Penang PKR Youth set aside their rancor and in the spirit of openness watched the controversial movie Tanda Putera at the Sunway Carnival Mall in Seberang Jaya today.

After viewing it, the PKR leaders said the screening was timely in view of the upcoming Umno party elections, to make Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak look good and to ensure he remains in his posts.

NONE The wing’s state chief Amir Ghazali said the storyline of the movie was “attractive” as it tried to portray the life and times of the country’s two great leaders - former PM Abdul Razak Hussein and his then-deputy Ismail Abdul Rahman.

“The movie showed how kind Tun Razak was to all races and how he tried to help the poor. This would definitely help in the perception towards Najib, especially with the Umno elections round the corner,” he said when met after the movie.

Both leaders were portrayed as struggling to get the country out of a major crisis in the throes and aftermath of the 1969 racial riots.

“However, there were some hilarious scenes where former premier Mahathir Mohamad, obviously the rebel at the time, was shown in a bad light as he was sacked from Umno,” he said.

“Is that the message Najib wants to send to Umno?” he asked, laughing.

NONE Despite some scenes of racial unity worth watching, Amir criticised the racial slant the movie has mostly taken to portray the “bad guys” as representing only one ethnic community.

“Only the same race (Chinese) seem to be the communists, gangsters, rioters and murderers. It is not right, the situation was not as portrayed,” he added.

Amir said the movie also showed that the racial crisis grew out of the increasing support of the Chinese for the opposition, adding that this was a kind of reminder to the current generation of what to expect since the community has thrown their support behind Pakatan Rakyat in the last polls.

He also described the movie as “part fiction and part documentary”, urging the director to be clearer in her presentation next time.

Forum to discuss movie’s merits and demerits

State PKR Youth secretary Syed Mikhael Syed Aidid Radzi said the wing is planning to hold a forum to discuss the merits and demerits of the movie.

“We hope to do it in two weeks. We will be inviting the movie director Shuhaimi Baba, historians and cultural experts including Umno leaders to participate in this forum,” he told reporters when met after the  movie today.

“We are ready to discuss or review the movie now after watching it as we do not want to condemn it without seeing it,” he added.

The wing’s information chief Rizal Hamid said some scenes portrayed Najib in a negative light.

“There was a scene where his father was vomitting and the Najib shown in the movie did nothing to help.

“If he can’t help his own dad, how is he going to help the rakyat?” asked Rizal.

About 10 members of the wing and several journalists watched the movie, courtesy of Golden Screen Cinemas, in the spirit of “openness”.

The wing’s committee members Lim Chee Leong and Kumaresan Aramugam also felt the director had “gone overboard” in the racial riots scenes which targetted only the Chinese community.

“The director and team should do proper research for the film, showing DAP flags and the Chinese as the only cause of the riots is not accurate,” he added.

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