Sabtu, Januari 12, 2008

Temubual dalam majalah Off The Edge, Jan 2008


Temubual antara Beth Yahp dengan Fahmi Reza, pengarah filem 10 Tahun Sebelum Merdeka dalam majalah Off The Edge, Januari 2008.

Di bawah merupakan intro asal yang ditulis oleh Beth Yahp untuk artikel tersebut, tetapi tidak sempat dihantar sebelum cetakan.



FAHMI REZA’s documentary 10 Tahun Sebelum Merdeka premiered at KOMAS’ Freedom Film Festival in September this year, and in the short time since then has already collected a garland of accolades from viewers and reviewers, as well as winning the Festival’s ‘Most Outstanding Human Rights Film’ prize.

Made on a shoestring budget and the goodwill plus donated labour of a posse of friends, it was propelled by one man’s curiosity about the hidden alternative history of the Malayan rakyat’s struggle for independence in 1947, which led to no mean feats: a country-wide hartal (general strike) supported by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, no less, and a proposed (but ignored) People’s Constitution.

By 1948, as Fahmi’s film reminds us, many of the leaders and members of the multi-ethnic coalition that spearheaded these remarkable events, had been arrested under British Emergency laws (such as an earlier version of the ISA) and their story swept under the carpet of a revised version of Malaya’s history.

Beth Yahp caught up with Fahmi at the cafeteria of the Universiti of Malaya in October after a screening at the Law Faculty attended by a scattering of law students, and following that over email and chats. She also attended several full-house screenings of his film, which were followed by lively and often astounded discussions. Asked how they felt after one screening, the students replied: ‘Terkejut.’ ‘Tak puas hati.’ ‘Tertipu lah…’

Beth and Fahmi’s conversation was conducted in English and Malay, some of which was later translated into English. As Fahmi remarked, ‘Borak-borak pun boleh jadi interview di magazine…’ But that’s how stories and ideas get passed on. As Fahmi also says, ‘You can’t copyright ideas.’

See Fahmi’s blogspot: http://10tahun.blogspot.com/ for more stories, ideas, songs, comments, newspaper articles and photos about this little-known part of our history.


Download dokumen PDF untuk baca seluruh temubual tersebut:
A Young Person's Guide To Malaya

2 ulasan:

EvoNess berkata...

Aku dah lama baca magazine Off the Edge. Sebagai seorang peminat setia magazine ni, aku memang mengalu-alukan artikel ini. Memang tepat pada masanya. Rasanya, ini saja magazine 'mainstream' yang berani menampilkan artikel-artikel yang suka menyentuh hal-hal yang 'controversial' di Malaysia. Kepada Fahmi, I urge you to keep on fighting for the cause. Young Malaysians should know that once upon a time, there were uncelebrated and unsung heroes who fought for the PEOPLE of this great country. Heroes who fought and died in obscurity, never to be heard of again. I for one, will always remember them, especially one of them. The writer, Pak Sako a.k.a Ishak Muhammad.

Fahmi Reza berkata...

pak sako memang seorang tokoh pejuang rakyat yg besar sumbangannya. selain seorang penulis dan wartawan, pak sako juga aktif dalam politik. sebelum perang beliau pernah jadi setiausaha KMM. masa perang aktif dalam KRIS. lepas perang pernah jadi Yang Dipertua PKMM yg ke-3 menggantikan Dr. Burhanuddin dan Pengerusi PUTERA-AMCJA. bulan julai 1948 pak sako kena tangkap penjajah British bawah undang2 darurat dan ditahan selama 4 tahun...