The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Posted: 29 Jul 2013 04:10 PM PDT
Last year, the local entertainment scene was rocked by the debate over "Tanda Putera", a historical biographical film about how the May 13 incident was handled by the former Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak and his team. It was claimed to be a controversial film with the intention to incite racial hatred, since the Chinese were portrayed as the troublemakers in the events leading up to the biggest racial riots in the history of our country. The debate became increasingly heated as the country was in the final preparation for the 13th General Election. Many demanded the movie to be banned, in order to protect racial sensitivity in Malaysia. As a result, the release of the movie had been delayed several times. Fast forward a year later, the nation experiences déjà vu. This time, it is about a new film called "The New Village", which depicts the relocation of Chinese villagers to curb communist activity back in 1949. It was alleged that the film was trying to portray the Malayan Communist Party as the real fighters for our nation's independence. The only difference is, unlike "Tanda Putera" in which its release has been delayed for almost a year, this film initially got the approval to be screened next month before being suspended by the Home Ministry pending further review by the Censorship Board. Hence, the underlying question is, why the double standard? How come one film was given the immediate approval by the authorities to be released when another had to wait for so long? Also, it is interesting to see how the same group of people who were so adamant that "Tanda Putera" should not be screened to the public under the banner of protecting the harmony of racial relationships have either remained silent or jumped into the defence of "The New Villlage" this time around. I dare say that those who demanded for both movies to be banned have not actually seen the full versions of them. We passed our judgement without even giving the chance for the contents to be evaluated in the first place. Our response is largely driven by emotion, especially now as we are in the state where there is deep polarisation within society. Even worse, we have politicians, who keep harping on racial rhetoric and politicise the whole issue for their own interest, resulting in further division within society. Despite the controversies surrounding "Tanda Putera" and "The New Village", I still appreciate the fact that both of them are more than just two other purely entertaining movies. Surely there are some lessons to be learnt from the two historical incidents, therefore it is important that both of them are allowed to be screened to the public. Truth be told, the younger generation do not appreciate history enough, and our education system is partly responsible for this. Take the History subject in school for example: we are only told to memorise a given set of facts and that should be enough for us to secure good marks in exams. The older generations are able to appreciate history because they lived through it. On the other hand, the younger ones do not understand history well enough for us to share the same appreciation for it. Learning history is much more than just memorising whole textbooks. We need to know more than just a simple fact such as the Chinese were the culprits during the May 13 riots or the Malayan Communist Party killed thousands of innocent people during the Emergency. Hence, learning history should be about comparing different sources of information to understand the real cause behind each event. It is more important for us to be able to find the relevant explanation behind every historical account, which will eventually help us draw some useful lessons for the future. If the learning process is being transformed into a thought-provoking one rather than one featuring only memorising, then we will have greater appreciation for history. This is where movies such as "Tanda Putera" and "The New Village" come in. While there are concerns that they may disrupt the harmony of our country, I think we are mature enough to evaluate the content on our own. After all, the era of government knows best is over. If these movies will eventually spark the debate over both historical incidents, so be it. History should be understood well enough by all Malaysians. Researching and learning about history on our own is more meaningful than being told by any party on what is the real history of our nation. If we allow the lack of appreciation for history amongst the youth to continue, we are in danger of losing our national identity in the years to come. So, what are you waiting for? Screen both movies to the public and let us, the people, be the judge. - July 30, 2013. |
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