Tanda Putera

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The thing about the local film, Tanda Putera, is that - I find it unnecessary.

1) It features the director's view on 513 incident, which, the topic itself is not even allowed to be taught in details in primary or secondary school. Hence, the public never had a fair view on the incident - what gives the director to have the fair view on the incident?

Moreover, in the trailer, it clearly showed that the production team did not do enough research - some of the banners were written in simplified Chinese, whereby it was only introduced into Malaysia in the 70s.



2) Then comes about the timing - the movie will screen some time in November, which is just months away from General Election.

The title itself had already suggested that it is a movie dedicated to Tun Razak, who is the late father of current Prime Minister - Najib Razak.

So there's no doubt that this movie intends to remind people about Tun Razak's contribution to Malaysia.

This point is also strongly related to point#1, which, the movie is somewhat intended to demonize the Chinese descendant in Malaysia - as the cause of the riot.

To give yourself a much holistic view on 513 incident, I strongly recommend you to read the article on Wikipedia, and also an interview with Tunku Abdul Rahman - the ex-Prime Minister who was forced to resign after the 513 incident.

After reading both articles, you can somehow tell that there was indeed some conspiracies, and most importantly, both Malay and Chinese were both held responsible for causing the riot.

So, this movie at this timing, one may say that, somewhat it has intention to be in conjunction with General Election - to tell the citizens that the current government knows best.

3) There are better story to tell for a movie.

For example, how about a film about Tunku Abdul Rahman? There are so many stories to tell, from him being the Chief Minister of Malaya, to become the Prime Minister of Malaya, and his effort in getting Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore to join Malaysia, while witnessing Singapore departed from Malaysia.

That would be a much better topic to remind Malaysians how our leaders fought for independence, to appreciate and to respect.