TV PAKATAN RAKYAT

The making of "meter"


It is not every day you hear the name Khairy Jamaluddin being mentioned followed by rounds of applause.Then again, today’s event was no ordinary event. It may even have been historic to a certain degree, but one thing's for sure... it was certainly unique. 15Malaysia, a joint effort between 15 independent film-makers and Packet One Networks (P1), a wireless broadband company.

Among the familiar faces present were actor Harith Iskandar, director Amir Muhammad, as well as Batu MP Tian Chua, who is the lead in one of the 15 films. ("One Future" by director Tan Chui Mui.) “The films use us as material and try to put forward issues to the public,” said the PKR parliamentarian. 15Malaysia’s producer Pete Teo told the media that the films in the project deal not only with the issue of race relations but also various social and political issues faced by Malaysians today. However, the question of whether these films will drastically alter people’s perceptions of issues is still uncertain. The one condition the project required was that total "creative freedom" be given to the artistes and the directors, said Michael Lai, CEO of P1.

So how did Umno Youth chief Khairy fit into the picture?.His portrayal of a lamenting taxi driver in "Interview With The Taxi Driver" by Benji Lim and Bahir Yeusuff has earned him lots of praise and applause. A few people who attended the launch went so far as to say that if politics does not work out for Khairy, acting is definitely something he can fall back on. Indeed.

I am not in a position to judge Khairy the politician, but I can judge his performance in this video and I must say it was very good! Kudos to the team – very interesting script and simple direction that helps bring focus to the issues in the video. Regarding the issue of language, it is such a politicized issue. It seems that non-Malays are always targeted for apparently not knowing Malay but I beg to differ. From my experience, at least with SPM, many non-Malays actually do score better results in the language as compared to some native speakers themselves. I do not wish to over generalize here but I only hope that Malays do the same and not over generalize our (non-Malays) supposed handicap at the language.

I do however agree to a certain extent that many non-Malays cannot speak Malay fluently (despite excelling in reading/writing/listening). This is largely due to the lack of practice in speaking the language. This in turn, I feel, is partly due to the fact that Malay exists in many dialects and very few Malaysians actually speak ’standard’ Malay (I think only newscasters). In that light, non-Malays should not be squarely blamed.

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Having successfully swept the stakes in the past eight but one by-elections since his thumping return to active politics last year, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim appears impatient to face off with his bitter rivals from Barisan Nasional (BN) in the upcoming contest for Bagan Pinang. “Now we must win Bagan Pinang in Negeri Sembilan. We have to work hard, pray hard so we can get 9-0,” the former deputy prime minister turned Opposition Leader told a thousand-strong multicultural crowd at the Tow Boo Keong hall here last night, earning a rousing applause in return despite some dodgy mathematics.

All but one of the previous eight votes, the most recent of which was in Permatang Pasir, were taken by the PR coalition. BN secured its solitary win in Batang Ai in Sarawak, where it was the incumbent, and conceded the Penanti seat without contest, making the score now 7-1 in favour of Anwar’s alliance. The Bagan Pinang state seat was declared vacant following the death of its assemblyman, Azman Mohd Noor from Umno last Friday, paving the way for the country’s ninth by-election since Election 2008. In the March 8 elections, the late Azman had garnered 6,430 votes over PAS rival Ramli Ismail’s 4,037, earning him a 2,333 vote-majority win.

While the seat is widely considered an Umno stronghold, Anwar seemed highly convinced that his three-party Pakatan Rakyat (PR) faction will be able to snatch a sure-fire victory from the grand old party. “We’ve changed that,” the 62-year-old grandfather told reporters who trailed him from Tow Boo Keong to his last stump at a village surau near the Lost World of Tambun, on the city’s fringes here late last night. “They have to accept the reality that people are clamouring for change,” he added, referring to the wide margin won by PR in the seats previously considered Umno strongholds, namely the recently-ended Permatang Pasir by-election and Bukit Gantang, won by toppled Perak mentri besar, Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin.

But he shied away from giving his reading on the way the vote may swing at this point. “It’s too early to say. We’ll work very hard. The 5,000 postal votes will complicate matters,” the PKR supremo said. He also criticised the Election Commission for failing in their duty to ensure free and fair elections are carried out at poll centres. “Notwithstanding that, we’ll continue to work together with all parties to give a formidable challenge,” Anwar added. The fiery orator had earlier admitted to troubles creeping up on the fledgling three-party alliance.

But he tried to play down their severity, calling them “one or two problems” and painting a picture that there were open channels among his own PKR, the secular DAP and the Islamist PAS. To the non-Muslim crowd in the hall, Anwar said he had just had a long two-way talk with the DAP’s Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng before swinging into Perak, and will be speaking with PAS’ Datuk Seri Hadi Awang and his No. 2 soon. He added the alliance leadership will be meeting next Thursday.

Halal (pelakon utama=Adibah Nor)


House


Tree (main actor=Nik Aziz)


'Chocolate' by Yasmin Ahmad


Potong Saga


If you’re expecting to see or hear Pete Teo headlining any gigs sometime soon, you will be sorely disappointed. The singer-songwriter’s plate has been pretty full lately. For the past three months Pete has been working hard on a secret project, something big, stupendous, major, gigantic, and enormous. Yes, the project deserves to be shouted out loud. Subtlety does not go well with notoriety, especially if one wants to announce something significantly arresting and interesting.

Pete Teo, of course, is a veteran at taking on the difficult task of addressing a serious issue as racial politics with music and humour. His previous project, the collaborative song effort by Malaysia’s most renowned artists and performers, was MAFU (Malaysian Artistes For Unity) with its aptly-titled “Here In My Home” song and video. If you thought that was inspiring, wait till you hear what Pete has to say about his latest venture, called 15Malaysia. It explores similar themes as MAFU, but this time around it utilises the medium of film to talk about a lot of things — food, race, politics, religion, bank loans.

Every little thing that Malaysians come across in their daily lives is touched upon here. No stone is left unturned. Fifteen short films, directed by famous directors such as the late Yasmin Ahmad, James Lee, Amir Muhammad and Ho Yuhang as well as fresh faces like Liew Seng Tat and Johan John promise a Malaysian-ness like no other.