The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
| Posted: 18 Nov 2011 05:43 AM PST Local filmmakers envision the extreme end of a radioactive future, albeit, with a twisted sense of humour in the Survival Guide Untuk Kampong Radioaktif Project. WHAT happens when you chuck together a group of award-winning Malaysian film directors, notoriously zany performing artists and the hot topic of radioactive waste? Three hilarious skits: featuring freakish vegetables, six legged monsters, and an innovative but wholly inconvenient approach to tackling the perils of a (fictionally) radioactive atmosphere. Love Dish, Welcome To Kampong Radioaktif and Orang Minyak XX are filled with wacky visions of the future, where whole villages must adapt to an exaggerated hypothesis of life after radioactive contamination. New methods of preparation are deployed as chefs prepare dishes of splotchy blue carrots chopped up and chucked into a mutant chimeric fish-squid broth. Even the mythical orang minyak (oily, supernatural serial rapists, visible only to virgins – a staple in Malay ghost-lore), must adapt to the villagers' newfound superpowers. The locals in turn, of course, have their own problems to deal with, not least the complex logistical challenges posed by fitting an entire family clad in radioactive-repellent bubble wrap into one car when it's time to go home for Hari Raya. The three comedic short films may have you on the floor in fits of giggles, but these cheeky visions of the future come from a serious place. To be released consecutively on the Kampongradioaktif YouTube channel every Sunday at 10pm, the shorts tie in with a series of one-minute teasers released every Wednesday, meant to keep you going from one instalment to the next. Fictional anchorman Lee Ah Seng is the star of Tiger TV, and hosts the series of teaser parodies, which, though full of comedic value, provides a link into the fourth, and final instalment, Lai Kwan's Love. Having watched the first three sketches, one might be forgiven for initially thinking this documentary short is yet another comedy in bad taste. It isn't. Far from it, in fact. Two minutes in, it becomes clear that the footage of an over-sized boy caged by makeshift barriers in his home, clinging and tugging with unnatural persistence on the blouse of an elderly woman who is trying hard to concentrate on being interviewed, is not an actor. He is Cheah Kok Leong – the 29-year-old son of Lai Kwan, 69. "Have you heard of Bukit Merah?" asks the documentary's director, Tan Chui Mui, who also started the entire Survival Guide Untuk Kampong Radioaktif Project. "It is an extraordinary place because it is where, for the first time, a community here (in Malaysia) actually sued a company over an environmental issue," she says. In 1985, the residents of Bukit Merah sued Asian Rare Earth, a company under Mitsubishi Chemical, which operated the rare earth refinery where Lai Kwan, at the time, was working. The impoverished resident had been pregnant with her eighth son, Cheah, who was later born with severe mental and physical disabilities. The refinery was eventually shut down due to concerns about its production and storage of radioactive waste. The documentary is a moving contrast and chilling juxtaposition to the light-hearted hilarity of the first three skits. In it, Lai Kwan talks about how the task of looking after her son has virtually kept her house-bound for the past 29 years. The film is intended to be cautionary; it spells out a message that the potential impacts of heavy industry should not be taken lightly, and it is our civic duty to educate ourselves about what is going on in our own backyard. Despite statements that radioactive waste produced by a new rare earth processing plant under construction in Gebeng, Pahang, will be at far lower levels than the waste produced at Bukit Merah, Tan, 32, is concerned. Two years ago, she was just like many other Malaysians. She had heard about Australian mining company Lynas's plans to build the facility 4km away from her hometown in Sungai Ular, but feeling only mild trepidation, she never really took it seriously. She didn't think people would let it happen. "I just assumed someone else would do something about it." Reality hit in August when she flew back for a one-week holiday from Beijing, China where she now works. It was a teh tarik session that changed her. After meeting up with a hometown friend who had been following the plant's developments closely from the ground, she decided that if she, a local, didn't do something to help the situation, how could she expect anyone else to? At the last minute, she decided to forgo her flight back to China and began a journey that would lead to the Survival Guide Untuk Kampong Radioaktif Project. She gathered a few friends to help, and they travelled back and forth between Kuantan and KL, trying to figure out how they could best contribute to making sure the voices of local people – many of whom were accusing the project of lacking transparency – were heard. "Initially, we thought we would help the locals hold press conferences about their concerns, but in the end, we thought the best thing we could do would be to make a short film." So, Tan Chui Mui, who has won awards for her 2007 feature debut, Love Conquers All, roped in Yeo Joon Han (Sell Out!), Woo Ming Jin (The Elephant And The Sea) and Liew Seng Tat (Flower In My Pocket) for the project. The point of the venture, she says, is to get people talking. It is meant as a catalyst for people to educate themselves further about the pertinent question of radioactive waste disposal. "There are two very extreme conflicting views about this matter," offers Yeo, who directed Orang Minyak XX. "One set of people are saying it's absolutely safe and the other group is saying it's not. "I've tried to read as much as I can, but it's pretty confusing. As someone looking it up on Google and reading everyone's postings, I can't make up my mind. But maybe the question is, if there is a risk at all, is it a risk worth taking?" These are exactly the kinds of questions they aim for people watching videos on both Facebook and YouTube to ask. "The videos are there to be used ... share them, get people to comment and start a discussion. If it attracts people with opposing views, that's fine, at least it's a discussion!" Simply taking part in the project has been a lesson for cast and crew, which features a colourful collection of actors, including first timers Kuantan MP (an adviser to the Stop Lynas Coalition) Fuziah Salleh and Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah. They are joined by director/actor/writer Ayam Fared and a host of other, talented performers, including Anne James, Alan Cheong, Loh Wai Tong, Bella Rahim, Zaidi Rock and Jerrica Lai. Among others, being part of the project has left an impression on Lai, who plays a zealous villager in pursuit of the mythical creature in Orang Minyak XX. "I think it is our responsibility to keeping pushing for it (awareness and discussions on issues surrounding the Gebeng rare earth plant). "And not because we want people to protest against the plant, but because it's important for people to know more about what's going on within their own country, even if we don't live in Kuantan because it's part of our home." As far as innovation goes, the project scores top marks when it comes to pushing the issue forward. Whether it gets people doing more research on the issue (if Malaysia is ready to supervise the processing, storage and disposal of radioactive waste), it has certainly got its cast and crew to acquire some knowledge. "The purpose is first for people to be entertained, and then hopefully, they will ask why the people behind the project are going on and on about Kampong Radioaktif!" says Yeoh. To catch the Survival Guide Untuk Kampong Radioaktif Project skits, teasers and documentary, log onto to the group's facebook page at facebook.com/kampong radioaktif or tune into them on YouTube at youtube.com/user/Kampongradioaktif. The first video of the series, Love Dish by Woo, was released last Sunday, and will be followed by Welcome To Kampong Radioaktif, Orang Minyak XX and Lai Kwan's Love in the coming weeks. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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