21 May 2006
The last communist in the cinema
Amir Muhammad's film The Last Communist revisits the communist insurgency in Malaya, while looking at the country today. He also interviews the last of the fighters, now living in southern Thailand. But history is not over yet, and so long as we are human, will never be. Full essay.
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9 comments:
Chin Peng had self/ghost written book about his life and struggles not too long ago. I can't remember the exact title but it's worth a look. He did talk about the CPM's dealing with LKY and their relationship.
Although I personally have yet to see the movie or doubt if I ever will get to see it since it is banned here in Malaysia, I am sure that copies will soon turn up online or from the industrious pirates of Petaling Street, our notorious version of Rochore Centre.
Like your style of writing and your blog's set up.
Have added your blog to my blogroll.
Worked in Singapore between 1980 to 1986 when they were digging the tunnels for the MRT.
So, will be checking out the latest news and views about Singapura from your blog here from now on.
Take care and keep posting!
read his book. been to his hometown. admiration for his guts and dedications to his cause.....
Thanks for the revealing review.
Begging for scraps since there's a good chance I won't get to see it (can't afford trip to Singapore) now that Pemuda Umno gets to vet it.
I mean, who the !@#$ are they?
Great drawing of the LKT too!
I get the impression that you tend to look down on some folks that you come across in your outings...like those uncles in the cinema, those older people from the heartland. It is in your writings...you are making fun of them, they look uncouth, they are low class, they look ridiculous to you and uncultured to you. But at the end of day, this is Singapore not some angmo country, they are your fellow Singaporean..
Hi there.. i prefer your website instead..
I watched the film at the SIFF.
At the Q&A session, Amir revealed that his team had wanted to visit the Malay ex-CPM villages, but the unrest in southern Thailand stopped them. His next assignment is to make a documentary exclusively on the four "peace villages".
It was also revealed that there were quite a few ex-S'poreans in the two Chinese villages. They joined the CPM in the jungle after the crackdown on the Barisan Socialist in the early 60s.
Soo Wei
Btw he also mentioned being inspired by Singapore Gaga. Not sure if he meant it seriously or just making the S'pore audience happy.
I got the feeling that I was watching a first draft of a film rather than the final cut. Quite a lot of footage seemed unrelated - was it to throw the censors off the scent? Who knows. While some of it illuminated the daily lives of the people in Perak, some simply bored. I think Amir had a great idea, but I was left feeling a little dissatisfied.
The village scenes actually gave me a different feeling, I think it was sympathetic and did not give the impression that they were oddities.
Hui Min
Here is an engrossing first-hand account of how an angmor army officer met with Chin Peng during the Baling peace talks.
For a killer, Chin Peng definitely had class. Maybe that's why, in the end, an honourable ceasefire was achieved.
http://askari_mb.tripod.com/id48.htm
Flosduellatorum
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