May 13 movie: Let sleeping dogs lie

YOURSAY ‘A sensible government will only show movies to promote goodwill and harmony, not violence and bloodshed... What patriotism was shown on May 13?'

Maglin: May 13 film necessary to teach harmony

Fair Play: Not sure I agree with his logic. Consider the following scenarios: Show grotesque scenes of serious traffic accidents and it might work. After all, all of us have only one life. Can't afford to lose it if we treasure it.

Now, show violent scenes of human brutality such as rape or wife-bashing. You could possibly evoke two types of reaction. Sadists would love it while righteous citizens would loathe it.

Now, coming back to violent scenes depicted in the May 13, 1969, incident. What would be the most likely outcome? Your guess is as good as mine.

Quigonbond: In principle, yes, but whether it's actually a case of education, rewriting history or propaganda remains to be seen. Given the current federal government's predisposition to twist facts and condone lies and falsehoods, it should not be surprising if Malaysians are highly sceptical of the educational value of this film.

Bumiasli: How could a deputy minister say that it is too early to have racist effects as the movie, Tanda Putera, has not been screened yet? You mean you want to screen it and then watch for racist reactions? Are you willing to bear the consequences? May 13 is a bad dream and no Malaysian wishes to be reminded of it.

A sensible government would only show movies to promote goodwill and harmony, not violence and bloodshed. And have the cheek to say these are government-sponsored patriotic movies! What patriotism was shown on May 13?

Righteous: The rakyat say we must vote out Barisan Nasional to teach it humility.

Upset: Mr Maglin Dennis D'Cruz. For a position, you will say anything. Rotten fish!

Supercession: "Harmony" by D-Umno definition means "let no one dare to challenge the might of Umno".

Chipmunk: They say there are always two sides to a story. Well, in Malaysia there seems to be only two sides to every issue. I'm talking about the constant bickering and childish fighting between the two major political coalitions.

It seems like you cannot turn on a television or read a newspaper without running into another stupid quarrel between the two groups. The BN and Pakatan Rakyat representing us do not listen to the will of the people they represent, but instead seem to follow strict party lines and vote accordingly.

They put hidden measures in Bills to stop them from being passed, and they make it nearly impossible for anything to get done. Politicians vote for whatever will give their party more power over the other.

This love of power is funded by money given to politicians by groups, corporations and the rich who only make up 10 percent of the population. These groups and corporations are the ones that are being represented in Parliament. Forget about the everyday, middle-class majority.

NMNT: When you have the government and various groups purporting defence of certain ethnic values and branding weapons of mass deception, how will there be harmony? True harmony is cultured and this starts from the top - from the government itself.

If you wish to culture a harmonious society, than treat everyone equally and extend help or welfare equally to all without prejudice towards religion, race or status. Then you can earn the right to say ‘harmony'.

GXFC: May 13 was done by Umno and lead by Harun Idris, the then menteri besar of Selangor. Let's put an end to it. Vote them out and send them to jail.

Anonymous #18452573: If this movie was made by the National Geographic Society, I might have been a little more interested. But in this case, it is simple. Watch it if you support the Umno government propaganda.

Don't, if you want to leave our past behind us, especially when we know that any story told from BN's point of view serves to divide and rule us and wants us to worship the BN regime.

This movie was created for Malay rights group Perkasa-Umno and its followers from MCA, MIC and Gerakan. Nearly forgot to mention the almost gone PPP.

Anti UMNO: All Malaysians should boycott this movie since a lot has been said about the distortion of history to suit BN. We should not waste a single sen of our hard earned money on lies.

Let them lose money and let this be a lesson to any other film producer in the future. Even though the cost of this movie is fully sponsored by BN, we should not allow them to recover even one sen from the real rakyat of Malaysia.

Sabahan: Similarly, according to your line of reasoning, films depicting pornography will teach the young about the dangers of irresponsible sex, and so should be screened nationwide. Maglin, your brain has deteriorated considerably after becoming a BN deputy minister.

Karma: If you want to show the racist elements of it, then also show those who were responsible for the chopped limbs that littered the streets in the aftermath. This really tells the consequences of racial riots.

We are okay as long as it is balanced and factual. Otherwise it is more of dividing the races than uniting them. There was interracial assistance during the insurgence. It should be portrayed too.

Just like a crime movie, it ends with the message, "crime will result in punishment" where the police arrested the bad guys.

Lamborghini: It is shameful, disgraceful and laughable for the deputy information minister to justify such a biased and distorted film as being good education for our youth and to promote racial harmony. If he has any good and honourable sense at all, he would know in his heart and soul that it will produce exactly the opposite effect.

You justify this film on the grounds of the "maturity of our youth today". I will tell you that with the seasoned maturity and wisdom of adults like me and my generation that lived through the horrible, bloody May 13, we must avoid raising the racial temperature of this already divided nation further by promoting a film that obviously has evil political motives.

It does not depict the true story of this Malaysian tragedy but is a deliberate misinterpretation of the real story. Please don't rub salt into this national scar. Instead, work to truly bring genuine healing to our nation that is increasingly divided by race and religion.

Jeus: The timing of the screening in November serves as a warning to possible riots should Umno lose the coming general election. The fear factor is employed when the gerrymandering fails.

If it's really about harmony education, basic respect towards one's culture and religion should be taught. Do you really think those who watch the movie will suddenly hug and love one another?

Haveagreatday: Yes, it is true 513 (May 13) needs to be revisited objectively and impartially. However, I doubt if the film Tanda Putera can fit this bill.

Reu: You want to create harmony... then make movies about the exploits of our fallen heroes in the army, the men who conquered Mount Everest, the lady who made it to the North Pole or Malaysia's achievement in the Olympics. There are so many stories we can come up with. Yet these guys settle for a very controversial story. - Malaysiakini