Civil society gets a celebrity boost

By Yow Hong Chieh

September 14, 2011

Helmed by singer/songwriter Pete Teo, "Undilah" wants you to get out there and vote. — Picture by Jack Ooi

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 — Celebrities have been used to sell everything from shampoos to airline tickets. In fact, in the United States, they even go on the stump for their favourite election candidates.

In what looks like a game of catch-up or political awakening, Malaysian artistes and film-makers are adding their voices to viral campaigns aimed at strengthening civil society in Malaysia.

Working with shoestring budgets and bolstered by the goodwill of volunteers, these direct-to-public initiatives harness the power of social media and the Internet to carry their message of empowerment to a new generation of hyper-connected voters.

In other words, they are reaching out to the youth of this country.

One such effort is “Undilah”, helmed by singer/songwriter Pete Teo, which aims to hammer home the point that every vote counts and that the government is ultimately responsible to the people.

“This is my country. Stop shitting on the sidewalk. It’s that sense of ownership that we need to inculcate,” Teo told The Malaysian Insider.

Namewee says his directorial debut "Nasi Lemak 2.0" is about the muhibbah spirit. — Picture by Jack Ooi

“Ultimately, this bunch of people who sit in Parliament... they work for us. We don’t work for them. Their salaries are paid by taxpayers. And once every four to five years, we decide whether they go back to Parliament again.”

Malaysians who gripe about the state of the nation should not just pin their hopes on “heroes” like Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim or even former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to right perceived wrongs without first making their wishes known through the ballot box, Teo stressed.

The trailer for “Undilah” is already out; against a funky rap song and lyrics that go, “Undilah, jangan tidur” you see — yes, all in one video — singer Namewee, actor/director Afdlin Shauki, actress Sharifah Amani, politicians like MCA’s Wee Ka Siong and PKR’s Nurul Izzah and even AirAsia’s Tan Sri Tony Fernandes exhorting you to get out there to vote.

“It’s not about heroes, it’s about us. Heroes come and go. We have the vote, so vote, vote, vote,” Teo said, adding that voting was still the best way to put pressure on political parties despite obvious flaws in the electoral system.

Teo said he was confident politicians will grow increasingly responsive to the demands of “the silent majority” as more Malaysians take to expressing their collective views on cyberspace.

“With the Internet, it’s much easier to cluster up and speak as a group. It’s quite scary to speak up when you’re the only one on the field,” he said.

“But when you’re in a big group, it’s easier and I think what the Internet and social media allows us to do is band up and that allows artistes to do things.”

Musician/film-maker Namewee — real name Wee Meng Chee, 28 — is no stranger to the power of the Internet to move the masses.

The Muar-born artiste gained notoriety in 2007 after his YouTube song,”Negarakuku”, which featured satirical social commentary rapped over the national anthem, earned him bouquets and brickbats in equal measure from various quarters.

Since then, Wee has moved on to bigger things, having recently completed his first feature film, “Nasi Lemak 2.0”, in response to what he saw as Malaysia’s divisive politics and the growing inability of many Malaysians to relate to their own country.

“This [movie] is about localisation and the muhibbah spirit... it’s about a lost young Chinese Malaysian chef who finds his identity through nasi lemak,” he said.

Indeed, the theme song from the movie — available online — urges Malaysians to speak as “one home, one dream and one voice” adding that “it doesn’t matter where your ancestors are from, when your heart lies here that’s 1 Malaysia.”

Wee said Malaysians tend to lose sight of their common destiny because they allow themselves to be misled by “big men” who encourage division among the races in order to fulfill their own political agendas.

But he said the seeds for greater unity were “already there” in the country’s shared love for nasi lemak and support for badminton ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei, and urged Malaysians to embrace these small but powerful commonalities.

“No matter how bad the system is, we have to fix our heart first. After we fix our heart, be together as one Malaysia, then we can fight the system,” Wee said.

“We’ve lost focus. The problem is the system, not race. So we have to identify ourselves (as Malaysian) first, then we can fight the system.”

But despite the overtly political nature of the movie and his internet songs, Wee does not see himself as a political artiste, adding that he too would rather read/hear/see lighter fare instead of political news “like other young Malaysians.”

“I’m a musician. I’m a film-maker,” he said. “People always think I’m political, but no. What I write about are the problems that I see.”

“Nasi Lemak 2.0” is already in cinemas while the Undilah music video will make its debut on Malaysia Day.