BRING ME THE HEAD OF SAMY VELLU

Pagi tatkala membaca suratkhabar saya terkejut melihat tajuk dimana seorang perwakilan MIC mencadangkan supaya diletakkan kalungan kasut pada gambarTun Dr.Mahathir. Tindakan itu dibuat atas rasa tidak puas hati kononnya mantan Perdana Menteri itu telah mencampuri hal ehwal dalaman parti MIC.

Saya tidak tahu sama ada kenyataan yang diberikan oleh Tun Dr.Mahathir itu seolah-olah beliau cuba mencampuri urusan MIC atau pun sekadar memberi pendapat. Saya tidak rasa pendapat beliau akan memberi kesan kepada pemilihan MIC, jika ia berlaku maka pendapat beliau masih lagi ingin didengari rakyat.

Apa yang ingin saya katakan disini bahawasanya...."Jangan Kurang Ajar". Saya hairan Samy Vellu yang suatu ketika pernah menyuap kek ke mulut Tun Dr.Mahathir boleh berdiam diri dan tidak menegur tindakan tersebut.

Seburuk mana pun mantan Perdana Menteri itu pun, ada baik nya juga. Sekurang-kurangnya dia tahu untuk meletak jawatan. Sekurang-kurangnya beliau juga ada pendirian walaupun ada kalanya kita tidak sukai.

Samy Vellu berlagak seolah-olah beliau tuhan yang tidak boleh ditegur. Beliau mengepalai MIC seperti seorang samseng dalam filem Tamil. Selagi tidak ada Rajnikand yang datang menyelamatkan masyarakat India didalam fantasi Samy Vellu, selagi itu lah mereka akan terpinggir.

Beliau tidak sedar atau masih didalam alam fantasi filem Tamil nya bahawa, beliau lah punca undi kaum India beralih ke Pakatan Rakyat.

Kalau MIC hendak berterima kasih kepada PM Najib yang 'banyak' membantu kaum India, sekurang-kurangnya mereka menerima kenyataan tekanan daripada Tun Dr.Mahathir sedikit sebanyak memberi impak kepada perubahan pucuk pimpinan UMNO dan seterusnya membolehkan Najib naik ke takhta kerajaan dan membantu kaum India.

Kepada yang nak cuba mengkalungkan kasut ke leher negarawan Malaysia ini, datang lah. Jangan bersembunyi disebalik perhimpunan agung tersebut. Ataupun nak saya pasang DVD "Bring Me The Head Of Samy Vellu"?

Mungkin ada yang berpendapat bahawa sentimen saya ini disebabkan saya baru saja menemuramah mantan Perdana Menteri tersebut. Saya tidak bersetuju. Kalau MIC nak mengkalungkan kasut pada gambar Tok Guru Nik Aziz pun saya akan kata "Jangan Kurang Ajar"

BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA

This is one of my favourite film. At first I don't want to talk about this film. But after reading today's headline I felt compelled to introduce this film.

It's about a bartender and a prostitute going around Mexico to collect a $1 million bounty on the head of a dead gigolo. This film was directed by Sam Peckinpah who also directed The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs and another of my favorite, The Getaway (the version with Steve McQueen).

If you have the opportunity, go watch this movie it's currently shown on muteaudioBoxOffice or find it at your nearest DVD pirate store.

DAH 'WRAP' KE BELUM?

We almost come to the final stage of shoot. Next will be another round of interview with Tun (hopefully) and with a few more people. In the meantime the edit will start after Hari Raya Puasa. There are more than 60 x 1 hour tapes to digitize and load into the hard disk. That will probably take around a week to complete.

We were up there on Tower 1, KLCC for our interview with Tun Dr. Mahathir. It was only an hour. Due to that I have to limit the questions posed to him. There are a few that I have to skip. We plan to have another round of interview. Hopefully his office will grant one. This time around we plan to do it outdoor. Probably with some horses or maybe 'Kuda Belang' too.

His office has I think one of the best if not the best view of Kuala Lumpur. On clear days I think he can see some fools with buluh runcing in neighbouring country.

There are many request to join this shoot. Unfortunately we have to exercise some control or else it'll turn into a Rombongan Cik Kiah. Tun's PA won't be happy seeing me turning this interview into an exhibition.

QUEEN

Currently listening to Queen's 'Under Pressure' and 'I Want To Break Free' on a loop. It's inspiring indeed.

WORK IN PROGRESS

I'M BACK.....

Sorry. I've been busy lately and due to this have been neglecting this blog. Now I'm back with the hope of putting up more things and thoughts in a more consistent manner.

So, what I've been working on? First it was the documentary on the siege of the AIA building in Jalan Ampang back in 1975. It was supposed to go on air sometime early August but due to some unforeseen problems it has been postpones indefinitely. Hope Astro will put it on air soon. It's titled "1975:Serangan Tentera Merah" or "1975:Attack of The Red Army". See.... I wish I could change the title to something like "1975:Attack of The SKYM"

Producing, directing and writing this is one helluva adventure. The research was crazy. The production took me as far as Japan and in contact with people as far as Sweden and the States.

The writing was also a nightmare to both me and others due to my stubborn head of not conforming to agreed treatment and final script.

I'm happy with the final script but not with the visuals provided by another production house. They're supposed to provide us with the re-enactments but unfortunately (and I may sound bitchy) it's not up to standard. Here you have a documentary with detailed description of what happened during the siege but the re-enactments failed to bring up the tension. I wish I could shoot my own re-enactments but unfortunately, the arrangement was such that we're not allowed to do that.

Once that was completed, I'm back with the documentary on Tun Dr.Mahathir which is due for delivery end of October. In between that I'm also producing, directing and writing a documentary on 'Chinese Opera'. I received a grant to produce this documentary. This 'Chinese Opera' project started sometime in April when my pitch was selected. The pre-production alone lasted almost 5 months.

For this 'Chinese Opera' documentary I have to adhere to strict procedure being practiced by international broadcasters namely National Geographic and Discovery Channel. It's a steep learning curve for both me and my assistant. It's very demanding but we consoled ourselves with the fact that we'll learn how international broadcaster go about in producing their documentaries.

If everything goes as planned, I should be free come this December. By then I should be able to reflect on what I've achieved in the last 2 years and plan my next course of action. 2009 should be more interesting and I plan to make it that way.

THE BEAUTY OF BEING BUSY AND LAZY

I'd like to quote something from Yasmin Ahmad, "But I love being busy, it’s nice!

And I would like to add something from me, "But sometimes I love being lazy, it's nice too!

And today I laze around. It has been a month since I sit down at home and do nothing on a Saturday. But it won't be for long.

CHECK AND RE-CHECK

In a haste to be the first to break the news, everyone forget about the most basic thing in 'disseminating news', check and re-check your facts.

I was lounging around at the reception area when I was told about the news at around +4pm yesterday. Couldn't believed what I heard, I called the person who broke the news whether it was Yasmin Ahmad or someone else. I still couldn't believe what I heard and did the most basic thing, call some friends and Facebook. I opted to trust the former. Postings on Facebook is more deadly, it create panic.

Upon checking with a few sources, I was relieved that she's still alive and stable but still in critical condition.

Visited the hospital last night and there are so many people. Further prove that there are many people who love and care about her. The very least we can do now is to pray for her health.

ISTANA RAJA BILAH

Above pictures are of Istana Raja Bilah in Papan. A nobleman from Mandailing , Sumatera. I've met and spoken to one of Mandailing most famous historian. He's Abdur-Razzaq Lubis.

Probably on my next trip to Papan I would get the opportunity to enter the compound and get to know the place a bit better. This place was once used a location for Anna and The King.

I'm not sure if there's any restoration work done. If there is, congatulation to the team. If no restoration work due to lack of fund, it's a shame if none from public or private come forward to offer help.

PRELUDE TO THE EMERGENCY

A few months back I was in Papan and Batu Gajah. While in Batu Gajah, I was taken to a cemetery where many victims of PKM were buried.

Above memorial was for 3 planters who were murdered by PKM that triggered the Emergency.

Ermm...suddenly it triggered my mind. 'Ting!' Mentol sudah menyala.

Here's another estate manager/planter that was murdered. It seems someone just visited this grave. A relative probably.

RM50 MILLION TO BEAUTIFY AND UPGRADE VILLAGE (singular, not plural)

The title above wasn't an act from BN nor PR. I know many would think this as another scheme from BN to swindle with tax payer's money. But none the above.

"He suggested the state government to secure a RM50 million federal grant to beautify and upgrade the village’s traditional features."

The statement above was voiced out by Uthayakumar. He asked the state Lim Guan Eng to secure some money from the Federal Government for the reason above.

I don't understand why there's a need for such huge a mount of money to beautify a kampung? Are they planning to build a golden gate to greet every visitors there?

I would suggest the state and federal governemnt to ignore this demand. And I think both governemnts are wise enough to ignore it. That RM50 million is of better use elsewhere.

What they're doing right now with ridiculous demands are simply to incite hatred towards the governments, both state and federal. They're putting these governments at a spot. "Give what we want or else you'll face our wrath of Hindraf!" or "Tengok lah next election nanti!"

I'm sorry to say this, but this is no Rajnikandh movie. So don't act like a samseng. We're 'almost' a civil society. If whichever governments are not being civil in their act, we don't have to behave like them too. We're one level above them as we have the most powerful tool in democratic world which is our vote. Use it wisely. Don't be like a child when a mother doesn't give in to his demand and start threatening her with tantrums.

To the state and federal government, please ignore this RM50 million demand. Quite a lot of houses can be built with that amount of money and win some votes too.

*The statement above didn't come from any MSM. I quote this from makkal website.