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Saturday, December 19, 2009
{ 7:07 AM on '' }
Nadirah was good I thoroughly enjoyed myself and it had the elements that make Yasmin Ahmad's films so amazing - humour at all the right moments and it leaves you thinking. Not like having a fleeting thought but really Think.
Brief summary: About a girl called Nadirah whose dad is Malaysian Malay and mum is Singaporean peranakan who became a Muslim. The parents separated so Nadirah lives in Singapore with the mum. The mum falls in love with a devout Christian and plans to have a civil marriage which, under Islamic law, is not recognised. Nadirah is tormented; she does not know how to accept this man as part of the family and she no longer knows who her mum is because how can this woman, who raised her to be a good Muslim, be willing to do something against the religion for the sake of love?
I think the crux of the play lies in these two lines:
1) "How do you love God when you can't love another human being?
Essentially the issue of divine and earthly love. Nadirah refuses to even see Robert (the Christian man) because she hates what he is doing to her mum - she accompanies him to church and takes off her tudung when she does. Nadirah's friend, Maznah (MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER), said the above line and for once Nadirah kept quiet and really thought about how baseless her hatred for him is. He is a good man who loves and cares for her mum and who is she to judge his worth solely based on his faith? How can she claim to love God and accuse her mum of not loving God as much as her when she herself cannot accept a fellow human being who has done no wrong to her? After all, the whole of mankind is His creation so if you are not willing to love His creation how can you claim to be on a higher moral/religious ground? Islam teaches us to be accepting of others, not to judge or hate on the basis of faith. If you can't look beyond that and truly understand/accept a mere mortal for his true character, what makes you think you can understand and love God , who is on a whole other (divine) level?
2) "There is only room for one God (in this house)"
"How do you know it's not the same God?"
It's true isn't it? We all know Christianity and Islam are really more similar than we realise and sometimes people just forget. Why the divisions then? Why the fighting the chaos the riots? I think the basis of all religions are the same. They all spread the message of peace, love, good. No religion condones or encourages doing evil deeds right (unless I dunno Satanism or something? /:) I thought the football analogy was so clever. "You support Man U, I support Liverpool. We are loyal to our favourite clubs but in the end it is the same game we love and enjoy to watch."
I also loved the contrast between Farouk and Maznah (both Nadirah's friends). One is somewhat an extremist, an ustaz wannabe who is forever preaching. The other is like a "liberal" Muslim - Muslim because she was born Muslim and does not really practise the religion. Farouk's character is interesting (Sadikin calls it problematic haha) because as much as his faith is sturdy, he is also guilty of pride - you can tell he thinks he is superior to Maznah and is so proud of his knowledge of Islam that he (quite disrespectfully, in my opinion) meets Robert to convince him to either convert or not marry Nadirah's mum. He also buruk sangka (thinks bad?) of Nadirah's mum, claiming that she plotted the whole divorce and plan to marry under civil law yada yada which is so nonsense. His preaching is overly dramatic (sometimes comical to me) and ineffective which goes to show you can't use force - education is the way to go. This is also why Maznah is interesting. As much as her clothes are tak senonoh for the most part of the play, she somewhat taubats at the end not because of Farouk's incessant preachings (which she constantly makes sarcastic comments about - I like hehe) but because she herself went to read up on the religion and truly understands instead of going through the motions just because she was "born into the religion". (Also because she is falling for a hot Turkish guy whose dad is an imam, but I think the fact that she is making the effort to understand and appreciate shows that even if things with Turkish dude doesn't work out, the tudung will stay)
The timing is apt what with all the hoohaa regarding broken Malay families in BH recently. Some people think that these families need all the help they can get, some people think religious authorities should preach about the religion because the crux of the problem in these families is lack of religious fundamentals. I think neither would be truly effective. You keep offering help, when will they ever learn? When I read the article about the young woman who has 5 kids out of wedlock with 3 different men, I can't help thinking why does she not learn her lesson? She claims she did use protection, as if that is clearly the main problem. It's not whether you use protection or not, it's the ACT itself that is wrong, how can you try to justify it by claiming to have used birth control. Maybe I am being judgemental but I can understand if it was a mistake, once or twice. But FIVE TIMES? This is clearly not just a problem of carelessness or impulse, it's a case of blatant irresponsibility and ignorance of the gravity of her actions. She is now struggling to make ends meet because she has to stay home to take care of the kids and the 3 men are all in jail. What on earth is going on, really. Of course financial assistance would help to some extent, but I think education is most important. Not preaching, not condemning, but educating. Teach these families to love the game before guiding them to embrace and pledge complete loyalty to a particular club.
Also, it's interesting isn't it, to think about what makes a person "good". Is a Christian "bad" in the eyes of a Muslim and vice versa? Is a person who wears tudung "good" and one who doesn't "bad"? Madrasah kids good and secular kids bad? The issue of civil marriage is soooooo intriguing. As far as I understand, civil marriage is not recognised under Islamic law so any sexual relations is considered zina and any child born is illegitimate. My research tells me "No adulterer is a believer at the time when he is committing adultery" so as long as Nadirah's mum is married to Robert under civil law (and by extension, having sexual relations) then she is murtad and as much as she practises the religion after the marriage, all of it is void? Essentially she is "bad" then and there is no redeeming her unless she ends the marriage? Is that right? Hmmm. This is too much I think I won't be able to sleep tonight and I bet Sadikin feels the same way.
All in all actors were great, script was so clever. But it left me feeling sad because as much as it was a success, it was a play and not a film. There can only be one Yasmin Ahmad and it is such a huge loss to not be able to enjoy her films, think about her thought-provoking points of view. Gone too soon indeed.
Anyway it is sad 99% of my friends have never watched her films. Please Please Please watch her films, starting from Sepet. It's less "heavy" because it's a love story that touches on cultural more than religious issues and after watching it you would naturally want to watch Gubra to know what happens to Jason. In Gubra she introduces the religious elements with the story of the imam and prostitute with controversial scenes like the imam patting a dog. And then move on to Muallaf which is a bit more "religious" though the focus is still on love, family, humanity etc. Srzly watch please ): The films are not even in Malay. I would say 40% malay, 30% english and 30% Cantonese and the malay parts are mixed with english lor. Watch and join the club which currently consists of me and Sadikin only. We need friends.
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Saturday, December 19, 2009
{ 7:07 AM on '' }
Nadirah was good I thoroughly enjoyed myself and it had the elements that make Yasmin Ahmad's films so amazing - humour at all the right moments and it leaves you thinking. Not like having a fleeting thought but really Think.
Brief summary: About a girl called Nadirah whose dad is Malaysian Malay and mum is Singaporean peranakan who became a Muslim. The parents separated so Nadirah lives in Singapore with the mum. The mum falls in love with a devout Christian and plans to have a civil marriage which, under Islamic law, is not recognised. Nadirah is tormented; she does not know how to accept this man as part of the family and she no longer knows who her mum is because how can this woman, who raised her to be a good Muslim, be willing to do something against the religion for the sake of love?
I think the crux of the play lies in these two lines:
1) "How do you love God when you can't love another human being?
Essentially the issue of divine and earthly love. Nadirah refuses to even see Robert (the Christian man) because she hates what he is doing to her mum - she accompanies him to church and takes off her tudung when she does. Nadirah's friend, Maznah (MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER), said the above line and for once Nadirah kept quiet and really thought about how baseless her hatred for him is. He is a good man who loves and cares for her mum and who is she to judge his worth solely based on his faith? How can she claim to love God and accuse her mum of not loving God as much as her when she herself cannot accept a fellow human being who has done no wrong to her? After all, the whole of mankind is His creation so if you are not willing to love His creation how can you claim to be on a higher moral/religious ground? Islam teaches us to be accepting of others, not to judge or hate on the basis of faith. If you can't look beyond that and truly understand/accept a mere mortal for his true character, what makes you think you can understand and love God , who is on a whole other (divine) level?
2) "There is only room for one God (in this house)"
"How do you know it's not the same God?"
It's true isn't it? We all know Christianity and Islam are really more similar than we realise and sometimes people just forget. Why the divisions then? Why the fighting the chaos the riots? I think the basis of all religions are the same. They all spread the message of peace, love, good. No religion condones or encourages doing evil deeds right (unless I dunno Satanism or something? /:) I thought the football analogy was so clever. "You support Man U, I support Liverpool. We are loyal to our favourite clubs but in the end it is the same game we love and enjoy to watch."
I also loved the contrast between Farouk and Maznah (both Nadirah's friends). One is somewhat an extremist, an ustaz wannabe who is forever preaching. The other is like a "liberal" Muslim - Muslim because she was born Muslim and does not really practise the religion. Farouk's character is interesting (Sadikin calls it problematic haha) because as much as his faith is sturdy, he is also guilty of pride - you can tell he thinks he is superior to Maznah and is so proud of his knowledge of Islam that he (quite disrespectfully, in my opinion) meets Robert to convince him to either convert or not marry Nadirah's mum. He also buruk sangka (thinks bad?) of Nadirah's mum, claiming that she plotted the whole divorce and plan to marry under civil law yada yada which is so nonsense. His preaching is overly dramatic (sometimes comical to me) and ineffective which goes to show you can't use force - education is the way to go. This is also why Maznah is interesting. As much as her clothes are tak senonoh for the most part of the play, she somewhat taubats at the end not because of Farouk's incessant preachings (which she constantly makes sarcastic comments about - I like hehe) but because she herself went to read up on the religion and truly understands instead of going through the motions just because she was "born into the religion". (Also because she is falling for a hot Turkish guy whose dad is an imam, but I think the fact that she is making the effort to understand and appreciate shows that even if things with Turkish dude doesn't work out, the tudung will stay)
The timing is apt what with all the hoohaa regarding broken Malay families in BH recently. Some people think that these families need all the help they can get, some people think religious authorities should preach about the religion because the crux of the problem in these families is lack of religious fundamentals. I think neither would be truly effective. You keep offering help, when will they ever learn? When I read the article about the young woman who has 5 kids out of wedlock with 3 different men, I can't help thinking why does she not learn her lesson? She claims she did use protection, as if that is clearly the main problem. It's not whether you use protection or not, it's the ACT itself that is wrong, how can you try to justify it by claiming to have used birth control. Maybe I am being judgemental but I can understand if it was a mistake, once or twice. But FIVE TIMES? This is clearly not just a problem of carelessness or impulse, it's a case of blatant irresponsibility and ignorance of the gravity of her actions. She is now struggling to make ends meet because she has to stay home to take care of the kids and the 3 men are all in jail. What on earth is going on, really. Of course financial assistance would help to some extent, but I think education is most important. Not preaching, not condemning, but educating. Teach these families to love the game before guiding them to embrace and pledge complete loyalty to a particular club.
Also, it's interesting isn't it, to think about what makes a person "good". Is a Christian "bad" in the eyes of a Muslim and vice versa? Is a person who wears tudung "good" and one who doesn't "bad"? Madrasah kids good and secular kids bad? The issue of civil marriage is soooooo intriguing. As far as I understand, civil marriage is not recognised under Islamic law so any sexual relations is considered zina and any child born is illegitimate. My research tells me "No adulterer is a believer at the time when he is committing adultery" so as long as Nadirah's mum is married to Robert under civil law (and by extension, having sexual relations) then she is murtad and as much as she practises the religion after the marriage, all of it is void? Essentially she is "bad" then and there is no redeeming her unless she ends the marriage? Is that right? Hmmm. This is too much I think I won't be able to sleep tonight and I bet Sadikin feels the same way.
All in all actors were great, script was so clever. But it left me feeling sad because as much as it was a success, it was a play and not a film. There can only be one Yasmin Ahmad and it is such a huge loss to not be able to enjoy her films, think about her thought-provoking points of view. Gone too soon indeed.
Anyway it is sad 99% of my friends have never watched her films. Please Please Please watch her films, starting from Sepet. It's less "heavy" because it's a love story that touches on cultural more than religious issues and after watching it you would naturally want to watch Gubra to know what happens to Jason. In Gubra she introduces the religious elements with the story of the imam and prostitute with controversial scenes like the imam patting a dog. And then move on to Muallaf which is a bit more "religious" though the focus is still on love, family, humanity etc. Srzly watch please ): The films are not even in Malay. I would say 40% malay, 30% english and 30% Cantonese and the malay parts are mixed with english lor. Watch and join the club which currently consists of me and Sadikin only. We need friends.
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