Namewee & 1Malaysia

"Alangkah indahnya dunia," Muda by Hujan.

Hey peoples! Check this video from our very own infamous namewee out. Some of you might have seen it already, some might have not, so I advise you to watch it. It's pretty interesting, I assure you:

I came across this video about a week ago on my facebook home wall when a friend of mine posted it. I'm all for homemade videos, so I checked it out. He definitely knows how to make videos, but that's not what I'm going to be talking about here.

-Courtesy of Google-

As you might have noticed in the video, FINAS didn't want to sponsor his film since most of the dialogue (50%, according to namewee himself) was in Mandarin, and their requirement was that at least 70% of the film had to be in Malay to get approval. So he got disappointed. But then again, who wouldn't right?

I'm not going to attack namewee here. I think what he wants to do is great, and more power to him. However, I do have a bone to pick with FINAS here.

-Courtesy of Google-

Did you notice how they responded to his request for the 1Malaysia sponsorship? As soon as they found out that 50% of the dialogue was in Mandarin, they said "Itu bukan 1Malaysia." and namewee abruptly got up and left.

FINAS's epic fail here was their failure to explain to this young filmmaker what they meant by "That's not 1Malaysia," and I will give a suggestion to how FINAS could have modified their answer to sound more respectful and respectable.

They should have explained to Mr. namewee there that for a movie to be "1Malaysia", then the majority in our country should be able to understand the majority of the content in the movie without having to rely on subtitles, and how a majority of the folks in our little Malaysia speak the Malay language, which happens to be the Malay language, just in case you didn't know. You can't be a Malaysian without knowing the national language, thus by having most of the language in a film in the national language, then the whole of Malaysia could enjoy it, not just the minority which understand Mandarin.

-Thanks again to Google-

Seriously, a 1Malaysia movie should attract all Malaysians to watch it, not just one single race. And I imagine that a movie that only one race would be able to understand, can't achieve that.

I'm sorry FINAS, you guys failed to have the decent courtesy to have decent courtesy. The rakyat need to understand what is meant by 1Malaysia, and you guys didn't help at all. If anything, you made it worse.

Conclusion #1:

I would like to take this opportunity to advise all government servants (even aspiring ones) to have more courtesy in your dealings with clients. If you're a teacher, treat your students with respect and without prejudice. If you're a FINAS clerk (or whatever), please smile and use courteous language, respect your client, try your best to help him/her to understand what the problem is and explain solutions or whatever you need them to do in a non-condescending and respectful way. (I used respect 3 times here, so yeah, it's pretty important)

Conclusion #2:

Please people, try to get to a firm understanding of what is meant by 1Malaysia. Don't just interpret it to satisfy your own narrow understanding. Please try to understand that we want the WHOLE country to prosper, not just one type of people getting what they want in the name of "1Malaysia". It is what you make of it, and if you turn it into a racial sentiment, it will indeed turn into one. If you take it as a stupid idea conjured up by some prick who thinks he's all that when he's not, then it's exactly that. If you take it as a way forward, I'm sure it will be just that.

Comments are welcome in the expressions link below.

Cheers!