yes, I'm back (with a tiny little opinion)

It's been more than a year, so this subject must be important enough for me to start blogging.

I have never been so sickened by such a biased movie review. And that's the reason why I am writing this post. Yes, the movie is Tanda Putera and the review is by a Malay Mail columnist, Erna Mahyuni.

I read the review first before watching the movie. In a way, the review inspired me to watch it because it depicted the movie as an RM5 million "schlock". I was intrigued. So I watched it at Summit USJ because Subang Parade MBO wasn't showing it *shame on you MBO* with the hubs and around 13 other people in the audience on a Monday night.

My verdict: bad casting, mediocre acting, pathetic cinematography (are all Shumi's films like this? Don't think I've watched any) and I failed to relate to any of the fictitious characters. But what Tanda Putera delivered, it delivered with a punch - the message that mob mentality can trigger a deadly domino effect and the noble sacrifices of leaders past.

And what it did not deserve was that scathing and flawed review by Erna Mahyuni. Even her opening statement of 13 May being UMNO's "favourite bogeyman" goes to show that she is biased from the very beginning. Bogeymen aren't real, they're conjured up momoks to scare your kids, but 13 May my dear Erna was very much a real incident and you were not there to experience it first hand.

And no, Tanda Putera is not all about May 13th, contrary to popular belief - it was mainly about the lives of both the late Tun Razak and Tun Dr Ismail. So yes Erna, we can't detail out who's who in the Communist party and its "contribution" to our history, you might want to get someone to make a movie and focus on totally that. The New Village perhaps? 

She also wrote that the movie was one-sided and depicted the Chinese as "ungrateful" and "easily swayed by the evil Communists". Now this is ultimate bullshit. One scene shows how a Chinese farmer refused to disclose a very important information to the Communists which led to his own untimely demise. Were you snoring when this scene came out, Erna?

And by no means there were other scenes that show the Chinese as ungrateful, not even a dialogue equally cringeworthy to the headline of the year "Apa lagi Cina mau?". Shumi did make a feeble attempt at showing inter-racial friendship and how the May 13 issue affected it. So no, I did not feel that Tanda Putera vilify or demonise the Chinese, unless of course Erna could not differentiate between the Chinese and the Communists.

She also condescendingly wrote: "The biggest travesty about Shumi's script is that it paints two of our greatest statesmen as pompous idiots who do not trust their wives."

Now this is where she fails to understand the psyche of the Malay husband / leader at that time. No darling, that was not an era of metrosexuality. It is common for husbands, what more they who hold important position, to not talk to their wives about ANYTHING at all. And that does not mean that they do not trust them - that's just how the way husbands are at that time. And pompous? I suggest you all go watch the movie yourself and judge.

Like a big bully picking on a small fry, Erna's review was a disdainful attempt at creating a bogeyman out of Tanda Putera, a malicious piece that will cause non-Malays to not even consider watching the movie. I believe it was written will ill intention and in all honestly, between Tanda Putera and Erna's review, the latter is the one that can be deemed racially divisive. Watch the movie and you will see what I mean.

But of course, I am Malay and could not get anything through my thick skull.

The biggest travesty about Shuhaimi’s script is that it paints two of our greatest statesmen as pompous idiots who do not trust their wives. - See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/a-review-of-tanda-putera-a-film-that-takes-liberties-with-the-truth#sthash.NVduEyW5.dpuf

The biggest travesty about Shuhaimi’s script is that it paints two of our greatest statesmen as pompous idiots who do not trust their wives. - See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/a-review-of-tanda-putera-a-film-that-takes-liberties-with-the-truth#sthash.NVduEyW5.dpuf