place and the time when there was peace and understanding; when Merdeka was a distance away.
It was also during a time when the whole country called then British Malaya was truly united with no religious strife or church-burning anywhere.
Syed Abdullah opens the coffee table book with more photos of Tunku and his family that he had taken when they were living there, and came out Tunku, who brings us all back to his time, when Malaysia or Malaya was still at its infancy.
It was a time of less distress, when people were living in harmony which was not perfect, but they were contented and happy, before they were segmented and infused with alien values that inculcated political decadence, in the pursuit of personal gain and the expense of the interest of the majority where losers insist that they are still relevant so much so that the country's real talents in politics and administration cannot surface to replace them and their old ways of conducting official government business.
This is what my documentary on Tunku called The Residency Years wants to say. And it is happening at such a time when interesting social, cultural, political and worse, religious issues have been created without anyone knowing when they will end and in what way, if they would create greater strife.
EPILOGUE:
Malaysia has come to a standstill, as those who are responsible for what had happened wonder what did they do to get Malaysia to be at such a spot.
It has also left many agog of not knowing if what Tunku had left us had been in vain; if his mission to form an independent country called Malaysia was a futile effort at conciliation.
That Malaysians to not have an emotional outlet, a vent to release their pent-up emotions and personal feelings is a fact which many have long denied, is a fact.
It is basically a psychological as well as a sociological device great cultures had created or introduced to ensure that the citizenry can enjoy life to the fullest while accepting diversity in all forms and styles, while dampening that that are damaging.
As such America has managed to become what it is today, a country which is at peace with itself, purely on the creation of Hollywood and the arts scene that they had placed at strategic places that have managed to act as the relief centers to release those emotions that are created, even though they may have racial overtones, but alas they are for academic discourses and not fodder for politicians to ignite fire with.
In Pakistan, it was reported that because of the ban imposed on the performance of a local art-form, the villagers became incense and agitated easily so much so that the only distraction that they could find was to be engaged in militancy, with much prodding from the local warlords.
And in Malaysia, because of the poorly developed cinema and the arts, many Malaysians are now finding it interesting and entertaining to attend the many political forums or ‘ceramah’ that are held on most nights.
If America does not have Hollywood and the vibrant arts scene, surely, the same thing would happen to the country with many of them getting their daily fix of distraction attending political forums and rallies that will surely be held in every other county in the country, so much so the whole country would be inflamed without much of a prodding from anyone.
by Mansor Puteh
PROLOGUE:
Malaysia and Malaysians are lucky that we do not react in the same manner as the others who could be made to over-react with the slightest provocation.
So what seemed to be a sure disaster, did not happened, much to the chagrin of those who were trying to create the destruction of the country and its social fabric, which was not torn, just shaken slightly.
Malaysia could never come in the way of the other countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Malaysians are made of sterner stuff, who do not bend or falter. Even Iran was able to withstand intense provocation better than we can so its perpetrators are not able to do much other than to chew their own teeth in despair.
As it had happened before, many times before in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan and other countries which have been torn to pieces not by those who were living in them as their citizens, but the strife and destructions that were wrought by foreign elements who masqueraded as the locals and started the first fire which later ignited the countries.
This is a very cheap and simple way to distract them from staring at their common enemies, so they fight with each other thus saving their real adversaries who do not admit having created new terrorist groups in those countries.
All that they had to do was to burn down a house of God or a prominent building or personality, and the factions from the other side will retaliate while the foreign agents leave the job to the locals and see what sort of destruction they could do on each other.
This seems to be the latest strategy used by the enemies of those countries to destabilize them further so that they are left behind in development and modernity.
Whereas these were some of the most peaceful countries in the world where one can roam far and wide in without worrying about one’s personal safety. And the American Peace Corp had sent their volunteers to live among the rural villagers who were embraced like they were their own kinds.
Now the Americans and other westerners can’t be sure of their personal safety sitting in entertainment centers or hotels in the cities of many countries.
In Malaysia, there were elements which had tried to create fiction between the Melayu here and those in Indonesia. But they had failed.
But because of that those whom the Indonesians had earlier targeted, the tourists and visitors from the west and businesses owned by Singapura were spared.
* * * * * * *
It is eerie, the way I see it; that the documentary on Tunku Abdul Rahman called ‘Bertahun di Residensi’ or ‘The Residency Years’ which I wanted to produce by looking at him from a new perspective and angle with non-verbalized questions posed in it, has become more significant today than when it was first shot on 20 June, 2009.
This documentary called 'Bertahun di Residensi' or 'The Residency Years' had a naiveté about it. On the very first day itself, I managed to unveil the safe in the official residence of the first prime minister of Malaysia called The Residency that had not been opened for more than 30 years.
They opened the safe and found 44 items owned by Tunku which are estimated to worth RM400,000 and they are described as 'national treasures'.
Fortunately, there were no personal papers belonging to Tunku which incriminated political personalities, so the authorities in Putrajaya were first to come to the function so they could seize them before they were shown to the public, if such papers were in the safe.
The discovery of the safe was all due to the production of the documentary that had brought me back there for without which the safe would still be in its original position without anyone wondering what it might contain.
I was quite familiar with the residence having visited there when I was young, when my sister, Rokiah stayed there with her husband, the nephew and first adopted son of Tunku and Mak Engku, Tun Sharifah Rodziah Barakhbah. So I got to visit the residence and later stayed briefly at the Residency Lodge which was just outside of the main entrance of the residence.
And without using words, I had described how Tunku might have felt if he was allowed to 'return' to the country which he had managed to free from the yoke of colonial British rule.
I did it by showing a shot from a helicopter courtesy of the Polis diraja Malaysia's (PDRM) helicopter unit where I showed the iconic buildings all closely related to Tunku - Stadium Merdeka, Dataran Merdeka, Parliament buildings and the Residency and the city which is now sprawling with many tall buildings.
One commentator remarked in a preview screening of the film how he wondered the capital city of Kuala Lumpur which I am showing in the opening scene could not have happened in the way it did if it was not for Tunku.
From the height, we could not show anyone below in the streets. And the unspoken question I wanted Tunku to ask, from the presentation of the imagery or symbolism is if everybody in the city and the whole country are happy, and if they are living in perfect harmony and in the true spirit of Muhibbah.
Or, if that is not so and if there are still squabbling and discontentment and enmity amongst fellow Malaysians.
These are the questions I want to pose by showing this shot. They are there, but they are not asked verbally. Those who are not familiar with film techniques, can never decipher this particular scene so that it looks like what it is a shot of the city from a helicopter.
Even the painful strains of the ‘rebab’ do not ring a bell in them. But they are supposed to carry loads of meanings, in the context of what is happening in the country today, with the religious strife and church-burning and what else.
Therefore, what I later want to show with the showing of the Residency from the sky and the arrival of Syed Abdullah in his new Proton Saga at the Residency is how the Tunku wants us to return to this place and the time when there was peace and understanding; when Merdeka was a distance away.
It was also during a time when the whole country called then British Malaya was truly united with no religious strife or church-burning anywhere.
Syed Abdullah opens the coffee table book with more photos of Tunku and his family that he had taken when they were living there, and came out Tunku, who brings us all back to his time, when Malaysia or Malaya was still at its infancy.
It was a time of less distress, when people were living in harmony which was not perfect, but they were contented and happy, before they were segmented and infused with alien values that inculcated political decadence, in the pursuit of personal gain and the expense of the interest of the majority where losers insist that they are still relevant so much so that the country's real talents in politics and administration cannot surface to replace them and their old ways of conducting official government business.
This is what my documentary on Tunku called The Residency Years wants to say. And it is happening at such a time when interesting social, cultural, political and worse, religious issues have been created without anyone knowing when they will end and in what way, if they would create greater strife.
EPILOGUE:
Malaysia has come to a standstill, as those who are responsible for what had happened wonder what did they do to get Malaysia to be at such a spot.
It has also left many agog of not knowing if what Tunku had left us had been in vain; if his mission to form an independent country called Malaysia was a futile effort at conciliation.
That Malaysians to not have an emotional outlet, a vent to release their pent-up emotions and personal feelings is a fact which many have long denied, is a fact.
It is basically a psychological as well as a sociological device great cultures had created or introduced to ensure that the citizenry can enjoy life to the fullest while accepting diversity in all forms and styles, while dampening that that are damaging.
As such America has managed to become what it is today, a country which is at peace with itself, purely on the creation of Hollywood and the arts scene that they had placed at strategic places that have managed to act as the relief centers to release those emotions that are created, even though they may have racial overtones, but alas they are for academic discourses and not fodder for politicians to ignite fire with.
In Pakistan, it was reported that because of the ban imposed on the performance of a local art-form, the villagers became incense and agitated easily so much so that the only distraction that they could find was to be engaged in militancy, with much prodding from the local warlords.
And in Malaysia, because of the poorly developed cinema and the arts, many Malaysians are now finding it interesting and entertaining to attend the many political forums or ‘ceramah’ that are held on most nights.
If America does not have Hollywood and the vibrant arts scene, surely, the same thing would happen to the country with many of them getting their daily fix of distraction attending political forums and rallies that will surely be held in every other county in the country, so much so the whole country would be inflamed without much of a prodding from anyone.
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