Why is Lelaki Komunis Terakhir banned in Malaysia?
In March 2006 we submitted my documentary Lelaki Komunis Terakhir (known in English as The Last Communist) to the Malaysian Film Censorship Board (LPF). “We” in this case refers to myself as well as Red Films, the local production company which is the co-producer.
Lelaki Komunis Terakhir is a semi-musical road movie documentary tracing the towns in which Chin Peng (exiled leader of the banned Communist Party of Malaya) lived in from birth to national independence in 1957. It does not include any interviews with, or even photographs of, Chin Peng himself. The documentary features interviews with people who live in those same present-day towns such as Sitiawan, Bidor, Taiping, Ipoh and Betong, Thailand. Along the way there are also specially-composed songs and capsule biographical data explaining what Chin Peng did in those towns. Chin Peng himself is mentioned only once during the interviews.
What were my expectations upon submission to LPF? I can honestly say, “I don’t know.” Censorship in this country is an unpredictable thing. I am not a censor so I wouldn’t know what a censor would look out for or find objectionable. I just hoped for the best.
Lelaki Komunis Terakhir had been shot over the course of 4 weeks in late 2005. The total budget including promotion is RM80,000. The shoot had the necessary permit from the National Film Development Corporation (Finas). This was not a ‘guerrilla’ or ‘underground’ shoot and Red Films is a licensed production company responsible for, among others, last year’s teen futsal romance Gol & Gincu.
The funding came partly from the Jan Vrijman Fund of Amsterdam which is a documentary fund for developing countries and not (as a letter in last year’s Berita Harian claimed) a body responsible for spreading communism worldwide.
When the news came out that the documentary was going to be made, UMNO Youth issued a single protest letter. As I had not even started shooting, they were probably making an assumption about its content. I did not respond to this protest letter as I believed the proper thing to do is to make the documentary first.
Lelaki Komunis Terakhir made its world premiere at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival in February. The audience included the Malaysian ambassador to Germany who said he enjoyed it. It has since been invited to 14 other film festivals around the world, including London, Seattle, Vancouver and Hong Kong. All these invites were received up to and including April this year.
In April we received the good news: Lelaki Komunis Terakhir was passed uncut by the censors. Yes, not a single cut. And the rating given was U, meaning suitable for all ages. After a meeting that we had with LPF chairman, he clarified that this approval meant that we could screen it in the three digital cinemas we had asked for: namely, the Golden Screen Cinemas of MidValley, One Utama Kuala Lumpur and Gurney Plaza, Penang. This approval did not include VCD/DVD sales and TV broadcast; we were made to understand that these extra approvals would depend on the public reaction after watching it in the cinemas.
I am not naïve and do know that the subject of communism is taboo in Malaysia. I maintain that Lelaki Komunis Terakhir was made with a certain sense of responsibility and sensitivity to history. It is not a propaganda film but a rather odd documentary. “Odd” is the word I heard when I screened it overseas, but most meant it in a nice way.
Being “odd” as it is, we never wanted a big nationwide release. Lelaki Komunis Terakhir is a documentary shot and finished on digital video. It is not a feature film with stars. It is therefore not “commercial.” There are only 3 cinemas in Malaysia equipped to show digital-video movies and these happen to be the 3 cinemas that we chose. (Berita Harian brought up a bizarre point that Kuala Lumpur and Penang have a majority Chinese population but I fail to see why this matters). Each cinema can fit not even 100 people so it is a very limited screening and hardly Lord of the Rings.
After discussion with Golden Screen Cinemas, we set 18 May for the release date on these 3 screens.
Oh yes: Due to its subject-matter, we were asked to hold a special screening for officers of the Special Branch unit of the Royal Malaysian Police Force. I never knew of any other film that has received such a request but we obliged. We screened it for an audience of 20 Special Branch officers. After the screening we had a nice discussion. They did not indicate any objection to the documentary; one said “It should be OK” but another said, “It’s very academic and most people will be bored.” A few of them took my name-card but said they had none of their own. We did not hear from them again.
All seemed to be going well until Berita Harian ran a series of articles criticizing the LPF’s decision to approve the documentary. Berita Harian was the only newspaper in the country to do this. These articles appeared on May 3, 4 and 5 of the newspaper. These included interviews with politicians, filmmakers and academics who seemed appalled that such a documentary was approved for screening.
On the evening of May 5, Red Films received instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs to not screen Lelaki Komunis Terakhir anywhere in Malaysia. The reason cited was that “the public had protested.”
We of course cancelled the Golden Screen Cinemas release date and also an Ipoh charity screening on 19 May (for which separate approval was in the process of being obtained from the Ipoh police department).
The decision to ban the documentary was based on the series of articles in Berita Harian. I need to emphasise this point: No one in Berita Harian has seen the documentary. And no one interviewed by Berita Harian had seen it either.
According to friends of mine who were called up by Berita Harian (and who refused to make any comments), the question that was asked of them was “Do you approve of this Amir guy making a movie glorifying communism and Chin Peng?” This sort of leading question obviously got the answers that the paper was looking for. The people who were quoted were making comments on a documentary they had not even seen. Some of them didn’t even know of its existence until Berita Harian told them. In other words, they literally didn’t know what they were talking about.
I was called up by that newspaper on 3 May to give my comments. The reporter said, “There are all these people angry at you. How do you respond?” I said, “They haven’t even seen the documentary. How am I supposed to respond?” He seemed disappointed that he couldn’t goad me into saying anything else.
Why did Berita Harian object to the documentary even without seeing it? Berita Harian is a conservative newspaper whose cultural politics verges on the ethnocentric and semi-fascist. Proof of this was its intense daily campaign (which ran for weeks) to discredit Yasmin Ahmad’s Sepet after it won Best Film at the Malaysian Film Festival. Berita Harian was the only newspaper to take such exception to this interracial romance as being “insulting to Malay culture”. Its Assistant Entertainment Editor Akmal Abdullah even appeared on the RTM talk-show Fenomena Seni to further denounce Sepet and its follow-up Gubra along the same lines. He seemed to take particular exception to the plot of a Malay girl falling in love with an “infidel” (Chinese) youth.
Akmal in his weekly Thursday column Epilog (ironic that such a Malaycentric writer would choose such a foreign word) also ran a weekly campaign against any local film not made in the Malay language. He sees this as part of some kind of conspiracy to “destroy Malay culture”. He singles out internationally acclaimed, small movies like The Beautiful Washing Machine, Sanctuary and Chemman Chaalai (made by people from what he terms “foreign” and “immigrant races”) for attack but has offered no proof that he has even seen any of these fine works.
In fact, central to Berita Harian’s objection to Lelaki Komunis Terakhir seems to be that Chin Peng is an ethnic Chinese. I was ‘advised’ in these articles to concentrate on Malay characters from now on; even if they are radical or communist it’s OK!
More evidence can be found on Berita Harian’s reactionary, racist cultural views. This is the same newspaper that a few years ago ran a long, positive review of that famous anti-Jewish fraud, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion! The fact that it could run such a review with no apology or retraction already places it beyond the ethical standards of civilised international journalism.
I repeat: The censorship board, whose job it is to monitor these things, had obviously found nothing objectionable in the film; this is why it was passed uncut.
The censors of all the countries that have screened the documentary so far in festivals (including Germany, Hong Kong, Argentina) passed it uncut too.
In none of the international reviews published did the critics say anything about how this was a ‘dangerous’ movie that will ‘harm the public.’ The advantage these reviews have over Berita Harian: They were written by people who had actually viewed the documentary. Not one of them came to the conclusion that I was “glorifying” any political leader including Chin Peng. All those reviews are available here:
Variety
Sign and Sight
Film Kritiken
Die Tageszeitung
Sight & Sound
OK you might say those are ‘liberal’ and ‘tolerant’ countries whose standards don’t apply to us. But how about this: Singapore passed it uncut too! Yes, Singapore! The very country that barely has any opposition politicians or chewing gum.
It screened at the Singapore International Film Festival in late April. I was there at the full-house screening. I can assure you that no one ran amok after the screening or threatened national security. People just politely went back to the MRT and their lives.
It is, to put it mildly, horribly unfair for a movie to be banned based on comments by people who had not seen it. I am dismayed that a single newspaper (and a culturally chauvinistic one at that) could cause the Home Affairs Ministry to reverse the decision by the censors.
* Perhaps the objections are to the title? Well, Malaysia did once ban Daredevil and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers because of the words ‘devil’ and ‘morphin’ (which sounds like morphine) respectively. But that was in the past. The current Censorship Board seems determined to not make Malaysia an international laughingstock for ill-advised bans such as those. Do we want to return to those times?
* Perhaps the objection is to the very subject of communism? If communism is so untouchable, why is Malaysia now such pals with China and Cuba?
* Perhaps the objection is to “glorifying” communism and Chin Peng? I repeat: This charge has only been made by people who have not seen the documentary. Read the reviews by people who have seen it.
* Perhaps the objection is to painful depictions of the past? Lelaki Komunis Terakhir has no archive footage or historical recreations of war at all. The most violent image you will see is a strip of petai beans being removed from its tree in Bidor. Government-funded films like Leftenan Adnan, Paloh and Embun all feature violence but no one protested about those.
* Perhaps the objection is to the subject of Chin Peng? Well, Chin Peng’s book is not banned (even though he is), so why a different standard for the documentary, which was furthermore not made in cooperation with him?
* Perhaps the objection is to the fact that some communists were interviewed? Well, the 15-minute sequence in Betong (out of the 90 minutes of the whole documentary) does have retired men and women from the Communist Party of Malaya. But they are living lawfully as farmers and traders in land provided after the Peace Agreement in 1989 between Malaysia, the CPM and Thailand. Although they do describe some of their previous experiences in the jungle, they are in no way advocating a return to war. What does a Peace Agreement mean if the other side cannot even be seen and heard at all?
* Perhaps the objection is to the fact that Chin Peng is ethnic Chinese? Well, you got me there!
We will be meeting with the relevant Ministry to appeal the ban. I made the documentary for Malaysians first of all, since it is about our own past and present. Screening in foreign festivals is worthwhile but it has never been my primary intention. A Malaysian audience (the ones who can stay awake for a 90-minute documentary with no love stories, fight scenes or special effects) will understand it so much more.
This is what I humbly ask: If you feel the public has the right to see Lelaki Komunis Terakhir, please write to the press. The authorities do take note of reports in the media. (That’s why the ban happened in the first place!)
Even if you feel this doesn’t affect you, and you wouldn’t even want to watch the documentary anyway: What’s to stop the same newspaper from starting a campaign against some other local movie, book or song for being “not Malay enough”? That might certainly affect you in the future.
I made a multilingual documentary that explores the diversity and plurality of contemporary Malaysia to contrast against the more turbulent times of Chin Peng’s era. It is about both the geographic and historical ‘landscape’ that make up a country. It is this very diversity that is under threat if we allow chauvinists to determine what the rest of us can or cannot see.
Lelaki Komunis Terakhir is a semi-musical road movie documentary tracing the towns in which Chin Peng (exiled leader of the banned Communist Party of Malaya) lived in from birth to national independence in 1957. It does not include any interviews with, or even photographs of, Chin Peng himself. The documentary features interviews with people who live in those same present-day towns such as Sitiawan, Bidor, Taiping, Ipoh and Betong, Thailand. Along the way there are also specially-composed songs and capsule biographical data explaining what Chin Peng did in those towns. Chin Peng himself is mentioned only once during the interviews.
What were my expectations upon submission to LPF? I can honestly say, “I don’t know.” Censorship in this country is an unpredictable thing. I am not a censor so I wouldn’t know what a censor would look out for or find objectionable. I just hoped for the best.
Lelaki Komunis Terakhir had been shot over the course of 4 weeks in late 2005. The total budget including promotion is RM80,000. The shoot had the necessary permit from the National Film Development Corporation (Finas). This was not a ‘guerrilla’ or ‘underground’ shoot and Red Films is a licensed production company responsible for, among others, last year’s teen futsal romance Gol & Gincu.
The funding came partly from the Jan Vrijman Fund of Amsterdam which is a documentary fund for developing countries and not (as a letter in last year’s Berita Harian claimed) a body responsible for spreading communism worldwide.
When the news came out that the documentary was going to be made, UMNO Youth issued a single protest letter. As I had not even started shooting, they were probably making an assumption about its content. I did not respond to this protest letter as I believed the proper thing to do is to make the documentary first.
Lelaki Komunis Terakhir made its world premiere at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival in February. The audience included the Malaysian ambassador to Germany who said he enjoyed it. It has since been invited to 14 other film festivals around the world, including London, Seattle, Vancouver and Hong Kong. All these invites were received up to and including April this year.
In April we received the good news: Lelaki Komunis Terakhir was passed uncut by the censors. Yes, not a single cut. And the rating given was U, meaning suitable for all ages. After a meeting that we had with LPF chairman, he clarified that this approval meant that we could screen it in the three digital cinemas we had asked for: namely, the Golden Screen Cinemas of MidValley, One Utama Kuala Lumpur and Gurney Plaza, Penang. This approval did not include VCD/DVD sales and TV broadcast; we were made to understand that these extra approvals would depend on the public reaction after watching it in the cinemas.
I am not naïve and do know that the subject of communism is taboo in Malaysia. I maintain that Lelaki Komunis Terakhir was made with a certain sense of responsibility and sensitivity to history. It is not a propaganda film but a rather odd documentary. “Odd” is the word I heard when I screened it overseas, but most meant it in a nice way.
Being “odd” as it is, we never wanted a big nationwide release. Lelaki Komunis Terakhir is a documentary shot and finished on digital video. It is not a feature film with stars. It is therefore not “commercial.” There are only 3 cinemas in Malaysia equipped to show digital-video movies and these happen to be the 3 cinemas that we chose. (Berita Harian brought up a bizarre point that Kuala Lumpur and Penang have a majority Chinese population but I fail to see why this matters). Each cinema can fit not even 100 people so it is a very limited screening and hardly Lord of the Rings.
After discussion with Golden Screen Cinemas, we set 18 May for the release date on these 3 screens.
Oh yes: Due to its subject-matter, we were asked to hold a special screening for officers of the Special Branch unit of the Royal Malaysian Police Force. I never knew of any other film that has received such a request but we obliged. We screened it for an audience of 20 Special Branch officers. After the screening we had a nice discussion. They did not indicate any objection to the documentary; one said “It should be OK” but another said, “It’s very academic and most people will be bored.” A few of them took my name-card but said they had none of their own. We did not hear from them again.
All seemed to be going well until Berita Harian ran a series of articles criticizing the LPF’s decision to approve the documentary. Berita Harian was the only newspaper in the country to do this. These articles appeared on May 3, 4 and 5 of the newspaper. These included interviews with politicians, filmmakers and academics who seemed appalled that such a documentary was approved for screening.
On the evening of May 5, Red Films received instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs to not screen Lelaki Komunis Terakhir anywhere in Malaysia. The reason cited was that “the public had protested.”
We of course cancelled the Golden Screen Cinemas release date and also an Ipoh charity screening on 19 May (for which separate approval was in the process of being obtained from the Ipoh police department).
The decision to ban the documentary was based on the series of articles in Berita Harian. I need to emphasise this point: No one in Berita Harian has seen the documentary. And no one interviewed by Berita Harian had seen it either.
According to friends of mine who were called up by Berita Harian (and who refused to make any comments), the question that was asked of them was “Do you approve of this Amir guy making a movie glorifying communism and Chin Peng?” This sort of leading question obviously got the answers that the paper was looking for. The people who were quoted were making comments on a documentary they had not even seen. Some of them didn’t even know of its existence until Berita Harian told them. In other words, they literally didn’t know what they were talking about.
I was called up by that newspaper on 3 May to give my comments. The reporter said, “There are all these people angry at you. How do you respond?” I said, “They haven’t even seen the documentary. How am I supposed to respond?” He seemed disappointed that he couldn’t goad me into saying anything else.
Why did Berita Harian object to the documentary even without seeing it? Berita Harian is a conservative newspaper whose cultural politics verges on the ethnocentric and semi-fascist. Proof of this was its intense daily campaign (which ran for weeks) to discredit Yasmin Ahmad’s Sepet after it won Best Film at the Malaysian Film Festival. Berita Harian was the only newspaper to take such exception to this interracial romance as being “insulting to Malay culture”. Its Assistant Entertainment Editor Akmal Abdullah even appeared on the RTM talk-show Fenomena Seni to further denounce Sepet and its follow-up Gubra along the same lines. He seemed to take particular exception to the plot of a Malay girl falling in love with an “infidel” (Chinese) youth.
Akmal in his weekly Thursday column Epilog (ironic that such a Malaycentric writer would choose such a foreign word) also ran a weekly campaign against any local film not made in the Malay language. He sees this as part of some kind of conspiracy to “destroy Malay culture”. He singles out internationally acclaimed, small movies like The Beautiful Washing Machine, Sanctuary and Chemman Chaalai (made by people from what he terms “foreign” and “immigrant races”) for attack but has offered no proof that he has even seen any of these fine works.
In fact, central to Berita Harian’s objection to Lelaki Komunis Terakhir seems to be that Chin Peng is an ethnic Chinese. I was ‘advised’ in these articles to concentrate on Malay characters from now on; even if they are radical or communist it’s OK!
More evidence can be found on Berita Harian’s reactionary, racist cultural views. This is the same newspaper that a few years ago ran a long, positive review of that famous anti-Jewish fraud, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion! The fact that it could run such a review with no apology or retraction already places it beyond the ethical standards of civilised international journalism.
I repeat: The censorship board, whose job it is to monitor these things, had obviously found nothing objectionable in the film; this is why it was passed uncut.
The censors of all the countries that have screened the documentary so far in festivals (including Germany, Hong Kong, Argentina) passed it uncut too.
In none of the international reviews published did the critics say anything about how this was a ‘dangerous’ movie that will ‘harm the public.’ The advantage these reviews have over Berita Harian: They were written by people who had actually viewed the documentary. Not one of them came to the conclusion that I was “glorifying” any political leader including Chin Peng. All those reviews are available here:
Variety
Sign and Sight
Film Kritiken
Die Tageszeitung
Sight & Sound
OK you might say those are ‘liberal’ and ‘tolerant’ countries whose standards don’t apply to us. But how about this: Singapore passed it uncut too! Yes, Singapore! The very country that barely has any opposition politicians or chewing gum.
It screened at the Singapore International Film Festival in late April. I was there at the full-house screening. I can assure you that no one ran amok after the screening or threatened national security. People just politely went back to the MRT and their lives.
It is, to put it mildly, horribly unfair for a movie to be banned based on comments by people who had not seen it. I am dismayed that a single newspaper (and a culturally chauvinistic one at that) could cause the Home Affairs Ministry to reverse the decision by the censors.
* Perhaps the objections are to the title? Well, Malaysia did once ban Daredevil and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers because of the words ‘devil’ and ‘morphin’ (which sounds like morphine) respectively. But that was in the past. The current Censorship Board seems determined to not make Malaysia an international laughingstock for ill-advised bans such as those. Do we want to return to those times?
* Perhaps the objection is to the very subject of communism? If communism is so untouchable, why is Malaysia now such pals with China and Cuba?
* Perhaps the objection is to “glorifying” communism and Chin Peng? I repeat: This charge has only been made by people who have not seen the documentary. Read the reviews by people who have seen it.
* Perhaps the objection is to painful depictions of the past? Lelaki Komunis Terakhir has no archive footage or historical recreations of war at all. The most violent image you will see is a strip of petai beans being removed from its tree in Bidor. Government-funded films like Leftenan Adnan, Paloh and Embun all feature violence but no one protested about those.
* Perhaps the objection is to the subject of Chin Peng? Well, Chin Peng’s book is not banned (even though he is), so why a different standard for the documentary, which was furthermore not made in cooperation with him?
* Perhaps the objection is to the fact that some communists were interviewed? Well, the 15-minute sequence in Betong (out of the 90 minutes of the whole documentary) does have retired men and women from the Communist Party of Malaya. But they are living lawfully as farmers and traders in land provided after the Peace Agreement in 1989 between Malaysia, the CPM and Thailand. Although they do describe some of their previous experiences in the jungle, they are in no way advocating a return to war. What does a Peace Agreement mean if the other side cannot even be seen and heard at all?
* Perhaps the objection is to the fact that Chin Peng is ethnic Chinese? Well, you got me there!
We will be meeting with the relevant Ministry to appeal the ban. I made the documentary for Malaysians first of all, since it is about our own past and present. Screening in foreign festivals is worthwhile but it has never been my primary intention. A Malaysian audience (the ones who can stay awake for a 90-minute documentary with no love stories, fight scenes or special effects) will understand it so much more.
This is what I humbly ask: If you feel the public has the right to see Lelaki Komunis Terakhir, please write to the press. The authorities do take note of reports in the media. (That’s why the ban happened in the first place!)
Even if you feel this doesn’t affect you, and you wouldn’t even want to watch the documentary anyway: What’s to stop the same newspaper from starting a campaign against some other local movie, book or song for being “not Malay enough”? That might certainly affect you in the future.
I made a multilingual documentary that explores the diversity and plurality of contemporary Malaysia to contrast against the more turbulent times of Chin Peng’s era. It is about both the geographic and historical ‘landscape’ that make up a country. It is this very diversity that is under threat if we allow chauvinists to determine what the rest of us can or cannot see.
posted by Amir Muhammad at 6:06 am
143 Comments:
hey Amir, you should put up the trailer for LKT on Youtube and let people see bits of it. The net is still free from censorship. Use it.
Hello, sorry to hear this. I am sorry for Malaysians everywhere. Will write.
Agree with person above. Why can't you have trailers?
If your objective is not to make money but the educate, I think that releasing it in the Internet is the best move.
educate? then he might as well sell it to tv pendidikan? amir muhammad is no eric khoo.
Amir
This is what happens when good men do nothing! When finally the pranks of these self styled McArthists hits home it usually is too late.
They start with simple things and before you know it they envelope every aspect of your life. Very soon you got to seek permission from UMNO Youth if it is o.k. for you to breathe in the air that comes in through your kitchen window!
You have fans...
http://www.jeffooi.com/2006/05/lelaki_komunis_terakhir_berita.php
http://www.shagadelica.net/?p=379
http://jameswongwingon-online.blogspot.com/2006/05/approved-film-on-chin-peng-is-now.html
many many more
you have blogged?
on the first place, if i might ask why chin peng ? why not rashid maidin or shamsiah fakeh or hishamudin rais ? after all both already back in malaysia
Hi, Amir , carry on with u work and dont let these selfish and narrow minded people to stop u.
Talkin about this Akmal fr BH , i happened to watch the forum in RTM, and mind u -this is the type of uncivilised character - trying to force other people to accept his view thru loud voice and show angry. What a shame!!!!!!
Anyway , just ignore * small people * and continue u struggle!
ALL THE BEST !
u HV THE SUPPORT OF MALAYSIAN!
Admire your courage, Amir. But this is Malaysia. They could ban anything without even looking at the content. Perhaps the documentary should have been titled "Petualang Negara Terakhir" or "Pengkhianat Bangsa Terakhir" instead...
Yeah Amir, like anonymous @ 3:41pm asked:
Why Chin Peng?
atau "Belia Petai Bidor!", atau "Jejak Komunis", atau... ok lah cek surender...
Amir:
keep your chin up; we know how these retrogrades mind works.
They even lambasted "socialists" as commies -- so what's new?
I won't write to mainstream papers -- it's exercise in futility; I'll hi lite in my blog.
To Anon and Not a Bllogger..you can keep on asking 1,001 Qs like BH and UMNO Youth : why not Dr Mahathir, Why not Musa, why not My Papa? ad nauseum -- Give me RM20million, I'll do your 20 titles!
I think the chinese card was the one that irked them... they specifically asked why the movie was about CHINESE and not MELAYU... sigh... Malaysia...
Dear Amir,
As usual, we malaysia do things in un-comprehendible way. We take 3 steps forward and a mighty 2 steps backward. We do not think positively and just merely negative perception. We assume too much and became hypocrite in our nature.
Dont feel discouraged about this, I hope you take this at lesson learnt, be stronger and better.
As a person who enjoys watching movies, documentaries and TVs, I would like to watch your work of arts and see it for myself the contents then make my own judgement. I believe Malaysian like many other 1st & 3rd countries should be given that ultimatum to judge that for ourselves. We do not need so call politically idiots from Gomen to do that.
Keep it up. Internet is wonderful place - where information roams free, so will opinions, ideas and contents.
-K
sad to heard the news.
small screening maybe for fans?
i'll pay.
Chin Peng & gang killed my father & burnt down our house just because he(my father) didnt provide food for them.Must my father give them food to them,when his wife,5 sons,4 daughters & his mother were starving;after all our family only gets 2 "cupaks" of rice per week & most of the time we live on "ubi kayu"
Two of my brothers joined the army to hunt the bastard Chin Peng & gang,one lost his leg,while the other lost his eye defending the nation,so that people like U & me can live to see the the light of the day,enjoying surfing the internet etc,etc....
What do they get in the end? Not even a medal for bravery but a meagre pension barely enough to pay rent & support their families.
Now U are trying to make money & a hero out of this bastard Chin Peng. Please lah!!!
We had to hide in the daytime & live without "lampu" at night,fearing for the bastard Chin Peng & gang,whom might appear suddenly & put a bullet between our eyes. It was not like the busy Bangsar,Petaling Street or Chow Kit Road now.
Probably many are still too young to understand what was the "emergency years" like. Go & ask your parents before putting words on this blog.
"Why Chin Peng?" - because his Sec-Gen.
Was looking forward to the release. Any way we can support your production? In which other country can we get a hold of your film?
chin peng cuter than tunku? i think they both regard each other as hantus. only diff is one is still alive.
Its good to see that there are people like Amir and Yasmin who are proud to be malaysian, and does play along the racial lines.
With berita harian seemingly promoting bangsa melayu and not bangsa malaysia, I feel pitiful for other races who love the country.
Like a quote from Yasmin's film gubra, it felt like loving someone without being loved back.
But with the existence of such people like Yasmin and Amir, we have hope.
Do not make us feel like an immigrant anymore coz we are all malaysians and love our country as well.
Let's make this country a better place.
By the way how do i write to the press?
Why am I not surprised? sigh ...
Amir, many are with you on this one. I have also posted on this topic at my blog. Do view.
Film Censorship - An Archaic Tool
Hmm... How can they censor if we make it available for bitcommet download? :D
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
If we all keep quiet about these issues, we'll be like what Martin Niemöller found out in the end. No one left to speak out for him... Thanks for speaking out.
I did not read Berita Harian , so no bother. Not to worry , those who makes so much noise about Amir and Yasmin production will eat their own words in due course. For once I see originality in Malay Movies. For once I see quality . At least before I die , I can proudly annouce both Amir and Yasmin , a true believer in their works...
Jack Giler Golf
i'LL support u mr amir....
Ironically they let Fidel show on the Hallmark Channel, but not this show.
"Akmal in his weekly Thursday column Epilog (ironic that such a Malaycentric writer would choose such a foreign word) also ran a weekly campaign against any local film not made in the Malay language. He sees this as part of some kind of conspiracy to “destroy Malay culture”. He singles out internationally acclaimed, small movies like The Beautiful Washing Machine, Sanctuary and Chemman Chaalai (made by people from what he terms “foreign” and “immigrant races”) for attack but has offered no proof that he has even seen any of these fine works."
After reading this, I felt that my IQ had just dropped to half.
you wanna translate this post into Malay? i don't think you're gonna reach new ground by preaching to the converted. Yasmin and her fans can justify all they want re:Gubra, but Berita Harian and co. still lay claim in speaking the people's language.
the language divide is just as important as the digital divide.
A documentary about an old communist?
I haven't watch your film, but I can think it is an anti-ism, anti-doctrine film. It speak well when you use a fading figurine like Chin Peng.
For those who haven't watch the film and bashed Amir from the title of the film, too bad, nothing can help you unless you open your mind.
"I haven't watch your film, but I can think it is an anti-ism, anti-doctrine film. It speak well when you use a fading figurine like Chin Peng."
ah, the power of assumptions.
i just heard the news. pity u Amir, it wud have beena great dokumentary. what puzzles me is that how can they ban such a historically valued stuff? they didnt ban those text books..its the same, history speaks for itself
neway, hope ur fighting spirit neve stops n don't give up to these pemudo umno led racist stands. malaysians are with u
Simplelar the solution, if Malaysia is so afraid of Communism, just
STOP TRADING WITH CHINA
*sigh
even ultrs conservative communist China have move on, Malaysia is still kat belukar somewhere. These Inquisition on enlightening film-makers like Yasmin, Amir and James Lee should die off like the Spanish one.
let me end off with another pun on Akmal Abdullah the zealot, "Please go jump off the KLCC"
amir..i wanna watch your movie le...or at least let me watch your trailer..let me feel it at least..kindly post it at www.youtube.com
I hope that people will start to come in and voice their views to the relevant parties and make a difference.
Like what amir said, who knows what will happen in the future if berita harian continue with crap like this and get innocent parties into trouble.
Something has to be done. Or they will keep pulling on tricks like this for whatever "good" reasons that they may have.
Those pp r idiots...wait, definitely, much worse than idiots, they are blind, ideologically close-minded, self-inflated and appointed cultural wachdogs who will destory whatever shred of decent open dialogue and thinking that might be left in this beloved country, which is slowly but surely turning into a veritable 'communist dictratorship' through the tyranny of their thought and culture police.
Amir, Stay strong and continue with the good 'fight'. Though they may rob this of you, they can never take away your dignity, honour and the freedom of your mind!
heh, a lot of rhetoric...how many actually took the time to write something? much more pleasuring to vent emotions and register frustrations kan? preaching to the converted again lah.
you can email akmal abdullah via hiburanbh@bharian.com.my . a few lines only. tak payah panjang-panjang. i just did.
It's so unfortunate for all of us to have this issue to deal with the media responsiblity these days. Even sadder to have the not-so-intelliget leaders in the government making decisions for the people without making public opinions equally put into account. Please keep your supporters updated with the outcome of your meeting with the ministry. maybe we can run a counter-campaign to really point out the people's views.
Wah, so many comments!
As for the trailer: I think we can put up something soon at the Red Films site. It's tough to make a trailer for this as it's hardly a 'dramatic' film but a documentary with ordinary people talking about their lives. But we will give it a shot.
I am currently in Los Angeles (of all places) for a festival, so it's been hard to coordinate things from here. But I will be back Saturday, God and Cathay Pacific willing.
I don't mind changing the movie title but only if it is changed to SENARIO CINTA MAWI. (So what if Mawi is not in it? Chin Peng isn't in it either!)
Part of the Malaysian mindset (in certain certain individuals). Place so much importance in outward appearances like dressing (as in bowtie, tudungs, etc), brand names, titles... they see certains words or symbols and they go amok, lose all sense of reason and hit out blindly, without trying to understand. What a pity.
What is the govt trying to hide about the communists? That they killed British and Commonwealth troops similar to what Dato' Maharajalela did?
Amir, maybe next time you can create a documentary of "sukarelawan" fighting against the Red Army in Afghanistan, but maybe after they have been freed from Kamunting or Gitmo. The focus person will definitely be a Malay, and Berita Harian will not condemn it. Unsure about the Americans though.
News Straits Times :
fax 03-2284 8248 / 03-2282 3001 / 03-2284 9144
email: letters@nstp.com.my
The Malay Mail :
fax 03-2284 9133
email: mailbag@nstp.com.my
The Sunday Mail :
fax 03-2282 1434
email: mmnews@nstp.com.my
Star Publications (M'sia) Bhd :
fax 03-7954 2544
email: editor@thestar.com.my
The Sun : fax 03-7785 2624
email: letters@thesundaily.com
Malaysiakini :
03-2289 2579
email: editor@malaysiakini.com
Utusan Malaysia :
fax 03-9222 7876 / 03-9223 6031 / 03-9223 9854
(suratkpdPengarang)email: pendapat@utusan.com.my
Berita Harian :
fax 03-2282 2425 / 03-2284 4978
email: bh@bharian.com.my
Harian Metro :
fax 03-2284 8390 / 03-2284 6133
email: bhnews@bharian.com.my / sazarina@bharian.com.my
Bernama :
fax 03-2698 1102
email: bgns@bernama.com.my
KOSMO : fax 03-9221 8590
email: farizwan@kosmo.com.my
-----------------
Last recourse (but pity him-lah. everything oso got to refer/defer to him):
YAB Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Perdana Menteri
Pejabat Perdana Menteri Bangunan Perdana Putra
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan 62502 Putrajaya
Tel : 03 8888 8000 Fax: 03 8888 3444
The Ban on 'Lelaki Komunis Terakhir' by Amir Muhammad
by Sonia Randhawa, 9 May 2006
Source : CIJ
The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) is concerned about the ban on the film "Lelaki Komunis Terakhir" (LKT) by local director Amir Muhammad even after having been passed by the Censorship Board.
The film was rated "U", meaning suitable for viewing by all ages. Prior to approval for release in cinemas, it was screened to Special Branch officers who didn't find the content objectionable. Amir Muhammad says that this is the first time he has heard of screening a film to Special Branch officers for approval.
However, following several newspaper reports in Berita Harian from 3 to 5 May, the Home Affairs Ministry decided to ban LKT due to public opposition, according to local newspaper reports.
CIJ condemns the banning of the film, particularly when based on feedback from people who have not watched it. The Government appears increasingly to be acting on populist concerns without investigation, as in the case of action against the Kakikino film club which was shut down on April 21st this year.
The ban on LKT has a discouraging effect on local filmmakers' creativity. CIJ urges the ban be lifted allowing Malaysians to judge the film on its merits, political and creative, rather than on kneejerk political polemic .
Action: Please write to the Deputy Minister of the Home Affair Ministry,
Datuk Tan Chai Ho
Kementerian Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri
Blok D2, Parcel D
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan
62546 Putrajaya
Tel: 03 88863000
For more information please contact CIJ Executive Director Sonia Randhawa (sonia at cijmalaysia dot org).
Well, why don't u try to invite Mr. Tan (Chai Ho), Mr. Akmal and others to a special screening of the movie? they haven't seen the movie, yet they make the most noise. Let's see what noise they make after the movie?
Anywhere that I can buy the movie? I'll pay too.
Director Amir,
There is no reason a documentary should be banned just because it tells the story of the other party.
We only hear stories frm one side... but what about the others.. too long we have not have had the freedom to listen to diverse opinions...
Now we can't watch a movie with our conscience. Just watch what they allow us.
I just want to say ...
Aiiiiiihhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Amir,
Rule no. 1, people always judge books by its cover, no matter how often we hear advices not to do so.
The title of your movie/documovie is quite misleading . "Lelaki/Wanita .......(fill in the blank) Terakhir" is generally a positive conotation.
First impression, the title "Lelaki Komunis Terakhir" did make me think you're glorifying the communists. Can't help, it's my first impression. My perception changes only after reading this blog. My suggestion is for you to change the title, neutralize it.
RickRude
Maka bertepuklah tangan wartawan Berita Harian yang membenci filem² Indie, pembakar semangat pekauman, penuduh filem lucah tu. Bila dia nak jadi wakil rakyat pula?
RickRude, 'Malaikat Di Jendela' also wanted to change the title so it can be showed to public...but still it was banned. It's not abt title, it's abt mentality of dumb human who scared to face the truth. Cowards who hide behind the name of media moralis journalist.
Dear Amir,
I am a lover of indie films, because they reflect the individual creative mind of their directors. Creative minds are what Pak Lah is propogating or seems to be.
Now write him a personal letter with all your sound arguments that you have written so far.
An open government should lend its ears and help justify the voice of the young artistes. Otherwise we will all be pushed into a pitfall set by the likes of paranoid Berita Harian.- An UMNO Dato'
Malaikat.. changing the title now may no longer be an effective solution since things have been going out of proportion..
Malaikat Di Jendela banned by whom? LPN or KDN? LKT ni banned by KDN not LPN. Therefore I suspect there's nothing wrong with the content. LPN's guideline does consider sensitive issues. In fact Amir mentioned that even the PDRM SBs sez the contents are fine.
The question is despite all that, why KDN still ban this movie. My take was the 'misleading' title that can give undesired perceptions, .. like I said, people (always) judge a book by its cover, hence the advice not to judge book by its cover. I may be wrong though..
RickRude
Kementerian or Lembaga who have 'N' at the end tu takder pendirian. Bila ada orang bangkit isu, baru nak kecut telur. Fight for what you think right. Jangan jadi lalang atau pak turut.
Kalau hidup berlandaskan wartawan hiburan bersentimen kauman, maka sesatlah jalan anda wahai teman
HI...amir..was really looking forward to your film..will mobilize my networks and friends to write letters
For those asking "Why Chin Peng?", you seem to be assuming that En Amir's film glorifies Chin Peng. Don't you people read the reviews he has provided in his post? If anything, the movie sounds like a study of the failure of applied marxist ideologies grounded in the real world. A friend caught the film in Singapore, and he has nothing but praise for it. Nothing but praise. You can take a look at what he says over here, among other films.
'Scenario Cinta Mawi'! lol lol.
Suddenly, I feel smaller than a kid. You'd think that after 27 years of living as an adult, I would treated as such. Stupid Ministry can't even cut their apron strings.
this is not even about the movie.
this goes to show how stupid so called smart malaysians are.
the assasins of the new bunch of brilliant film makers in malaysia.
let's go back and watch pramlee's movies repeated a million times over.
malaysian movies are paused and stucked in that era and will never be able to fast forward, ever!
"we will always support you. i ll pay good ol RM15 to watch it rather than watch those shitty scenario."?
http://www.star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2005/12/30/tvnradio/12968666&sec=tvnradio
before I start, I don't believed in communism as much as the self styles democracy.
to me communism and other idoelogies only acceptable in theory but not in practice.
however, to say that is I'm going to read, or to watch or even to listen to a book or movie/docu to have my personal perception on ideology(s) change, that is too farfetched. at least not in my case.
it will take more effort than just a movie/docu or book to change what people believed in life.
it's true for those who has families and friends killed in the hands of the communist(s), it will hurt, badly, to see the image or the story of a person we ever so believed, was responsible, being aired or written.
but before we go further, the issue here, not many of us, me included, have seen this movie in question.
until we see it, we would not know what it's discussing. what is the idea it tries to project.
and when we talk about it will make people think the communists are good, especially the youngsters, my question, how many youngsters would go and watch historical movies let alone a docu?
they would preffered watching M:I3 or pseidon or whatever movies there in the cinema.
people who read, who understand what the discussion is all about are the one who would go and watch. and again ideolgy is not something you can just shove to one's face.
to believe in one, the person have to munch, chew, taste and then swallow.
and on the contrary to the popular belief, Malaysians are not STUPID. they can think and analyse.
I don't even know there is such a docu (my mistake, I don't read propaganda closely) but as many plans that backfired, nw I want to watch it, to know what is this fuss is all about.
Amir, I was and still am really looking forward to your film. I'm sorry for the frustration you are going through now -- but I am certain that both you and your art will turn out the better for it.
Until then, the Internet remains at your disposal.
Take care.
as i malay i am embarresed that some of my own race will go to certain measures just to ban a movie like this. melayu dengan salah anggapnya, tak habis habis. Insyallah they will find a better way to solve this, & ill get to see this movie ;)
all the best yeh?
Hey Amir,
You make us proud. You represent what Malaysians should be. In a multi-cultural society like Malaysia, tolerance is what keeps us together. United we stand, divided we fall. It is as simple as that. Keep it up :)
Free Citizen
I've heard of bad film reviewers.
But to condemn a movie without having ever seen the movie first?
Aiyoh, tolong lah. Please lah.
If you are so smart, go make a movie yourself lah.
Journalism at its worst printed on toilet paper fit for the jamban.
Hi Amir,
What a shame. I hope the hearings go well. It sounds like they heaved a bunch of accusations at the film and waited to see which ones stuck. Among them, "responsible for spreading communism" is one of the gems. Clearly we are operating several levels higher than common sense.
I agree with Anonymous.
With approval from the censorship board, issue a public invitation to a private screening of The Last Communist to Mr. Akmal, appealing to his journalistic spirit.
Give him the opportunity to update his series of articles with scenes from the film itself. Give him carte blanche.
If the result is vitriolic, at least it is supportable.
Good luck!
TALQIN UNTUK AMIR!!!
KAU TAK FAHAM KE APA PERASAAN ORANG MACAM AKU YANG ADA ADIK BERADIK MATI KENA BUNUH KOMUNIS!!!
PERGI JAHANAM DENGAN KOMUNIS!
biarlah org Malaysia tak kreatif
biarlah org Malaysia sempit fikiran
biarlah org Malaysia hidup dibayangi sejarah lama
biarlah org Malaysia mundur.......
This is a democracy country (or so they said). The should approve it and let the rakyat to decide whether we wanna watch it or not.
If some people object it, just ask them don't go to the cinema or buy the DVD/VCD/VHS/whatever format distibution.. not even the pirated version. Because of these close-minded people, those who want to learn some history lessons got deprived of education.
We must learn from past mistakes so that the future generations won't repeat it again. I'm sad to hear about that Anonymous Tarabola(the guy without guts to let us know his name)... about his wounded sibling, his late sibling etc. As a fellow rakyat, I'm so sorry for his unfortunates, but fate already happenned (in God's will), there's nothing we can do about it. Your noble siblings fought for the country and so was my grandfather. Maybe my grandfather was in the same platoon with one of your siblings. The only thing we can do is to assure that it won't happen again. So, Mr. Anonymous Tarabola, You don't want to see your grandchildren shooting in the jungle, do you? That's why history lessons are so important. It maybe a bit boring but its important.
En. Amir... anywhere we can get to watch the film at the moment? Plan to organize a signatures collection? I support you. I've posted in my blog about the situation about this film too.
http://www.endroo.blogspot.com/
See mStar Online report (10 May) Larangan filem 'tidak wajar', quoting voices of Malaysian younger generation, Nam Ron, Shanon Shah (best vocal, recent AIM), Noor Azam of Utusan Malaysia and Pang of Kaki Seni.com
http://www.mstar.com.my/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_1e087144-c0a85062-13b625b0-8ce12bab (Fathi Aris Omar's column POJOK)
Perhaps the title of the film was chosen just to stir up the hornet's nest. After all, some years back everyone made a big hoo-ha when "Perempuan, Isteri dan Jalang" was released. Do you seriously think the movie would have garnered the publicity it did if the producer had chosen "Cerita Sedih Seorang Perempuan" as the title instead?
As it stands, since we haven't even seen the movie we cannot lambast it. But we certainly have seen and heard the title. So we can lambast that, and that idea, instead:
If Amir's intentions were to make this documentary available to the public as an educational tool, it may have been a better idea to have called it something else instead, just to avoid negative connotations. I have not met Amir, so I cannot say for sure that he chose the title specifically for the publicity it would bring to the documentary.
If in fact it is, then _shame_ on Amir.
If in fact it is, then Amir doesn't really have the good of the film in his best interest.
If in fact it is not, then perhaps Amir should consider renaming the film.
So what if you kowtow to the powers that be (who doesn't anyway nowadays), for the sake of your work of art. Yeah, you shouldn't have to, but we all have to make sacrifices sometime. And if the benefit (giving the public access to this movie) far outweighs the sacrifice (going against your ideals) then why not?
sungguh tak percaya... berita harian memang sampah... in fact, orang2 yang ditemuramah oleh berita harian pun memang sampah, akmal abdullah pun memang sampah, the home minister pun sampah sama. perhaps i would disagree with the contents of your film, amir. but only AFTER i've actually watched it!
From NST
10 May 2006
Just Sayin': Good or bad, we should tell all the stories
Brian Yap
-------------------------------------------------------------
THOUGH we’d like to think otherwise, we Malaysians are rarely known
for our ability to laugh at ourselves. We’re too insecure and paranoid
for the most part, making nearly every issue, from stewardesses to the
New Economic Policy, a sensitive issue.
Yet we’re not beyond self- deprecation. Whether humour is the intent
is debatable, but we certainly like to put ourselves down sometimes.
When our cities flood after a downpour, we say: "Of course lah,
Malaysia what!"
Or confronted with an inconsiderate driver, we yell: "These Malaysians
ah, don’t know how to drive!" OK, maybe that’s just me.
How about Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin’s recent
comments on televising parliamentary proceedings? It was reported that
he feels Malaysians still have a Third World mentality, lacking the
intellectual capacity to look beyond a racial perspective.
So the august House is too disturbing for Malaysians to watch? That’s
a scary thought, but I see the point. Us regular folk might not fully
grasp that when the Rantau Panjang MP refers to divorcees as gatal, he
isn’t actually being sexist.
Or we might not understand why partisan politics is more important
than the questionable action of the Jasin MP in asking the Customs
Department to "close one eye".
So for now, the only long speeches short on substance we’ll get to see
on TV will be award shows like the Oscars and Anugerah Industri Muzik
awards. Malaysians aren’t ready for anything more.
It’s odd, of course, to say Malaysians are this or that, when one is
also Malaysian. The Malay saying applies rather well here: When you
point one finger, four others are pointing back at you. So when we put
down "Malay- sians" (I have to admit, sometimes rightly so) for
"their" shortcomings, we’re in effect putting ourselves down. Because,
surprise, surprise, we’re all in this together.
We can’t close one eye to the reality that there are many Malaysias
and even more Ma- laysians, all inextricably linked, from the Bangsar
"liberal" to the pak cik in ketayap (skull cap) in Kota Baru.
Like our present, our history is equally varied and comprises many
perspectives. Though to what result is open to debate, there’s little
contention that the left-wing movement, including the Communist Party
of Malaya’s armed struggle, left a mark on the national psyche.
It’s hard for any nation not to be affected by what was arguably a
full-blown war that left thousands dead. Such an important part of our
history cannot be erased.
Which is why I think it’s a backward decision to ban Amir Muhammad’s
The Last Communist. The documentary, which was passed with no cuts by
the Censorship Board and originally scheduled to open on May 18, is a
road movie that visits the towns where the ex-secretary-general of the
CPM, Chin Peng, once lived.
From my understanding of it, Lelaki Komunis Terakhir features
interviews with people in towns like Sitiawan, Bidor and Sungai Siput,
as well as a few members of the now-defunct communist party living in
southern Thailand.
Though a central figure in the film, Chin Peng doesn’t appear in the
documentary.
I’m not defending the film. I can’t, because I haven’t seen it. I am,
however, of the opinion that there are many stories to be told about
Malaysia, and no one has a monopoly on stories. Some are like
Entrapment,that is non-threatening and boring.
Still, that movie wasn’t exactly free of controversy either. Tun Dr
Mahathir Mohamad objected to the way the filmmakers digitally
juxtaposed two very different parts of Malaysia.
Others like The Last Communist are bound to provoke stronger
reactions. Why Amir chose Chin Peng as a subject, I don’t know. He’s
the filmmaker, it’s his film, so it’s his prerogative. Who am I to ask
him why The Last Communist and not "The First Capitalist"?
It was a pleasant surprise when the Censorship Board passed both this
film and Yasmin Ahmad’s Gubra. After all, it wasn’t exactly known for
moving with the times. Both films, however, have since been attacked
by various parties.
One Bahasa Malaysia daily, for instance, published reports on The Last
Communist three days in a row. I think it’s unfair to condemn the film
simply by reading its synopsis.
I will now point out the obvious, which is that for years, Amir
Muhammad has been making films few Malaysians have ever heard of, and
fewer have ever seen. And with this ban, he and his film will get more
publicity than they normally would have. I mean, here I am, writing
about it. And there you are, wondering, "Where can I find the DVD for
The Big Durian ah?"
Or maybe not. In any case, the hoo-ha surrounding The Last Communist
again proves that films are often regarded as more threatening than,
say, books. After all, you can sit back and eat popcorn while a movie
is playing, but books actually require you to, ugh, read. That’s why,
while The Da Vinci Code was a controversial book, it’s the movie that
has prompted widespread action among Catholic churches the world over.
Or why United 93 had people wondering if it was too soon for a 9/11
movie, despite the countless TV programmes, books and magazine
articles.
In the case of Chin Peng, a more detailed, personal account of his
life has been available on local bookshelves for years. But it’s a
really thick book, which means that the most likely damage it would
cause is when it is thrown at someone’s face. Because you Malaysians,
ah, very lazy. Never want to read.
The columnist is a writer at a monthly Klang Valley magazine, KLue.
Of course we must ban Lelaki Komunis Terakhir. We are Malaysians with high moral standards and rich in Eastern values. How can you show film on communism, Amir? And a Chinese communist at that! If you have to make a film on communism, couldn't you have featured a Malay communist? Don't you know this is the 60th anniversary of UMNO? How can you offend us like this? I'm a good Malaysian, so I can only allow great films like the ones made by our briliiant associate professor.
To Anonymous of 11:16 AM ,
So... this is all because of racism issue. Had he (Amir) made the show on Rashid Maidin, it won't be any issues. Am I right? Am I right?
After almost half a century since independence, the racism issue still exist. It can never be erased from our minds. At last, I now realized. Now wonder the brain drains are so much. Every here and there, we read in the papers that some of our fellow kinsmen doing it bigtime in other people's country. I now know why. I don't wanna start to talk about the racism here (many other blogs have already years talking about it).
Malays still think the Chinese and Indians and Lain-lain immigrants. The "second class people". I wonder if there's no Yap Ah Loy, where would the KL Tower/KLCC be standing today?
Amir, the film is magnificent and its legacy will last a lot longer than a hack for a rag like Berita Harian. Keep making movies! Benjamin
Amir,
You are an outstanding malaysian.
But currently, this is the situation in malaysia and i share your agony.
Ever thought of putting it on the internet (full movie)? But this way, you will not be able to make any money out of it.
Just a suggestion, sell the rights to the local pirate vcd org and recoup your capital. With all these publicity, I think they may be interested.
I was going to suggest astro boxoffice but that is also not possible for you.
I certainly would like to see it and i am sure many others do too.
ler...my friends and i were bleeding excited to watch your movie sekali kena ban...maybe it's the title or maybe it's the mentality of those in power...whatever it is i hope it'll end up good coz making a movie about malaysia and malaysians tapi tak dapat tunjuk kat malaysia agak bengong juga sebenarnya...have a private screening lah so that people who really want to watch it can watch it...yelah, although the communists ruined a lot of families and stuff, but the movie can be a good tool to educate the younger generation kan...
may the force be with you.
I definitely agree with most of the comments here, and I don't think Communism is a threat in Malaysia and I'm really interested in watching this. (A semi-musical documentary, what the heck?)
However, I'd also like to know this. What proportion of Malaysians - all races, all 14 states, north south east west of the country, old and young - what proportion do not like the *idea* of a film 'about Chin Peng'? I mean, it is easy to believe that much of the urban KL folk just want to watch it for entertainment/arts sake, especially us younger ones. But do older people who knew those times feel offended about a film like this being made? Or they don't care as well? Which race is offended (more)? (Point is, the Home Affairs Dept's claims that they received 'public complaints' is very unconvincing, sounds like effin' bullshit to me. It's the call-it-WMD tactic - run obvious untruths past the citizens and they will somehow sit there and ... not act.)
In the Malay movie world,only the Malay can be the main subject.Only Malay can be hero and can fondle Chinese girl.Chinese boy cannot fondle Malay girl. See it on tv.
Sorry Amir,keep up the good work.Yes Yasmin too.You are heroes.
Welcome to Malaysia my friend, although we lived here for 20-30 years of our life but we still can't understand how things really works in our country.
1st:
The censorship board plays a role to demoralize our local producers/directors by banning good quality films. Only Hindustan copycat movie by Prof Razak or Yusuf Haslam or the ridiculously not funny Senario movies are allowed. Maybe if you put Mawi in, the film will be 100% uncensored and earned millions(??).
2nd:
Berita Harian (although said to be the most read paper in Malaysia) is very political and bias towards Chinese, Christianity and Jews. You wouldn't miss finding an article negatively picturing the three topics above. And again it is their (UMNO) agenda to bring Malays on the par but in fact it produces shallow mentality Malays who doesn't even buy things or eat food at non-Malay's shop (not halal lah kawan) but buys porn from Petaling St vendors and sleeps with non-Malay prostitues? It's a reality.
3rd:
An ex-housemate of mine was the nephew of Rashid Maidin (top Malay communist last time) and he told me that his uncle told him that the main reason they are fighting is for independance from the Brits. He and Mahathir agrees that they are freedom fighter but just in different kinda of ways and eventually the Mahathir's side won.
so my friend, it is hard for us to change the Malay mentality but we can by educating our children, the next generation, by not being anti non-Malay, anti Semitic, a pervert and by not watching AKademi Fantasia. BTW I am a Malay/Melanau Muslim Sarawakian in my late 20's. We don't have UMNO here in Sarawak.
i am the grandaughter of Wahi Anuar and those of u who havent heard of his name, let me tell u something about my late grandfather. he was one of the malays who turn his back on the malays and joined the communist.
call him whatever u want. but during the time of emergency and war was going on people would do anything to fight, not only for their family, but for their country. yes, my grandfather joined bintang tiga to save the country. to go against the british (that u malays seem to hate so much, and that you would go that far in banning anything that is not malay-friendly).
its sad that this is happening now. its so sad thats it's getting ridiculous. you are frustrated, i'm sure, but at the same time u cant help but laugh at those bigot minded people and be amazed at how shallow can one be.
i really hope ur film make it, amir. good luck!
upset.
massive blow 4 us.
but,
good luck, amir.
Grand daughter of Wahi Anuar,
Bintang tiga. Ha... thats "samseng" we all call those gangsters. In Cantonese, "sam" is 3 and "seng" is star.
I once asked my grandma while I was small (primary school) , why people call those naughty fellahs, bullies or gangsters.. samseng. Thats what she told me.... 3 Stars. The red stars. If I'm not mistaken, samseng is in Kamus Dewan. Betul kah?
Btw, off topic here.
I can't remember where I heard this. Its something about Tun Sri Lanang's Sejarah Melayu. I heard they said that the book was historically inaccurate, Hang Tuah was actually a Chinese who came to Melaka with Admiral Cheng Ho or somethng.
Anyone heard about all this ?? Just wanna know if someone bluffed me or is it something everyone also heard of.
yes...i've heard that before. i don't know the real truth but it is possible because Cheng Ho comes from inland China and somewhere in his life he became a muslim and his grave in China is still visited by chinese muslim (saw that on National Geographic, true fact). he's the one who brings this pendekar and the puteri Hang li po. (the puteri is also Hang like tuah and jebat, coincidence?)
well, hang tuah, jebat and co may comes from the Han dynasty (i'm not sure of this) and hence they are called Hang...maybe the chinese name is Hang Tu Ah ....maybe... but nevertheless the chinese martial art is one of the best and no wonder he beats the majapahit(??) guy for the taming sari....
and funnyly, since i left school like 10 years ago i never heard any Malays bragged about Hang Tuah anymore in books or TV although there is the gunung ledang film recently.
school history textbook is always written by the winning side...
Kebanyakan warga kita terutama yang muda-muda ni, fikiran terbuka tetapi mata tertutup,buta sejarah atas nama celik kebebasan.
Itulah masalahnya. Tidur lewat malam kerana hiburan, bangun lewat pagi kerana perut kekenyangan. Bila bercakap semuanya atas nama kebebesan dan fikiran terbuka.
Sebab? semua nak, semua ADA. Hati jadi keras membatu dan jiwa jadi keras membesi. Walaupun belajar tinggi-tinggi,gagal menjadi insan sejati, tetapi sekadar dapat degree Itu sebab Ching Peng pun diberi publisiti.
Itu bezanya dengan orang lama,yang mengambil ukuran dan pandangan dari semua sudut. Melihat dengan mata hati bukan dengan 100% logik akal.
Musa
amir - am absolutely furious about this! it really does make you question exactly what is going on in this country when one newspaper can cause a film to be banned
what's next? the gestapo?
perhaps someone should make a film about the yobs of berita harian - but it should be a satire of course, not a documentary ...
good luck amir - we stand with you
Musa, kita sekarang berada di alaf ke-21, zaman digital, zaman IT, zaman cosmonaut dan lain-lain. Lihat.. lihat ke langit... banyak kapal terbang. Lihat.. lihat di tangan semua orang.. sekurang-kurangnya menggenggam sebuah telefon bimbit.
Janganlah berfikiran kolot, wahai orang lama. Sememangnya orang baru masih ada banyak untuk dipelajari tetapi mana kita nak belajar tentang kesusahan yang dialami oleh generasi ibu bapa kita semasa zaman darurat. Adakah dengan tercetusnya darurat sekali lagi baru kita orang baru dapat belajar keperitan tersebut?
Filem-filem seperti filem Perang Dunia Ke-2, perang Vietnam, perang di mana-mana jua... membolehkan generasi baru mengetahui akan keperitan yang boleh dialami bukan hanya seseorang malah sesebuah negara selepas peperangan. Daripada itulah, generasi yang akan datang akan mencuba dengan sedaya-upaya mereka untuk mengelakkan peperangan.
Menerusi sebuah filem muzikal (seperti mana yang dikategorikan), saya berasa Lelaki Komunis Terakhir tidak mempunyai momentum yang kuat untuk membangkitkan semangat komunisme (jika ada) kerana di zaman ini, sekurang-kurangnya di Malaysia, tiada orang yang akan melayan orang yang sibuk menyeru orang lain untuk bersama menentang kerajaan menerusi peperangan.
Saya sekarang boleh membuat apa jua yang saya mahu buat (di bawah undang-undang), hisap rokok, main bola, main paintball, tengok pasukan Jerman yang akan menjuarai Piala Dunia akan datang, mandi di Templer's Park yang sebelumnya merupakan kawasan 'hitam' semasa zaman darurat, melayari internet dan kekadang, melihat gambar lucah. Jadi, adakah saya akan menggalakkan kecetusan peperangan ? Jika perang, adakah saya akan dapat membuat apa yang biasanya saya buat (main bola, hisap rokok, tengok lucah dan sebagainya).
Kesimpulannya, tiada orang nak perang lagi. Melainkan mereka yang terlibat dengan "terrorists". Sekian, terima kasih.
Encik Musa,
saya setuju dengan endroo g.
'fikiran terbuka tetapi mata tertutup,buta sejarah atas nama celik kebebasan.' - musa
Bukankah sejak 16hb Ogos 1511 kita inginkan kebebasan? Apa jadi dengan bangsa kita sebelum dan ketika itu?
fikiran tertutup dan mata terbuka, tiada sejarah yang melaungkan kebebasan?
saya pasti kita tidak mahu mentaliti sebegitu wujud pada masa ini.
'Tidur lewat malam kerana hiburan, bangun lewat pagi kerana perut kekenyangan. Bila bercakap semuanya atas nama kebebesan dan fikiran terbuka.'- musa
tidur lewat? bangun lewat? kita sekarang rakus untuk mencari harta...saya rasa pepatah 'the early bird catches the big worm (please correct me if i'm wrong' tidak lagi sesuai digunakan pada masa ini kerana kita sekarang berhubung dengan negara luar (different time zones) jadi pagi sudah tidak dapat didefinasikan sebagai awal...semuanya sekarang berdasarkan masa GMT, kerja saya menggunakan GMT sebagai masa rasmi tugas dan waktu saya bertugas saya adalah 24jam sehari (on shifts). lagipun sekarang business talk or idea brainstorming banyak dimanafaatkan pada sebelah malam. banyak juga yang balik lewat dari pejabat (bukan dari kedai mamak atau bar) untuk menghabiskan kerja mereka.
'semua nak, semua ADA. Hati jadi keras membatu dan jiwa jadi keras membesi. Walaupun belajar tinggi-tinggi,gagal menjadi insan sejati, tetapi sekadar dapat degree Itu sebab Ching Peng pun diberi publisiti.' - musa
semua nak semua ada? mestilah..Malaysia boleh kan? berjaya di mata dunia? kalau tak nak, katakan TAK NAK. tak payah hantar mamat-mamat tu pegi angkasa lepas. hati batu, jiwa besi? mestilah.. tanpa semangat itu, kita tidak boleh berdaya saing atau berdiri atas pendirian kita. kalau tidak, kita jadi bangsa yang menurut kata walaupun benda itu tidak betul. kita lemah dan mudah mengalah...lihat saja bagaimana melaka jatuh ke portugis. lihat bagaimana temasik diambil oleh raffles dan lihat saja bagaimana mudahnya francis light mengambil penang. semua itu kita sendiri yang beri tanah kepada mereka...ditipu kerana kita tidak belajar tinggi atau hati kita terlalu lembut dengan kata kata dan jiwa kita lemah dengan sogokan.
memang betul orang lama lebih arif tetapi itu tidak semestinya menjadi ukuran yang semuanya betul.
'arguing on the internet is like competing in the special olympics, eventhough you are winning, you are still a retard'
Amir, where can I get the pirated VCD/DVD/Internet downloads?
I want to see it!
Email me.
bcoz its banned,i am damn interested....
bcoz we still live in the 3rd world system of thinking,then it will be banned.
Amir's The Last Communist-can only see abroad?
we all support your creativity...take a look at KIT'S BLOG
http://blog.limkitsiang.com/?p=512
All the best
Sean
i've just seen your movie in singapore. i found the colourful way in which you depict the lives of small town malaysia most delightful. the film seemed to me to be less about chin peng and communism, and more about malaysia and malaysians, what it was and what it is now. you have a good sense of irony, something which is lacking in both our countries.
it is a shame that it is banned in malaysia. perhaps, like an acned teenager, the establishment finds looking into the mirror at the grim reality rather uncomfortable.
Hello, Singaporean! Here's a dirty secret: The form of this documentary is at least partly inspired by "Singapore GaGa" which I saw in April 2005, three months before I started shooting...
Evening Amir... It's nice to see Malaysian movies pushing up the gears... from the days of movies you dont even bother to remember the title to the likes of Gubra and WAshing Machine. I'm pleading that you continue with your hard work and i'm really keen to watch this show. Heck, i didn't learn that god DAMned history for nothing... Letters will be going in. Keep up the hard work mate.. Plz... and i'll give u the benefit of the doubt... THE SHOW BETTER BE GOOD... HAHA... if ever you have the dvd or vcd on sale... inform me dude. DAmn the miNistry of ***H*lE*... sigh... good luck anyway...
Hello Amir,
I apllaud your efforts and I will write a letter to the presses. I hope it isn't too late to do so.
hey, i want to see LKT very badly, if the idiots on top never let it through, ever thought of going through illegal channels like our dear VCD and DVD pirates.. hehe... i'm sure they'd pay you heavily to get the 'copyright' to mass produce it.
Oh please. Amir is full of controversies. Thinking that he has wit to fool people by actually made up this thing call 'ban-it-then-ppl-will-more-eager-to-see-it' syndrome.
Why govermet banned the film? You don't try to think in your brain that maybe after all, it's just a big hu-ha to promote his new movie nationwide? Who knows, he maybe even make good friends with them goverment officers and a ban is just a cheap publicity? People will oppose to this ban, will say lots of things to support him, go to amir website and talk about it, send links to your friends about this so-called movie producer, then the words spread around. After that, people want to see it. No need to fork out any money to it. It's all free. He even posted in a free blog. He shld post any latest news on the offical movie site.
A good film is good without no big fuss about it. Afdlin is established and people still go to cinema and see the movie without making a fuss. So does Yasmin Ahmad. So why the big deal about it? It's because he's not established..yet.
So keep the flameposts coming, boys and girls. Let me see who will cry foul and actually believe all this commotions.
Dear Anonymous 10:40pm.. Apa pula kata dari keluarga2 mereka yang ada antaranya di PAKSA menganggotai komunis? If my uncle didnt join the party, im sure asal usul kami tak ada dan juga, saya tak ada di dunia ini. Im sure nama dia juga tak akan di sebut dalam cerita bukit kepong and also as the right hand man on mr CP (i did double check with mum and granny). Haloo friend.. apakah perasaan keluarga kami selama ini? You tak mahu tanya ke? Apa pula dgn ahli keluarga kami yg di bunuh oleh Jepun? (Tapi cerita EMBUN yang tak bermutu dan lemah - dialog lemah, pelakon lemah, tu boleh lepas ek?)
I tend to agree with Anonymous 10:15pm bout Wahi Anuar. Zaman waktu itu, we were against the Mat Salleh. Jika my uncle tidak di gantung oleh tandatangan of Sultan Perak atas desakan British, maybe they know each other, kot? But the main point is their role during the emergency period. Apa nak buat di waktu itu? Nak makan pun susah. Samada berjuang untuk negara atau di tembak oleh spy British??
Kalau nak di ikutkan, sekarang ni dah merdeka pun memang ada komunis di sekeliling kita. Tapi berselindung di balik tabir.. Depan saja baik, namun idealogi amat berlainan sekali.
Anyway, im just in the middle atas gabungan 2 party.. 1 di gelar keluarga party komunis.. 1 lagi di gelar keluarga bermulanya umno. Maybe tak lama lagi, buka party sendiri (party elken? avon? tuppwerware?).
Just maybe lah if Mr Amir letak si perempuan gunung ledang atau perempuan melayu terakhir as the executive producer with millions budget or at least pelakon tambahan (scene sidai baju berkemban), boleh lah pihak penapisan lepaskan (tutup mata sebelah syndrome)
aku percaya filem ini bagus dan kumpulan "3 line" dan kerabatnya telah melakukan konspirasi untuk menutup sejarah dan mata orang melayu malaysia. huhuhuhuh. percayalah konspirasi ini. go amir!!
p/s: terpaksa anonymous, jika tidak kumpulan "3 line" tu dapat cari aku. aku sungguh paranoid.
Actually, if we complain so much, will the government even give a damn ?? So sad.........I'm sure those ministers will read this blog......with "one eye close".
Public : Eh, Cyclop Jasin. You read the blog regarding LKT ?
Cyclop Jasin : I tried, but I can't read much with just one eye.
Aiyaa, suruh mereka semua tutup satu mata. Suruh Amir datang ke Jasin bikin filem ini. Pasti pass punya. Pasal I ada.
I just saw it in Singapore. Got me thinking... which is a mark of a good film.
But having seen it, I can't understand why it should be banned. There's nothing one-sided about it.
Also check out
http://ybsampler1.blogspot.com/2006/05/last-communist-in-cinema.html
He's a Singaporean blogger writing about his impressions after seeing the film.
Malaysians have made mistakes in the past, many suffered, many we know suffered.
If we don't learn it for what it is, then those who suffered have suffered without a purpose.
The least we could do, in honouring a mistake or a painful incident, is to give them a proper purpose for their suffering.
They suffered for the benefit of their future generation, and as their future generation i plan of benefiting the way they intended me to.
Amir, is it then possible for me to get a copy of your documentary?
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Mr. Amir, ever thought of just pirating the movie yourself ? :D
the government can't block you there ( but there is the risks of raids )
5 bucks per cd, sell at every pasar malam XD
This way, at least the movie can reach out to some people
yea, rip the movie to VCD and distribute it thru pasar malam VCD peddlers. this way you movie at least can reach to the people (like me).
Errr i watch the trailer and it just create more urge and curiosity within me to watch this film, can someone or anyone direct me where i can get a copy or any special screening for this film around KL? i mean am willing to pay And kudos to Amir Muhammad and crew
hi..
i'm a design student currently doing a research about this movie of yours.
and after reading your view on why your movie is banned,it got me really interested in it.
i have to say that i think it's unfair to condemn a movie without even watching it and it's even more absurd to do it through a public media,which is the newpaper.
my suggestion to you is to follow a previous comment to post clips of your movie on the net so that people who are still impartial could actually view and judge for themselves.
don't let the conservative people dampen your creative thinking.
yeah why not the goverment banned LKT ? well who care's with that. that was the first sign that cross my mind when the LKT been banned by goverment.
But after i read several of articles and blogs. yeah... there's a very big point that we should stop it in public. We as new generation have'nt touch the cruelty of communist attack that time. It was very bad and most of the people suffered. A lot had died in the tragedy and that's because of the cruelty of chin peng and his fellows. correct or not ??? rashid maidin and other's who had become traitor to our beloved land's that had join PKM that time was being dim to be powered in malaya as the chinese gave beutiful promises to them. that's why they fighting like hell againts british. in the other story.
but finally ... they had been urine by the chinese and untill today their generation lives in the full of shame. thinking where to cover their ass of what they great2 grandfather did in the past. did you knew that amir ? is it because of money you did this unmoral LKT ? if yes ... no wonder god does'nt full fill your wish.
So amir, by making this kind of movie for sure will make a lot of people jump and hot ass. while our people are still in the process of forgeting him and malaysia goverment did banned him from being resident. And most of Melayu people hates him very much. you must think the feeling of the people who had been touch the thorn of communist and where untill now they'd still suffered. you must admit that. Some people also have feeling and our goverment did the best way to prevent it. only a few people like you will love him as he do nothing to your generation. i think so ...
You know what ... your old semi blue film gold & gincu is quite ok. why don't you just keep it up to make that kind of movie ? teenagers will like that as they will make a full seat's at cinema.
For LKT movie, i think why dont you publish it to internet or if you too kind you can publish it to youtube.com and let everybuddy judge it. better is'nt it ? or not you will waste it ...
anyway ... go,go,go amir. make more gol & gincu movie.
Hey amir ... i have a suggestion to you and your company. why not make a pirate copy of LKT ? at least you can cover earlier money. i can help you ...
my suggestion sell rm3 as LKT is a DIY movie. everyone agree with me ?
maybe you should learn to understand OTHER people feelings. And try to read this back as there a lot of people don't ever like your movie even they never watch it yet.
i repeat : try to study or understand OTHER people feeling's... dude !!!
LPF ditegur tak peka (BH, 3 Mei 2006)
Oleh Norfatimah Ahmad, Jalal Ali Abdul Rahim, Masrina Mohd Yunos dan Adha Ghazali
Tayangan ‘Lelaki Komunis Terakhir’ luka hati mangsa darurat
KUALA LUMPUR: Tindakan Lembaga Penapis Filem (LPF) meluluskan tayangan dokumentari ‘Lelaki Komunis Terakhir’ yang mengisahkan kehidupan bekas pemimpin Parti Komunis Malaya (PKM), Chin Peng, disifatkan sebagai tidak kena pada tempatnya.
Pelbagai pihak yang dihubungi bagi mendapatkan reaksi berhubung perkara itu, mengecam tindakan LPF kerana ia dilihat sebagai tidak peka terhadap sensitiviti rakyat negara ini khususnya mangsa dan keluarga mereka yang menderita akibat kekejaman komunis.
Ketua Puteri Umno, Datuk Noraini Ahmad berkata, tindakan LPF itu disifatkan sebagai tidak wajar kerana adalah tidak sesuai untuk mana-mana pihak mengagung-agungkan pemimpin komunis sedangkan negara juga mempunyai tokoh yang lebih berwibawa untuk diteladani.
Katanya, perkara berhubung penerbitan dokumentari itu dan sama ada tayangannya wajar diluluskan oleh pihak berkuasa pernah dibincangkan sebelum ini tetapi ia tidak dipanjangkan kerana beranggapan usaha menerbitkannya tidak akan menjadi kenyataan.
Tokoh sejarah, Profesor Emeritus Datuk Khoo Kay Kim berkata, LPF sepatutnya tidak perlu terburu-buru memberi kelulusan tayangan dokumentari itu sebaliknya ia harus dirujuk kepada pihak yang arif terutama dari segi kesannya jika kisah itu disiarkan kepada umum.
“Sebelum meluluskan, biarlah pihak yang arif menontonnya terlebih dulu. Dalam hal ini LPF tentu tidak benar-benar faham jika kita minta mereka menjelaskan apa itu komunisme dan faham apa sejarah darurat.
“Kekejaman komunis menyebabkan kesengsaraan dahsyat kepada rakyat dan pasukan keselamatan. Penyiarannya hanya menyebabkan timbul rasa kurang senang di kalangan mereka,” katanya ketika diminta mengulas keputusan LPF meluluskan tayangan dokumentari arahan Amir Muhammad itu di pawagam mulai 18 Mei ini.
Bagaimanapun tayangan dokumentari itu hanya diluluskan di tiga pawagam milik rangkaian Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) itu di pusat membeli-belah Mid Valley dan One Utama, Kuala Lumpur serta Gurney Plaza di Pulau Pinang.
Veteran Umno, Tan Sri Aziz Tapa, berkata dokumentari itu tidak wajar dibenar ditayangkan kepada umum kerana kebencian terhadap Chin Peng sangat mendalam terutama di kalangan mangsa kekejaman PKM dan walaupun luka sudah hilang, parutnya tetap ada’.
“Sebut saja nama Chin Peng orang sudah marah. Tayangan itu hanya membangkitkan lagi kemarahan terutama kalangan keluarga mangsa dan kita bimbang `luka lama berdarah kembali’,” katanya yang menyifatkan kelulusan itu mungkin dibuat pegawai muda LPF yang terlalu mahu `demokrasi’ tanpa menyedari kesannya.
Seorang lagi veteran Umno, Tan Sri Zaleha Ismail, berkata beliau menentang keras tayangan dokumentari berkenaan kerana ia hanya melukakan hati mereka yang pernah sengsara angkara kekejaman komunis.
Sementara itu, Pengarah Jabatan Keselamatan Dalam Negeri dan Ketenteraman Awam (KDNKA), Datuk Mustafa Abdullah berkata beliau sendiri tidak pasti mengenai status kelulusan tayangan dokumentari berkenaan.
Beliau berkata, sehingga kini pihaknya tidak menerima maklumat berhubung pembikinan ataupun penayangan filem itu tetapi yakin cawangan Khas Bukit Aman sudah tahu mengenainya.
“Apa pun, saya yakin, mesti ada rasional di sebalik kelulusan yang diberikan oleh LPF untuk dokumentari itu ditayangkan,” katanya yang enggan mengulas lanjut.
Presiden Persatuan Bekas Tentera Malaysia, Datuk Mohamad Ghani, berkata tindakan LPF meluluskan tayangan filem itu boleh mencetus kemarahan semua anggota tentera terutama mereka yang pernah berjuang menentang komunis.
“Filem ini seolah-olah memperkecilkan perjuangan kami pasukan keselamatan menentang komunis sedangkan sepanjang tempoh itu, lebih 11,000 anggota polis, tentera dan orang awam terkorban.
p/s; plz don't delete this post. let everybuddy see ... not all vote for you.
Greeting's Amir.
For your information, my family had touch the tyrannical of PKM in Malaya that time. What they have told me it was very sad. i think no need to tell what had PKM did to malaya that time. everybuddy knews it very well. so do you.
PFM, PPFM anggap ‘filem komunis’ tidak wajar (BH, 5 Mei 2006)
Mereka terkejut filem Lelaki Komunis Terakhir mendapat lampu hijau Lembaga Penapisan Filem Malaysia
PERSATUAN Pengeluar Filem Malaysia (PFM) dan Persatuan Pekerja Filem Malaysia (PPFM) mengaku tidak tahu menahu mengenai penerbitan filem dokumentari Lelaki Komunis Terakhir sama ada di peringkat awal hingga posproduksinya kerana tenaga kerja serta penerbitnya bukan ahli mereka.
Dua persatuan perfileman yang berpengaruh itu juga menyifatkan penerbitan filem itu tidak wajar dalam konteks Malaysia yang berdaulat pada masa kini dan akan datang, selain Lembaga Penapisan Filem Malaysia (LPF) juga tidak sepatutnya meluluskan filem itu untuk tatapan rakyat.
Presiden Persatuan Pengeluar Filem Malaysia (PFM), Ruhani Abdul Rahman, berkata beliau hanya tahun filem Lelaki Komunis Terakhir muncul apabila ia mula menjadi sebutan beberapa penggiat filem dan kemudian mengetahuinya menerusi media massa apabila bakal ditayangkan bermula 18 Mei ini.
Kata Ruhani, secara peribadi dia sendiri terkejut apabila dokumentari mengenai Chin Peng dihasilkan dan dalam diam-diam sudah hendak ditayangkan kepada umum.
“Penerbit filem dokumentari ini bukan ahli PFM. Kami tidak tahu menahu dan tidak pernah terbabit dalam memberi kerjasama. Saya juga terkejut apabila LPF sendiri boleh beri kelulusan terhadap filem ini. Bila masanya Amir mengarah filem ini? Kita pun tidak tahu siapa pembiaya dan penerbitnya?
“Apa yang kita kesalkan, kalau untuk bercakap mengenai perjuangan sejarah, tidak adakah cerita yang dapat mengangkat martabat perjuangan tokoh nasionalis bangsa dan negara kita, daripada mengambil cerita mengenai komunis dan pemimpin Parti Komunis Malaya (PKM) yang terbukti dulu banyak memberi kesan sengsara terhadap rakyat.
“Tidak adakah wira Melayu yang boleh Amir angkat menerusi filem dokumentari. Kita belum ada filem dokumentari mengenai tokoh kita seperti Datuk Onn Jaafar, Tunku Abdul Rahman malah tokoh radikal seperti Ibrahim Yaacob atau Dr Burhanuddin Al-Helmy? Kenapa pilih Chin Peng?
“Memang kita tidak lagi menonton cerita Lelaki Komunis Terakhir, tetapi soalnya kenapa subjek itu dipilih? Ini mengundang sensitiviti masyarakat. Ia akan menjadikan rakyat mungkin marah dan tidak suka. Inilah masalah pembikin filem generasi baru yang lebih berkiblat cara filem Barat. Di Amerika, pembunuh diberi kemasyhuran dengan menerbit filem mereka untuk mempromosikan kejahatan mereka itu menerusi teknik cerita yang berselindung bahawa pembunuh itu orang baik. Inikah yang hendak diikut?” kata Ruhani.
Presiden PPFM, Syed Mohamed Hassan turut menafikan ada ahli PPFM menjadi krew untuk filem dokumentari berkenaan kerana pihaknya sendiri tidak tahu mengenai perjalanan produksi dan penggambarannya.
“Kami di PPFM berasakan filem sebegini tidak wajar dibuat apatah lagi ditayangkan untuk umum di pawagam. LPF harus memikirkan soal sensitiviti masyarakat sebab komunis atau PKM menjadi musuh negara. Walaupun persembahannya tidak ada babak perang atau tidak muncul Chin Peng secara fizikal, tetapi semangat, personaliti dan jiwa komunis Chin Peng tentu ditunjukkan secara psikologi.
“LPF kena berani. LPF memang perlu bersikap terbuka tetapi biarlah lebih sensitif. Sensitiviti masyarakat kena ambil kira kerana gerakan komunis memberi penderitaan kepada rakyat di negara ini sama ada sebelum dan selepas Malaysia merdeka.
“Kita dalam dunia filem tahu, filem sebegitu akan dipaparkan dengan babak yang bermain secara psikologi dengan visual dan garapan tersirat. Ini boleh merosakkan pemikiran generasi muda. PPFM tidak bersetuju Lelaki Komunis Terakhir ditayang secara umum.
“Kenapa sebelum filem ini diberi kelulusan LPF, biarlah ia ditayangkan dulu di Parlimen, biar Parlimen putuskan layak atau tidak untuk ditayangkan kepada rakyat Malaysia. Ini filem yang sensitif kerana berkaitan Chin Peng.
“Krew filem ini bukan ahli PPFM. Saya sendiri tidak tahu siapa krew yang bekerja dengan produksi ini dan siapa menjadi pembiaya filem ini. PPFM juga berasakan rakyat Malaysia tidak wajar dihidangkan filem mengenai Chin Peng. Kita kena ada semangat cintakan bangsa dan negara kerana perjuangan tokoh nasionalis dulu membolehkan generasi sekarang hidup sejahtera di negara ini.
“Sebenarnya, apa pun alasan diberi, soalnya apa sangat cerita yang mahu menunjukkan kisah komunis dan mahu menghargai mereka yang menjadi komunis? Kalau kita biarkan negara ini bebas tanpa had kepada sesiapa saja, bermakna kita tidak percaya dengan tokoh nasionalis kita dulu. Kita kena melindungi perkara ini daripada digembar-gemburkan untuk generasi akan datang,” kata Syed Mohamed.
i really thought this movie could help me in my history this year.
but it wasnt realeased due to some reasons.
i hope they would change their mind soon.
till then, dont give up =]
Hi Amir,
This is Malaysia! What do you expect? Make your name Internationally and come back home later, like Aishah, Dato Shake and all. Forget about all these 'Akmal' kind of people/mentality. If they don't need your work, than you don't have to need them as well. Show them that you not only can survive despite the ban, but make a success from Lelaki Komunis Terakhir abroad!
dah tengok... boring giler.. cakap banyak. ingatkan ada perang2 ker.. he he he.. tapi lagu2 dia kelakor. Anyway, cerita docu, ada org nak gi tengok kat wayang ke?
I wholly support you. I'm not happy with what the state did to you as well. Oh well. A price to be paid for living in Bodoland (my blog explains what Bodoland is).
Funny how the state is so concerned about this film, presuming that their main concern is about communism and racial "glory".
Heck, so many of the people have been so comfortable with capitalism for such a long time that it'd take a monk/nun or a lazy apathetic dickhead to convert to capitalism.
--
Btw, i suppose that it's too late to write to the media now, no?
Do update me. Would love to help in any humanly possible way. I wonder how I can get hold of your film too.
blackorient@gmail.com
The DVD can be bought in Singapore in shops like Kinokuniya, Borders, HMV, etc.
No wonder Singapore is a 'negara maju' and Malaysia can't even manage a Top 100 university. Sad.
Cilakak punya olang....
Ade ke buat citer kuminis bangsat tuh? Aku rasa hang ni pun keturunan kominis nih...gila betul, buta sejarah, pekak sejarah betul...tapi yang aku dapat dr blog ni, masih ramai lagi ahli PKM sekarang ini, wlaupun komunis sendiri dah berkubur, haprak n tak praktikal...even china pun slow2 nak buang komunis....even shamsiah fakeh, chin peng n ramai lagi bangsat2 yang menjunjung ideologi tidak percaya tuhan tu dah rasa tak best duduk kat negara komunis dan nak balik ke malaya yang mereka buat sengsara dulu....cilakak lo olang semua pembunuh bangsa, pengkhianat agama....tibe2 ada lah plak orang giler seperti hang nak buat citer bangsat2 anjing Karl Marx tu....banyak lagi film hang boleh buat....baik buat filem blue dari buat filem si bangsat itu.....ehhh mana soviet ek?...kekeke...gone with the wind.
PKM nak bebaskan Malaya dari Brit?? HahahHAhahahaHAha.....tak penah dalam sejarah bila Komunis menang ianya menjadi lebih baik melainkan berjuta2 nyawa akan melayang etc2 ..... Sam Seng tu memang bangsat! Abdullah Celana Dalam Juga bangsat, Shamsiah Fakeh juga bangsat.....nak tau kenapa? Sebab memperjuangkan ideology Karl Marx dengan membuta tuli...takde ilmu...
p/s: Aku rasa mereka lebih kepada perjuangan untuk kepentingan diri, bukan untuk agama nusa dan bangsa.
Semoga Allah membalas dengan setimpal diatas apa yang pernah dilakukan olrg Sam Seng Melayu semua itu.AMin Ya Robbal Alamin.
Salam sejahtera
saya dan rakan-rakan seperjuangan dalam universiti yang mempunyai pelajar teramai di Malaysia ini telah menonton docu yang penuh kontreversi (kononnya...) ini dalam sesi khas di bawah subjek ini. Kami menyebelahi anda dan kami akan menghasilkan karya yang cantik dan berani seperti ini... dan anda akan terus dibincangkan dalam dunia kami di kampus. Selamat berkarya.
dear amir, can you also post where we can access/purchase your movie on the internet. its for the benefits for Malaysians abroad like me who are not under the scope of Malaysian law.
thanks
The Last Communist can be purchased on Amazon.com :-)
I think you better change you title to Lelaki Buruan terakhir...
I think they can approve..
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I was and still am really looking forward to your film. I'm sorry for the frustration you are going through now.
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