One Nation Under Lee receives warm
reception in Johor Baru
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Singapore Democrats
One Nation Under Lee is going
places in Malaysia and its screening is attracting large
audiences.
After its successful showing in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur
at the Freedom Film Fest 2008 last
week, the organizers KOMAS, Malay acronym for Malaysian Human
Rights Communication Centre, moved the venue to Johor Baru.
So when the 45-minute English documentary, banned by the
Singaporean authorities, was shown yesterday at a local hotel
across the causeway it understandably attracted many
Singaporeans.
The film was warmly received by the audience and Mr Seelan Palay
was on hand to take questions from the floor.
A foreigner in the audience who had lived in Singapore for seven
months said that from her experience in Singapore, the country is a
good place to live in contrary to what the movie portrays. She also
noted that the protests and demonstrations that were shown in the
film are not spontaneous like in Malaysia. This shows the people in
general are contented.
Mr Michael Fernandez, a former trade unionist imprisoned without
trial by the PAP government, said that the outward appearance of
tranquility is a façade, a situation that has been brought about
through years of ruthless state repression of an entire
generation.
Mr Fernandez said that he was glad to see youngsters like Seelan,
Martyn See and others who are taking an interest in what is
happening around them.
He said the youth in Singapore, especially the
students in tertiary institutions in the 1950s, 60s and 70s were
actively engaged in society. Their language backgrounds were never
a barrier as students from the Singapore University, the Nantah,
and the Singapore Polytechnic came together to speak up on issues
not only affecting youths but also the general public.
He said he could still remember the time when university students
protested against the Suitability Certificate that the PAP
introduced. The student exuberance and vibrancy were, however,
bullied into silence. This has led to entire generations of
students growing up in a state of apathy.
Mr Fernandez also pointed out it was wrong to compare tiny
Singapore with Malaysia which is so much bigger and where there is
much more room for dissent and alternative views to flourish.
Singapore playwright Robert Yeo and blogger Alex Au were also
present and contributed to the discussion.
There was a suggestion from an appreciative Singaporean that more
such films were needed to bring about greater awareness, especially
among the youths and the workers who have forgotten the role of
trades unions and what the word "strike" meant, the ultimate weapon
that employees have against unscrupulous employers for whose
interest the PAP government exists.
Mr Seelan took the questions and comments in his usual relaxed and
jovial demeanour.
Malaysian reviewer,
Mr Andrew Sia, had this to say about the film: "Even though
part of it seems like a Powerpoint presentation, it manages to
engage – a lesson here for shoestring budget film makers."
Also, at the end of the second day of the three-day film festival,
filmmakers from Singapore and Johor held a brainstorming session to
coordinate their work to achieve greater synergy.
The next place the organizers planning to screen One Nation
Under Lee is Kuching, Sarawak on Saturday, 20 Sept. And
finally, the documentary on Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore will be shown
to audiences in Penang on Saturday, 27 Sep 08.
http://www.yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/1058-one-nation
The interview below was conducted some two months ago, before
the recent announcement by PM Lee on relaxing the ban on political
films. What was Straits Times' hidden agenda? Perhaps it's a way to
profile us for the Internal Security Department dossiers. Perhaps
ST has vested interest to see political films relaxed for their own
RazorTV. Perhaps they want to score some brownies in international
press freedom rankings. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. Oh,
whatever.
Film-makers on the fringe
Before the PM announced recently that the ban on political films
was likely to be eased, they were already documenting scenes of
S'pore politics and producing controversial films that flirted with
the law. Meet the intrepid trio who believe they are rebels with a
cause. -ST
Sun, Sep 07, 2008
The Straits Times
By Sue-Ann Chia, political
correspondent
WHEN the death knell sounded on a 10-year-old law that imposes a
total ban on political films two weeks ago, film-maker Martyn See
cheered.
The move marked the biggest effort in 20 years by the Government to
loosen its hold on political expression here, declared the
39-year-old.
As a mischievous tribute, he pulled together 100 films on local
politics, compiling them on his blog a week after Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong said in his Aug 17 National Day Rally speech that
an outright ban on political films was no longer sensible.
The 100 short clips - 'films' is too formal a term to describe them
- are the work of assorted groups and individuals, most with a
decidedly anti-establishment stance.
They include two by Mr See which did not make the censor's cut. One
is on Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan and the
other on former political detainee Said Zahari.
He plans to re-submit them to the Board of Film Censors once the
ban on political films is formally eased - likely early next year -
just to test the new system.
He wants to do so because the prospective change comes with
caveats: Films which are partisan or give a distorted and slanted
impression will still be off-limits.
His own view is that there should be no caveats. 'If it is not
sheer stupidity to continue enforcing bans on these films when they
can be viewed at a click of a mouse, I don't know what is,' he
wrote on his blog.
How did he come to be such a fighter against Section 33 of the
Films Act, which bans party political films?
Political awakening
ATTRIBUTE it to a second political awakening that came in the wake
of the 2001 general election.
He had had a first awakening back in the mid-1990s, when a
photocopy of a banned book came his way.
The book was To Catch A Tartar, written by former solicitor-general
Francis Seow, describing his detention under the Internal Security
Act in the late 1980s.
'My eyes were opened to the darker side of the PAP's history,' he
says.
'I read it from cover to cover. I felt...frightened, depressed and
angry at the same time.'
His hitherto placid political outlook changed then, but it was only
later - after the November 2001 election - that he was really
roused into action.
What caught his attention was Dr Chee Soon Juan heckling then prime
minister Goh Chok Tong about an alleged loan to former Indonesian
president Suharto.
'Chee Soon Juan got hammered very badly. I wondered, is this guy as
bad as the media made him out to be? So I decided to check him out
myself,' he says.
A few months later, in 2002, he asked to meet Dr Chee.
For the next two years, he 'interviewed' the SDP leader regularly,
visited him at his home and his office, and observed him when he
staged public protests - filming all the while.
He had reams of footage but no film, until Mr Lee Hsien Loong was
sworn in as Prime Minister in 2004.
Mr Lee's inauguration speech, promising the opening up of civil
society, inspired him to compile his shots into a 28-minute film
which he titled Singapore Rebel.
He submitted it for screening at a film festival. But the film
never made it past the censors.
It was deemed 'party political', and banned under Section 33 of the
Films Act.
He was questioned four times over 15 months by the police and even
had his video camera seized.
'They dropped the investigation a couple of months after the 2006
general election. I guess they wanted to watch if I would
participate in the election,' he says.
He never did. But he continued to produce politically incorrect
films.
Singapore Rebel
MR SEE titled his directorial debut Singapore Rebel. Although about
Dr Chee, it sums up Mr See himself - someone bent on capturing
alternative politics on celluloid.
He began his film-making career nearly 20 years ago, right after
national service, learning the ropes of video editing in production
houses. Along the way, he became a freelance video editor, working
for renowned local directors such as Mr Eric Khoo and Mr Jack
Neo.
He spends 90 per cent of his time doing such work to 'pay the
bills', but the remaining 10 per cent is now consumed by his
passion - making films on local political issues.
While being questioned by the police over Singapore Rebel, he
produced another film, on former political detainee Said Zahari.
This was also banned.
His latest, on Dr Chee and the protests he staged during the
IMF-World Bank meetings in 2006, however made the cut. Speakers'
Cornered was given an NC-16 rating and screened at the Substation
on July 26 this year.
Despite the overwhelmingly pro-opposition - especially pro-SDP -
angles in his films, he insists he is not an opposition supporter
or sympathiser.
He says: 'I fill a vacuum created by the media when they don't
cover opposition politicians or political dissidents. I consider
myself a citizen journalist, not a Michael Moore type of
film-maker.'
Asked why he bothers to submit his films for classification when he
can upload them on YouTube, he deadpans that the law requires
it.
The more compelling reason is that he wants to push the envelope in
the area of political expression.
'Who better to do that than me,' he says, 'since I'm already over
the OB markers. I want more film-makers who want to document the
political scenes to emerge.'
In this, he has found a following of sorts.
Mr Ho Choon Hiong, 33, first heard about Mr See when Singapore
Rebel was banned three years ago.
He was among a group of 12 film-makers who wrote to the Government
then, asking for greater clarity as to what constituted a party
political film.
The incident led to him meeting Mr See.
Their subsequent exchanges emboldened him to capture on celluloid
assorted scenes of political activism in Singapore.
Unlike Mr See, he was introduced to politics early by his father,
who used to be a student activist at Chinese High School in the
1960s.
Like Mr See, however, his political interest was stoked by the 2001
polls and Dr Chee.
After meeting Mr See, he produced a plethora of very short films,
on topics ranging from the 2006 election to protests by Myanmar
nationals in Singapore. He sent six to the film censors for
classification in May.
'I have to take a few steps and hope to be undeterred more and
more,' says the film studies graduate from Ngee Ann
Polytechnic.
'I want to put my own perception of truth out.'
So far, his 'films' have been ignored by the authorities.
A prolific activist
NOT so for Mr Seelan Palay, 24, another amateur film-maker.
He had his film, One Nation Under Lee, seized by officials from the
Board of Film Censors as it was being screened in a hotel
recently.
The reason: It had not been passed by the censors.
His first effort - detractors panned it as a slide show rather than
a film - it portrayed Singapore as lacking in press and political
freedom, and tightly controlled by Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
Point out that One Nation Under Lee is decidedly one-sided - it
takes potshots at the Government while hailing Dr Chee as a hero -
and he insists he has no political agenda.
He isn't politicised by anyone either, he insists.
'I learnt everything from reading, out of personal interest,' says
the activist.
CITIZEN JOURNALIST
'I fill a vacuum created by the media when they don't cover
opposition politicians or political dissidents. I consider myself a
citizen journalist, not a Michael Moore type of film-maker.'
-- Film-maker Martyn See
