Films of 2006

Yes Yes I know it's a little too late to actually list down my favourites of 2006, but it's just the way it is. Last year had not been the brightest year for movies (the summer sucks!) but there are a few movies that worth some mention:

Crash
It was a 2005 movie but since it was not shown in Malaysian cinemas you have to wait until early 2006 for its DVD release (in Malaysia, that is) and hence, for me, a 2006 movie. Paul Haggis brilliantly combined the stories of a group of unacquainted but somehow connected people across Los Angeles, which portray the racial tensions that happen in our daily lives, even in the so-called most liberal society and melting pot of California. Haggis was so diligent in addressing the racial issues, that audiences would have the "so true" feeling while watching the movie. At least, Malaysians wouldn't find it too estranged since we are also living in a multi-racial society, and some of the scenes wouldn't be looked too unfamiliar. Some say Crash robbed Brokeback Mountain of the Oscars Best Picture, but considering its universal values and political correctness (in opposed to the latter's gay theme), I can't be less agreed with them.



The Prestige


Everyone who has watched Christopher Nolan's Memento would have been "shocked and awed" by his brilliant screenplay and in his latest work The Prestige, we can see that Nolan has kept up his good effort in producing an adapted screenplay full of twists and surprises. The two leading actors, especially Christian Bale, have also been awesome in the movie. While the movie is all about fake magic by two conmen cum magicians, it is a real magic of its own. And the magician who performed it is Christopher Nolan.









Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Sunshine is a surprise movie, in the sense that a film with such low budget and simple story can draw such great attention. But really, it is a light hearted movie that sweeps away all your anxiety and grief, well, at least for a while. It is actually about a dysfunctional family going on a road trip to California just to attend a child beauty pageant. Abigail Breslin, who played Olive, is the most outstanding one among the actors but Steve Carrell, who played Olive's uncle Frank, also deserves some credit.











Munich
Munich is almost the same case as Crash, where most Malaysians can only watch the movie by 2006. Steven Spielberg, though a jew, has managed to view the Munich tragedy from the perspectives of both Israel and Palestine, and the only message he wished to convey is: an eye for an eye will not get both sides anywhere. And this is still rather true in the modern context, where the Middle East crisis is still in the deadlock as it was 20 years ago.













墨攻 (The Battle of Wits)
Definitely the best performance by Andy Lau of all his previous movies. No offense, but even his role at Running Out of Time which brought him Best Actor in HK Film Awards can't quite match this. Also kudos to director Zhang Zhiliang who successfully portrayed a wartime story with strong storyline unlike the likes of Curse of the Golden Flowers or The Banquet which depend heavily on exaggerated stunts and luxury costumes. Chinese film's hope it is.














我要成名 (My Name is Fame)
This is a film neglected, or worse still, forgotten by many people, including the film critics, all due to super-low publicity, contrary to its name. Lau Ching Wan is as superb as ever in terms of acting (always wonder why he has yet to receive Best Actor when Andy Lau can grab two of them) but the one who really stood out was newcomer Huo Siyian. This movie is so low profile that it should not be expected to be even nominated for any awards. But as Lau in the movie said (might be his real thought as well), an actor should try his best in depicting a role and if he does, he is already successful regardless of receiving an award or not. In that sense, Lau is already my Best Actor.










放．逐 (Exiled)
You will seldom get disappointed by a Johnie To's movie. Exiled is a movie about brotherhood and friendship, a theme used by many HK filmmakers but not many can quite compare themselves against this movie, except John Woo's 80s like A Better Tomorrow. Exiled took a similar taste as that of To's another movie, The Mission although Woo had denied any connection between the two films. The fact is, while the characters look all the more same, the filming style is not quite the same. A rare and brilliant HK film, in short.

Mourning Milton Friedman (1912-2006)

Milton Friedman
(1912~2006)

Hell....I was so busy with my work back then that I didn't even know Mr. Friedman passed away on 16th of November. A highly revered economist from the Monetarist School of Thought, he had developed a complete theory arguing against the Keynesian School of Thought and government intervention on economies. It is said that Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan adopted his theory during their reign and hence created economic revival at the U.K. and U.S. respectively. His death is certainly a great loss to the world of economics.
Having said that, not everyone is mourning his death. Somewhere in another corner of the world, at an insignificant country called Malaysia, a bunch of tongkat-ed craps, waving Keris, shouting and asking for more to be given to them. Certainly they never studied economics and don't even know who the hell Milton Friedman was. And hence they are blurred only by racial emotions and fail to see the vicious consequences ahead of Malaysia, should the government continues to intervene the market by subsidizing a certain bunch of people. If Mr. Friedman knew of this, he would certainly jump out of his coffin. Oh wait, or he never knew there exists a country called Malaysia?

Malaysian Studies

I've just finished my end semester exam, with Malaysian Studies "virtually" my last paper. It was held this morning but I've long set myself free after I finished my relatively more important paper: Investment, on Friday. Right after that exam, I've gone for a movie, a yumcha session, a Final Fantasy XII experience, and a party at Poppy. Hell, who would give a damn about Malaysian Studies? After a few weeks of abstinence from all the evils of leisure, I don't have the time to wait till the stupid paper ends and I must set all my "oppression" free.

Speaking of Malaysian Studies, it is not like I am not concerned about my country. Judging from how critical and harsh I can be in my previous entries, it's safe to say that I DO care about what's going on in Malaysia. Wanna try me? OK. Even though I literally locked myself up prior to my exam earlier on, I did still keep informed of what happened in this cute Malaysia. So what's the most heated issue in town? (Soon to be revoked) Dato' Zakariah and his Istana Idaman that is! Not to mention his unlicenced Satay store. Dato Z have just shown us who's da Boss in Malaysia.

Back to Malaysian Studies. The contents are just simply too general. It's basically cramping all your history lessons from seconday school and as a result you are like back to basics. The messages conveyed are clearly pro-government, with one clear message: BN is your man. Example, the New Economic Policy was pictured as the "remedy" which saves us all from turmoil, but the failures which happened 30 years (20 years of NEP and 10 years of National development Policy-- an extention of the NEP) down the line were not even being addressed. Further, the NEP was said to be to "eradicate poverty REGARDLESS OF RACE". What a joke. While my knowledge about the NEP has extended beyond what the textbook provides for, what do you expect me to write about NEP during the exam? Write what I know from the papers or write the required scheme answers? I was posed to such dilemma exactly just now. I really wanted to write what I know, but hell, it would be to put myself into trouble, and I don't want no pro-be-lem. So instead, defying my own conscience, I wrote as the scheme answer requires. "The NEP had successfully prepared the Bumiputeras to EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE OF GLOBALIZATION...blah blah.." How faker can I be, haha.

And then this issue of Democracy, where the standard textbook stated that the people are the boss while the so-called YBs are the people's servant. Theoritically, that is. In Malaysia, it's quite clear case that who's indeed the boss. It may be Dato Z, it may be Khir Toyo, but certainly not you and me, the poor peasants. So again, as the scheme requires, I wrote contraring my knowledge. Hey, I'm groomed to answer according to marking scheme answers since Day 1 of my primary school, what do you expect? (Lazy examiners, they don't see your points, all they want is the answers to be exactly the same as their bloody marking schemes.)

So, for me, the hardest part of studying Malaysian Studies is not memorizing those meaningless dates of commencement for this or that treaty (I really don't give a damn), but that I have to swallow the non facts which are said to be facts. I realised I can be quite a two-faced since I wrote one thing during exam but another thing here on the net. I think I have the potential to be a politician...hmmm....

Naughty MCA

Last saturday, I was dragged by my sister, who is keen on joining MCA, to attend a forum organised by the Youth wing of the "2nd largest reigning political party" in Malaysia. The forum's theme is "Rakyat Malysia: The Spirit of Constitution for Nation Building", which emphasizes on the equality of rights among all races in Malaysia as provided in our Constitution.Those who attended were quite of a big shot like MCA Youth Chief Liow Tiong Lai, Deputy Chief Ling "Eat Drink Play Merry" Hee Liong, Secretary Wee Ka Siong, etc, while MCA Chairman Ong Ka Ting and Wanita Chief Ng Yen Yen also came eventually. The speakers for the forum were Michael Chen, a former minister, PG Lim, a highly revered lawyer, and Lim Heng Seng, a very informative lawyer as well. The best part is, this was held after the Barisan Nasional youth meeting where all the member parties were said to have "reached a compromise" over Khairy Jamaluddin's famous remarks earlier on.

The forum was actually a precursor to the launching of "Rakyat Malaysia", which for my opinion, is a decorated soft approach of trying to convey the message of equality not so much to the public, but more to the Government. WTF, you may ask. Isn't MCA part of the BN Government? I thought so and asked the same question, although I've long known about MCA's impotency in the Government. This is because when I was at the forum, I thought I was at a DAP forum, for the speeches and contents given by these big shots subtlely condemn the Government's racial biased policies. The intriguing part is that, this forum came a few days after MCA leaders took the initiative to condemn Lee Kuan Yew and "clarified" that Malaysian Chinese are not being marginalised. Nevertheless, it was still a good initiative done by MCA for organizing the forum. After so many brainless remarks and twisted logics uttered by those political animals, it was good to know that there are still brilliant people in Malaysia who can defend our rights by applying the Constitution. Article 11, Moorthy and Lina Joy's cases, 1988 Judiciary Crisis and Khairy's infamous remarks were all discussed using the provision of the Malaysian Constitution. Kudos to the speakers for their professional and knowledge in the above said matters.

In the end of the forum, I have come to conclusion that:

1. While Bangsa Malaysia proposed by Dr M actually equals to assimilation and is hard to be achieved, Rakyat Malaysia will be emphasized, for it is more practical in the political reality.
2. MCA MPs are indeed the rubber stamps in the Parliament. Evidence: During 1988 judiciary crisis, the BN (including MCA) MPs had voted in the parliament for the proposed bill initiated by Dr. M to strenghthened executive powers to the detriment of the judiciary dignity. But today, the issue was reinstigated and MCA ostensibly support the move. Why support then condemn later? The only valid reason is that they are rubber stamps and will only adhere to what UMNO says.
   
3. MCA Youth have obviously not reached any consensus with Pemuda UMNO over the remarks of Khairy; they were forced to.
4. MCA under the stewardship of Ong Ka Ting will not be as tame as it was under Ling Leong Sik. Expect more dramas in the future.
5. Having said that, MCA is still a toothless tiger. While they have the guts to organize such talks, they don't have the guts to invite UMNO leaders. By the way, the forum was held closed door.

One thing that I've been scratching my head until now is that where did Mr Ling Hee Leong go during the forum? He disappeared after the start of the forum. It'd be interesting to see his reaction while others were condemning Khairy, since he's his "best friend". A no-prize trivia: Where did he go? a)Eat b)Drink c)Play d)Merry.

Kita Abang Adek

When an old man across the Tebrau Straits made some controversial remarks about Malaysia and Indonesia, almost immediately the whole Malaysian Cabinet came out and blasted this poor old man, causing him to eventually say "sorry" over his remarks.

Later, when the annual haze from our friendly neighbour Indonesia attacked Malaysia ONCE AGAIN, I don't see anyone from the Cabinet commenting on the issue, although haze is obviously more hazardous than an old man's words. I heard Oppositions shouting; I heard Bar Council suggesting ways of seeking compensation from the Indons; I heard NGOs and Environmental Organizations mourning and condemning; but I heard not even one word or action from the Malaysian Government. In the past, when Malaya tried to grab Sabah and Sarawak, and the abuse of Indon Maids becomes serious in Malaysia, Indonesia never hesitated to launch attacks and confrontations towards us; but when it's the other way round, Malaysia always remains calm and silence. I wonder why. Do we owe them a lot of money til we can't even make any complaint? Good for you Indons, that's the best part of being Abang Adek, isn't it?

Perhaps the worries of the old man that Singapore as a little red spot being surrounded by the Malay dominated nations are true after all?

A New Beginning

Here I come, a whole new beginning, a whole new Wateva!!
Unfortunately nothing to blog right now..... so that's all for now folks....
Btw... this is the link back to my old blog, where all my old entries can be found...bye for now!