Controversial May 13 film Tanda Putera director Shuhaimi Baba has lashed out at PAS for its brand of Islam, which she described as "mere anger-mongering".

Shuhaimi also went on to question the Islamic party's rule in the east coast state of Kelantan, which she claimed was rife with social ills.

NONE "Islam is supposed to be about love. But Islam in PAS is about anger," she told a forum organised by Malay daily Sinar Harian in Shah Alam yesterday.

"What is your right to say this person is Islamic, who is un-Islamic, who is more, who is less? Who goes to hell, or who goes to heaven?

"That is not the Islam I know," she lamented as she dismissed PAS' religious mien as mere political posturing.

Shuhaimi ( right ) said this in reaction to torrential criticisms and personal attacks against her over Tanda Putera .

PAS supporters are believed to be among those she identified as being her greatest critics.

She described how several individuals had accused her of being "un-Islamic" and claimed that "she will go to hell" for her part in Tanda Putera .

Shuhaimi then quoted unnamed surveys which she said showed PAS-ruled Kelantan to be leading in social ills, with the state having the highest number of single mothers, drug abuse cases and others, despite it being ruled by an "Islamic" party.

Kelantan PAS not Islamic enough?

"What's the matter? Are they not Islamic enough?" she asked in a deadpan expression.

Despite whatever the surveys said of the east coast state, she added, she considered Kelantan "my favourite state", as it is rich in traditional and cultural heritage.

However, Shuhaimi lamented, the PAS government's prohibition on traditional Malay dances such as the Mak Yong , for example, has led to its practitioners being driven into hardship.

"I know one person involved in Mak Yong . She has given up on the dance, and has to do other things, like tapping rubber. I am helping them."

Shuhaimi called on mainstream artistic establishments, such as Actor's Studio and Persatuan Seniman Malaysia, to consider including Mak Yong practitioners as part of their members and work to alleviate their suffering.

'I don't sideline LGBTs'

She also defended herself as not being a party to sidelining anybody for their artistic activity or lifestyle choice, and argued that in her work, she paid no heed to LGBTs, for example, respecting them as fellow peers.

"We do not take them and put them somewhere," she said, admitting that the bulk of her creative workers were from those with such lifestyle choices.

Shuhaimi also attacked those who she said practised too much hatred in politics for going as far as to claim that the Sulu intrusion into Lahad Datu was a government conspiracy.

"The Lahad Datu incident was called a sandiwara (play). We movie people are the ones that sandiwara (put on a show), not soldiers dying in Lahad Datu. We know what is sandiwara ," she quipped.

NONE Meanwhile, other panellists at the forum - which discussed the current trend of artistes being used by political parties in the campaign trail together with Shuhaimi - all agreed that there was nothing wrong with the practice, though they had different arguments on this.

Former artist turned PAS campaigner Mohd Halim Lokman, popularly known as Bob Lokman ( right ), admitted that he was being used for his popularity as "a bait" to draw crowds to PAS ceramah sessions.

"Our credibility is to draw voters," Bob admitted, adding that if he were not able to draw the crowd, it was possible that PAS might not even call on him to join their campaign trail.

'Political parties use artistes to draw crowds'

However, Bob believes that this is all right, for he sees PAS as a platform for him to do what Allah wants him to do, which is to spread the good word of Allah in the company of like-minded people.

Shuhaimi, on the other hand, sees this as simply a business arrangement where artistes perform a role in political parties campaigns just as they would if they were acting in movies.

For this, she opined that the artistes should be financially compensated.

Shuhaimi believes this was already the case, that artistes appearing for both the BN and Pakatan were indeed handsomely paid.

"I know Pakatan is not poor like they claim; they have money."

She also accepted the fact that there are artistes who profess or have developed personal support for either side of the political divide, admitting that she herself is a BN supporter.

She respects those who take their support for political parties to the next level by directly joining the fray, cautioning that those who do must not be mere puppets but, hopefully, to rise to party leadership and public office in their own right.

'Artistes who help political parties should be paid'

Seniman president Mohd Zaidi Jamil, who is better known as Zed Zaidi, on one hand agreed with Shuhaimi that using artistes in political party campaigns was a business arrangement.

"When artistes come to help, there must be payment, whether it is a government (party) or the opposition," Zed said.

If artistes are forced to help out without compensation, he asked, how could they make a living?

NONE Zed believes that people, like former actors such as former US president Ronald Reagan and former Philippine president Joseph Estrada, have also been able to lead political parties and their nations.

His views were shared by actor Hairie Othman ( right in photo above ), who is now a PAS campaigner, who believes that capable artistes should be given a chance in the game of politics.

Unlike Zed, who said artistes should aspire for political leadership, Hairie's take was that they should serve selflessly first and if they are chosen to lead, that would be a bonus.

Hairie also said that artistes who come to help political parties must be compensated, though he claimed that the opposition would offer less than the ruling BN.