FILM REVIEW:
Just how far are we willing to go for our country? If only
more documentaries, in the same vein of The Last Communist
and I Love Malaya, were made on Singapore’s own political
history, perhaps our sense of national identity and history
would be just that little bit stronger. Film-makers Chan Kah
Mei, Ho Choon Hiong and Eunice Lau encounter modern day former
Malayan Communist Party members in this film that tells of
the quandary facing Malayan Communists unable to return to
homeland Malaya as a result of their ideological allegiance
and history.
Intially inspired by MCP leader Chin Peng’s legal tussle
to regain citizenship, the film creators’ attempts to
find him led them to discover the untold stories of the lives
of the communists in the aftermath of the 1955 Baling Peace
Talks and the 1989 peace agreements. These people and stories
form the core of the film.
To appreciate the film perhaps we should understand the history
behind the Malayan Communist Party. Founded in 1930 as the
Communist Party of Malaya, the MCP played a big role in fighting
the Japanese occupational forces during the World War II (as
the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army). After the
resolution of the war and the subsequent Emergency era, however,
the MCP found itself frozen out of the future of what was
to become Malaysia and Singapore.
Amidst cries of violence against civilian population and atrocities,
the MCP faced off with the British in anti-colonial skirmishes
post war. Tengku Rahman and the UMNO saw the MCP as a threat
with its largely Chinese make-up and communist ideals. The
PAP faced communist political opposition amidst its cries
of equality and meritocracy.
Three powerbrokers, one common perceived antagonist; the rest
of the story is history and in this film we see the final
footsteps of the MCP. This documentary could have taken two
possible routes: make in depth use of the rich foundations
of background and history in bringing out the story of these
people, or to use their story to tell of the communist past
our history textbooks do little to cover.
However,
it does neither. The focus is neither overtly historical nor
biographical. Instead, it is insightfully entertaining. It
takes all that is celluloid friendly in contemporary history
and plonks it down almost as apolitically and unbiasedly as
possible.
As
Hatta Moktar, publicity executive of the Substation, points
out as he introduced me to the film, it is a “primer”
to the myriad of questions and stories abound that lie waiting
to be discovered. What awaits you is a film filled with casual
yet serious interviews with lots of footage of rural life
in Thailand. It’s hardly enough to teach you all about
history in about an hour, but more than sufficient to get
you off your seats and flipping those archives at the library
to learn more.
Former
party members talk of the animals hunted during their jungle
life, joking that “everything with four legs in the
jungle except tables, we’ve eaten them”, while
some share about the logistical concerns living in the jungle,
expounding line after line with the cheerful disposition of
an avid nature guide. Huang Xueying, a former MCP leader now
working a rubber plantation in Thailand, is a particularly
interesting subject. A feisty character by nature, her modernized
personality and highly opinionated quips about life in general
catches the eye more than any other. One gets to see the environment
and conditions they currently live in, with little voice-over
and narration to take away the intimate, interviewing atmosphere
the film creates.
The
positioning of Chin Peng’s legal tussle at the start
and end of the film, intentional or otherwise, creates a fascinating
juxtaposition that highlights the conundrum of ideology versus
nationhood. All in all, the impression given is that every
single one of them wishes to return to their homeland to see
their country, their family and their loved ones. Chin Peng
chooses to fight the “capitalist” way and ironically,
faces the toughest route of them all. Some of the other often
resigned, self-deprecating fellow leaders (featured in the
bulk centre of the film) on the contrary eventually fulfil
their wishes via taking up Thai citizenship and returning
as visitors.
What
price ideology? Is the love for the country about building
one’s home on the foundation of one’s beliefs,
or foremost that of the prosperity and well-being of those
we call fellow citizens? I Love Malaya subtly portrays the
tight but weary grip with which these veterans, now in their
60s-90s, hold on to their staunch communist belief and allegiance.
Fascinatingly,
there are wonderful nuances abound throughout the film especially
when the film-makers interview political figures in distinctly
non-political settings and atmosphere. Both its strength and
its weakness lie in the fact that it reveals so many interesting
points of discussion and consideration along the way but never
ever covers any in depth, instead glossing over it with little
or no narration or voiceovers of historical information. I
like it though, for that fact that political opinions and
views are left for the audience to form by subtly prompting
them to source for more information, a rarity in many documentaries
with political undertones.
Narratives
as I mentioned earlier, are kept to a minimum as interviews
with guests and footage guide the documentary along with minimal
historical reference and data. To its detractors claiming
a biased slant, I hasten to disagree that any more than a
minority will get any impression that the film-makers intended
it to be anything more than an exploratory piece.
Perhaps most striking of all is the haunting piano arrangement
of I Love Malaya, the MCP anthem that gave the documentary
the name. In the film, Madam Huang Xueying sings it with much
gusto as it fades into a resonating echoing voice. Like the
soundtrack and title piece itself, this film is felt and experienced
that scrutinized or dissected. Truth is, whatever the ideological
slant these people possess, what it aims to capture is the
soul and character of such nationalistic and politically-driven
people after almost half a century and the gradual evolvement
of their lives.
To quote a man from the film, “If he (Chin Peng) returns,
that’s good… We’re Chinese after all.”
Some may say politicians are the most emotionally hardened
people around. That may be true, but politics itself is an
inseparable mix of ideals and emotions, a constant tussle
between rationality and sentiment. This film barely scratches
the surface, but its attempt to will leave you roused and
hopefully search for the patriotic zeal within you.
Review
by Daniel Lim
|
