No apology from 'Tanda Putera' director to Kit Siang
There will be no apology to DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang from the creators of the film ‘Tanda Putera’, as he is not even featured in the footage, film director Shuhaimi Baba says.
There will be no apology to DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang from the creators of the film Tanda Putera as he is not even featured in the footage, film director Shuhaimi Baba says.
"We didn't say he is there, we didn't say it has anything to do with him. He is not in the film. Full stop," Shuhaimi told a press conference today.
A row erupted after a picture of Lim being carried away was posted on the film's
Facebook
page, with the caption alleging that he had urinated on a flagpole flying the Selangor flag during the May 13, 1969, riots.
Lim has denied the allegation, saying that he was in Sabah during the riots.
Shuhaimi said the creators of the film had received many photographs from netizens which were shared on the Facebook page, including the offending picture.
After complaints were received about the photo, it was removed from the Facebook page, she explained.
Shuhaimi also noted that the picture with Lim in it was not even taken during the era depicted in the film.
The film, she said, was about the friendship between Malaysia's second prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein and his deputy Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman.
The controversial May 13 riot scene only lasts about 10 minutes of the 115-minute film, and merely serves as the backdrop for Ismail to come out of retirement and rejoin the cabinet, she said.
Chinese mob scene 'historically accurate'
The scene has been criticised for having racist undertones, as it depicts a Malaysian Chinese mob bearing banners with anti-Malay slogans.
However, Shuhaimi defended the scene, saying this was historically accurate, and that Malaysians should accept their history.
"It is time for you to watch your own history," she said, agreeing to a question from the press that Malaysians should be mature enough to accept it.
"I hear people often say at demonstrations, 'We are a mature society. We can accept anything.'
"But it turns out that we aren't. Immature and childish. I think someone needs to grow up," Shuhaimi lamented, pointing out the she and her crew had been the target of profanities and racial slurs.
Asked about the references used, she said that there were many, including consulting representatives from both Razak and Ismail's families, National Operations Council reports, and Suaram director Kua Kia Soong's book 'May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969'.
"Before we make a film this important, we know that there are a lot of things in there that are very sensitive.
"Our responsibility as filmmakers is to know the whole deal: the bad, the good, the embellished, the hidden...
"You have to know what is wrong and what is right, and you choose what to do," Shuhaimi said when asked how important historical accuracy was to her.
She also told reporters that she had read some shocking allegations during her research that she had to leave out of the film because it could not be corroborated.
Tanda Putera , a collaboration between film company Persona Pictures and the National Film Development Corporation (Finas), is rated PG13 and is scheduled for release on Nov 15.
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