03/12/2020
Namewee’s latest film: Babi, incites controversy once more.
Malaysian artist, musician, composer, film maker, who goes by the stage name of Namewee, has once again being besieged for his controversial announcement for his latest film: Babi. Babi is a racial slur that are often used to provoke other people or races in both countries- Malaysia and Singapore.
Although one can acknowledge the fact that throughout his career as an entertainer and artist, his presence could be seen as a thorn or an eye sore from the sights of the adversaries or a bonfire that always advocate for the freedom of expression and a deviant in the midst of government censorships from his fandoms or supporters. There’re no indisputable claims that he’s not under the radar from Malaysian’s speculations; for his experience and uncompromising behavior favors that, furthermore, throughout his passage in the entertainment industry, he continues to make argumentative content after content, which later incites another headline consecutively. For example, highly controversial piece Negarakuku, his parody of the Malaysia national anthem Negaraku that covers elements of daily lives in Malaysia from Wee's perspective, including police's corruption, inefficient public services and biased government policies and other notable works that are occupied with anti-government undertones.; and back to the current reality, which he publishes another work of his under a low and constricted budget due to his notoriety, leads to the absence of potential investors for his project. In an interview with Malay Mail, he said,
“The script was actually written seven years ago, and it did not go into production then because nobody would ever consider to invest in a zero-profit, must-be banned film.”
With Babi, his latest release, the trailer depicts the atrocities that occurs in Malaysia school areas- school violence between the three races (Chinese, Indian, Malay) of Malaysia, bullying, hate sp*ech, nefariously exercising of power, sexism which a handful of citizens still exert; misogynism and racism that still exist both maliciously and prominently yet rarely talked about issues within Malaysia. A quote from the film goes as such:
“Di Malaysia, semua orang boleh kencing bersama, tetapi tak boleh berkongsi meja makan dan duduk bersama.”
Translation: In Malaysia, everyone can p*e together, but nobody can share a dining table and sit together.
The movie has been released in November 20 this year (2020) only in Taiwan. Despite being banned in the country it was filmed in, Namewee remains grateful that international film festivals have picked up the story for release.
More than that, local films have been banned before, take for example Dukun which was banned because it bore too many similarities to a sensationalized criminal case involving a political figure. However, Malaysians, being their curious selves, will surely find a way to watch Babi since it has been making waves overseas.
Furthermore, in a video he posted to Youtube, Namewee denounces racial politics and discrimination and still hopes that Malaysia will improve when it comes to unity amongst races.
As references to the proclamation of his movie, The Federal Territory PN Youth information unit member Mohammad Azwan Azmi lodged a police report at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters on 19th November. The police report was made against the movie’s poster because it contained racial slurs, such as “Melayu Bodoh”, “India Keling” and “Cina Babi”.
Azmi also stated that his party had asked the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to block the content related to the film on Namewee’s Facebook, YouTube and Instagram accounts, in order to restrict Malaysians from accessing it.
“This insult and provocation are seen as outrageous and is a rude and insolent act. We fear it can cause in*******al tension in Malaysia,” stated Azmi.
Namewee has also garnered nominations for Best Director and Best Actor in the Toronto International Film Festival and other four international film festivals: Berlin International Film Festival, Bangkok International Film Festival and The Golden Horse Award even though this movie has been banned in Malaysia. He was quite sure that the film will not be screened and there will be no any financial returns.
Story wise, the film claims to be established upon and inspired by a true event that happens in 2000, however there’re no reports or information concerning an incident like this in such magnitude. Although, there has been intelligence that fits the narrative fairly but the time proves to oppose this.
What exists is the report from the year 2009, the report for year 2000 remains non-existence. According to Singapore news report, there was a campus fight which had turned into a riot occurring in Pontian, Johor. The police station was surrounded by 1000 of people. The police locked the main entrance and was armed with guns. To prevent the situation from worsening, they sent the Federal Reserve Unit as a support to maintain the order. This was happened in one of the secondary schools in Pekan Nanas (a town located in Pontian district). It all started from a gang fight, involving 20-30 students and a Chinese boy who is a grandson of a party leader. After the incident, the victim’s father brought his 3 friends to the school to ask for justice and beat the students up. A Malay teacher got injured during the conflict and was sent to hospital for treatment. But according to another statement, he was injured while trying to stop the fight. This incident has alarmed the police, they brought 10 students back for investigation. After the rumours was spread. The family of the 20-30 students gathered outside the police station. The amount of people was more than 1000. Suddenly, there were some Malays shouted ‘Long live the Malays” and the police station was surrounded for 8 hours. The rumours were spread in message, advising the Chinese not to stay outside.
As on the accounts of racism and enthicity polarization, Racism in schools hurt both individuals and the learning and working environment. It generates tensions that distort cultural understanding and narrow the educational experiences of all students. Racism in school effects educational outcomes, individual happiness and self confidence, school climate, school-community relations and mostly student behaviours.
Racism is always a difficult topic but the news and social media provides evidence that it still exists and continues to impact how we engage with each other in the United States. Racism is a learned behaviour where we are socialized to see difference and act upon it. Racism is so prevalent that it causes challenges for learning and with school experiences.
Racial bias and prejudice in our schools affects student learning and school discipline, as well as influences how students engage with each other. Negative racial attitudes and behaviours are ingrained in our system and institutions. However, as educators we have the opportunity to change outcomes in our schools in spite of our existing systems.
Written by Teh Jun Yuan and Glory Rebecca
