YOURSAY 'Kua, asking Shuhaimi to consider your views is the equivalent to Anne Frank asking Joseph Goebbels if he liked her diary.'

Tanda Putera: Deconstructing prejudice

Anonymous #19098644 : Filmmaker Shuhaimi Baba is nothing but a mouthpiece for Umno propaganda, and the release of the movie is meant to heighten racial tensions by distorting history. The Malays themselves voted against Umno in 1969, resulting in a setback for Umno.

Eyewitness accounts and documents were indisputable - that then Selangor MB Harun Idris and Umno Youth had prepared parangs and Molotov cocktails and this was distributed by them to start the conflagration.

Then Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman had stated that Abdul Razak had disobeyed his instructions that there was to be no march by Umno.

Time will prove that Razak, Harun, then home minister Ghazali Shafie and former PM Mahathir Mohamad all played a nefarious role in executing a political coup d'etat against the Tunku.

Ferdtan: Kua Kia Soong, you are wasting your time asking Shuhaimi Baba to seriously read your book. She seems to have quite a fuzzy logic and idea in defending herself after many had made allegations against her on her biasses.

However, we have to forgive her as she was well paid/sponsored by government agency, Finas (National Film Development Corporation), to do the dirty job.

Though Kua expected much of her "as an artist with ideals and integrity (who) would share such aspirations for truth, justice, freedom, democracy and human rights", all these values mean nothing to her.

With the film ‘Tanda Putera', she has lost her artistic status. Instead, she joins the despicable ranks of those propagandistic producers making films for the highest bidders.

Starr: Shuhaimi Baba is merely a film director at best, a hired propagandist of Umno-BN at worst. Certainly, the fact that she is no historian nor researcher leaves much to be desired.

But the timing and the funding source of her film have raised questions on her credibility and authenticity as a reliable source of record regarding May 13, the darkest chapter of our history.

Is it a coincidence that DPM Muhyiddin Yassin recently announced the review of our nation's history to instil patriotism among the students, perhaps with BN's own dodgy version?

Odin: The RM4.8 million film is fully funded by Finas and Mdec (both government agencies). A picture of LKS (Lim Kit Siang) being dragged away was posted on the producer's Facebook wall, with a caption accusing him of urinating at a flagpole on the then Selangor MB's premises, and stating that it was one of the scenes in the film.

However, that picture was actually taken in Sabah almost 20 years after the May 13 riots. The director claimed that the picture had been posted by a fan, when it was actually posted by the company itself.

She has also claimed that the film focussed on the special relationship between Razak and his then deputy, Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, but 10 minutes of footage out of 105 minutes (or 9.52 percent) has been devoted to the May 13 riots. Considering the supposed focus, that is excessive. Ask anyone who really knows about script writing.

The screening date was initially Sept 13 (now Nov 15). That date cannot be a mere coincidence. Really, we don't have to be a Mensa member to tell the real reason for making the film.

Kim Quek: The release of this film has been obviously postponed to time with the calling of the next election. It is undoubtedly intended as a lethal election weapon to incite racial hatred and fear so as to save Umno from obliteration.

Pakatan Rakyat and civil society must start working on measures to counter the anticipated negative impact such evil propaganda will produce.

Fair&Just : From the audio recording of Tunku Abdul Rahman which Kua mentioned, we now know who has blood on their hands as the incident resulted in hundreds dead.

Please remember this and hopefully when Pakatan Rakyat is elected, someone will study the matter and settle the issue finally and truthfully, instead of relying on unsupported allegations and cover ups.

Anonymous_4030: The problem with Kua is that he analyses and makes his conclusion based on a narrow class analysis. Therein lies the fundamental problem to his writings.

Second, Kua is trying to connect the two very separate issues together. What is the relationship between the Malay insults thrown by the DAP and Gerakan demonstrators in Kuala Lumpur and the political infighting in Umno?

Ask yourselves which came first? Anti-Tunku sentiment in Umno or the racist march by DAP and Gerakan? To date, only Gerakan has officially apologised for the racist behaviour involving their members, a day after the incident.

Dr Jag#04496187: Intelligence reports garnered by the CIA, other unable-to-mind-their-own-business spook agencies, and word of mouth insider information from the Tunku and Mustapha Harun are convincing to me - that Razak Hussein, Ghazali Shafie and Harun Idris were the master-of-disaster scream team that created and orchestrated the dastardly May 13, 1969 incident. Ismail Abdul Rahman remained neutral and uncommitted.

The issues were crystal clear - the opposition's 1969 election victory, Razak's open-secret dislike for the Tunku, fear of the non-Malay electorate, Malay rights on a it's-now-or-never basis, and of course, the perpetual thorn of Article 153 of the constitution.

There were other puppeteers, too. Research can never be complete until one checks, re-checks and cross-checks all the facts, details, data and particulars.

Ngecui: That's the way it should be, Dr Jag. That's why the ghosts of 513 cannot be exorcised because true justice has not been done.

Instead of making the perpetrators accountable (some are still alive today), they were rewarded with power and riches by a clueless electorate.

Faz: Umno's history affect a lot of people. The idealism of independence took time to sink in after the euphoria of the celebration in 1957, but Tunku's laissez-faire attitude did not go well with the ultra-Malay nationalists, as mentioned.

The power grab was done with finesse then, but still it had the trademark of Umno in obvious guises. They are at it till these days under different pretext, but the end game is to get power for their own use.

So, Shuhaimi, you are not alone in following the same path to prosperity by backing the really rotten system. Still, only the tough will get going and you are not one of them.

Do enjoy your pickings while the time is still on your side. Kua has my backing for intellectual discourse. May we Malaysians prosper.

Bmjr: Kua, what does Shuhaimi know about truth, objectivity, research or even what it means to use art to depict historical events?

She is but a third-rate film producer who aspires to immortality by throwing her lot with the BN and Umno cohorts.

And her greatest failing, and she knows it, is that she is a racist true and simple, another case of championing ‘race, religion and royalty'.

Geronimo: The late Yasmin Ahmad's movies have always been done tastefully in fostering and uniting the various races of this country, while Shuhaimi Baba is nothing more than an opportunist in trying to divide the races via this crappy movie.

Abuminable: I knew Shuhaimi Baba when she was fresh out of university and beginning her career in theatre and film. She struck me as an intelligent, thinking person.

Since those early days, Shuhaimi has had to swallow her artistic pride and once-independent spirit just to get funding for her projects. Unlike Namewee, who managed to raise money for his debut feature (Nasi Lemak 2.0) from private sources, Shuhaimi depends on Finas and BN-aligned corporations.

Is it any surprise that she has opted to follow in the footsteps of Leni Riefenstahl, propaganda filmmaker who served the Nazis?

Anonymous #18452573: Kua, asking Shuhaimi to consider your views is the equivalent to Anne Frank asking Joseph Goebbels if he liked her diary.

Official German records made during WWII will show that Joseph Goebbels was right. We hope that one day, Kua's book will be made into a movie as well so people can decide for themselves.

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