Unlocking...

A few weeks back I was having a talk with a friend of mine when we stumbled across the topic of film censorship in Malaysia. Till today I still do not seem to understand the point of censoring a movie when there is already a rating system at play. Why even bother with the rating system if
the movie is still being butchered up by the censorship board?

The argument seems to be that there are still elements which are not in line with cultural normalities. In a country where incest is on the rise, there is abuse of police powers and corruption amongst government officials, I think we need to spend more time sorting out what are cultural normalities. The Malaysian Government is only interested in ensuring its people are blinded from the realities of life instead of educating them of it in the process of preventing such ill acts.

Another notable example is the censoring of material pertaining to the May 13th 1969 Racial Riots from all textbooks. Walk up to any Malaysian student and ask him about it and he will have no knowledge of it. The Government chooses to disregard its explanation of the event by saying "We do not want the same thing to happen again, hence you should not know about it". In my opinion, the only way such an event is not to happen again is if the people are explained the actuality of what happened, the death toll and the heinous acts committed on that day to make them realise that compromise is the only way to achieve stability. Racism still exists in Malaysia no matter what the Government may say, stereotypes still run rampant even in the more developed areas though I must also say that the degree of its prevalence is in no way comparable to that which took place in South Africa during the Apartheid or of that which took place in Bosnia or Kosovo.

In any case, I think it’s about time more of the youths in Malaysia stood up and took interest in their rights and the policies of the government. Kids in KL are more engrossed in clubbing (which incidentally they believe makes them look cool), disregarding the evil empire which lurks before them. This is not about joining a campaign or donating to charity, this is about making yourself aware of the policies of the government and what you personally think of them.

I hope the youths stand up for their rights and realise that they conforming to youth cultures is nothing but a waste of time. 20 years from now, no one gives a crap if you were a skin head, punk, black metal, gothic, hip hopper or Emo. In fact, you'll most likely look back at yourself and think, what a clown you were. Learn to invest that time you spend on grooming your Emo hair-do and putting that black nail color on on more rewarding activities; activities that serve to make you a better person tomorrow. Learn to call the out the government's fallacies and abnegate these unfair policies which only hamper your ability to think and evaluate.

As for me, as soon as this law gig of mine is done for this semester, I shall try and email the censorship board and see what their comments are going to be vis-à-vis my proposition of non-censorship of above 18 movies. I can only hope that the place isn't filled with dull conservative regressed minded pseudo religious lunatics with no awareness of the existence of the 20th century and the years following it.