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An open letter to Shuhaimi Baba

Sugasini Kandiah
The Malay Mail Online
August 30, 2013

AUG 30 — Dear Ms Shuhaimi Baba,

Last night, I went to watch your movie “Tanda Putera” despite the many calls to boycott it. I went to see the movie because 1) You urged Malaysians to see it before criticising and 2) I had hoped to learn something about the May 13, 1969 riots.

After watching the movie, as per your recommendation, I feel I learnt very little, if not nothing, about the May 13 incident. And I believe this is due to two reasons.

One, the film tackles the incident in a manner so shoddy it downright insults the viewer’s intelligence. Second, the director’s poor ability to translate historical interpretation into production leaves the viewer confused as to whether events in the film are fictional or not.

To be quite honest Ms Shuhaimi, you lost me at the very beginning of your film when you chose to show communists killing an Umno election worker and then showed members of the DAP and Gerakan terrorising Malay neighbourhoods in Kuala Lumpur.

You fail to show how these incidents are related and instead seem to have a jolly good time insinuating that the Chinese were primarily responsible for inciting all forms of violence during the period while the Malays are portrayed as simply trying to defend themselves. Continue reading “An open letter to Shuhaimi Baba”

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Let all Malaysians rally behind a Malaysian Dream to build a more united, democratic, free, just and prosperous nation for all Malaysian citizens

On Wednesday, Americans commemorated the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s historic “I have a dream” speech made in Washington on August 28, 1963, which evoked the American Dream which envisioned an inclusive nation where justice and freedom are enjoyed equally by her citizens regardless of colour or creed.

Although much progress have been achieved in the past five decades to achieve these goals in the United States, the American Dream is still very much a work-in-progress.

On the occasion of our 56th National Day, it is my hope that all Malaysians can rally behind a Malaysian Dream to build a more united, democratic, free, just and prosperous nation for all Malaysian citizens so that Malaysia can stand tall in the world.

Is this too much to hope for when in recent months, the language and politics of hatred, suspicion and distrust seemed to have taken dominion of public spaces whether in print or Internet, causing concerned Malaysians to be worried about the nation’s future? Continue reading “Let all Malaysians rally behind a Malaysian Dream to build a more united, democratic, free, just and prosperous nation for all Malaysian citizens”

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Merdeka – how do I feel?

– Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam
The Malaysian Insider
August 30, 2013

I am really happy that we as Malaysians are celebrating our 56th Merdeka, or our National Birthday, with relative peace and progress and a feeling of considerable achievement.

As in the case of our own birthdays, it is therefore a time of reflection, gratitude and for new resolutions that we must make to look forward to a better Malaysian way of life.

For me it is specially important to recall our first Merdeka, because I can say with pride that “I was there”!

Yes, I was at the Selangor Padang or Dataran Merdeka, with my cousin Leslie Abraham, on the eve of Merdeka 1957. Continue reading “Merdeka – how do I feel?”