In early 2019, I directed a theatre production called ‘Sex in Georgetown City’. Set in Penang, the theatre piece consisted of ten short skits about sex which I had written, compiled into a hilarious two-hour offering.
With Pakatan Harapan coming to power in 2018 and ending 62 years of BN rule, I had big hopes that the public were ready to be nudged with a tongue-in-cheek title, something that would intrigue their curiosity. Unfortunately, I was wrong.
A few weeks before the opening night, several Islamist NGO began questioning the title and poster of the play via social media posts, calling it obscene, disrespectful, and un-Islamic.
As the accusations, criticisms, and comment threads grew bigger and louder each day, I received calls from the police and state government officers about the matter. I was advised to “do something” in order to ease the situation.
I understood their worries and decided to rename the play ‘Love in Georgetown City’. I also gave a statement to the media to clarify the nature of the production, hoping those offended would get an honest answer to their worries.
I explained how Malaysia, despite being a predominantly Muslim country, struggled with many sex-related issues such as teenage pregnancies, incest, rape, child marriage, baby dumping, and prostitution.
I explained that the play touched on sex-related issues as well as relationships and marriages in an entertaining and educative way.
I hoped the baseless accusations would stop with the clarification, but once again, I was wrong.
Instead of trying to understand the explanation, my decision to change the title of the play was taken as an admission of guilt.
The criticisms only grew louder from that point onwards. The comments on social media became more offensive, personal, and degrading. One cast member who appeared on the poster of the play was harassed by a Grab driver. None of the cast or crew felt safe.
On our opening night, a group of protestors decided to gather in a mosque after Maghrib prayers and marched to the theatre entrance. They insisted that the play was promoting pornography, free sex, and the LGBT lifestyle. Fortunately, police officers were around to handle the protestors.
Frustrated that they failed to stop the show on opening night, the protestors threatened to gather more people from different mosques the next day and continue doing so until the show is cancelled.
Their threat worked. Right after our successful opening night, I was whisked away into a room and advised by the police to cancel the remaining shows and re-stage it in the future under a different name allowed by the police.
The reason given – I was guilty of misleading the public by using “sex” in the initial title.
I tried explaining that it was unfair for me, my cast, and crew to be asked to cancel the production when we did nothing wrong. Unfortunately, it was made clear to me that if I went ahead with the show, the police would take a step back and I would end up having to manage the protestors on my own.
I realised I had no choice but to bow down to the protestors and the police. It was painful but what other choice did I have? After all, I had a responsibility toward the safety of my cast, crew, audience, and staff at the venue.
Oh, how I wish the protestors who assembled without a permit, vandalised, and disturbed the peace at the theatre were made to face the consequences. And how I wish the police had made us feel safe and protected instead of making us feel that somehow, we were the culprits who incited the protest.
Sadly, in Malaysia, regardless of the parties that are running the government, authorities always give in to threats and end up appeasing the group of people who reject differing ideas and viewpoints.
‘Mentega Terbang’ controversy
Recently, the film ‘Mentega Terbang’ ended up in a controversy due to certain scenes being found offensive by Muslims. Heavy criticisms on social media ensued and police reports were made.
While the producers, director, writers, and cast members of this film cooperated with the police investigation, apparently snowflakes who were offended by the film were not satisfied.
A few days ago, cars belonging to director Khairi Anwar and actor Arjun Thanaraju were splashed with paint and acid. Notes containing death threats were also left by the perpetrators.
According to the police, investigations are being carried out to find those responsible. However, so far, no arrests have been made. Despite the death threats, according to the filmmaker’s lawyer, no police protection has been offered.
I must say it saddens me that Khairi, Arjun, and the other cast members and production team of ‘Mentega Terbang’ are facing such an ordeal simply because some people disagreed with the content of the film. Disagreement should never result in extremism, threats, and harassment.
It is also infuriating to see how the authorities did not address this issue at its roots. What we hear and read are repetitive statements and articles about how offensive the film is and how offended certain people are.
Even with the death threats, acid splashing, and damage done to properties, we have yet to hear the authorities warn the perpetrators of the consequences. We have yet to hear the authorities lash out in order to stop these extreme acts.
What we do hear, is some of them giving these perpetrators “gentle” advice - which honestly feels more like mollycoddling them.
Mollycoddling perpetrators
A day after my show ‘Love in Georgetown City’ was shut down, the Penang mufti Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor made a statement to the media. He said, “Art and entertainment activities that are left uncontrolled will only lead to the destruction of humankind.”
Imagine having your hard work dismissed simply because others do not have the ability to understand its true nature, and then being forced to bow down to your bullies, only to end up being lectured with a statement like this. Honestly, it felt like a slap on the face.
Yesterday, the chairperson of Gerakan Pembela Ummah Mohd Zai Mustafa said that threats made against Khairi and Arjun were irresponsible and extreme.
However, he also said that it was understandable why Muslims were uncomfortable with the film. Zai also stressed that if the filmmaker did not learn from the experience then they have to be prepared to face the consequences.
In other words, Khairi and team were asked to stop making such films or else, “padan muka”.
PAS Youth information chief Khairul Nadzir Helmi Azhar also came forward to mollify the perpetrators with his advice, reminding them that while Muslims must continue to raise awareness about the film, they cannot overdo it. Right.
Even Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil had nothing better to say except a very simple “I strongly condemn such threats. Follow the law, don’t take matters into your own hands.” Not very strong indeed.
Let me ask you something. If a member of Parliament made an offensive remark (as they regularly do) in Dewan Rakyat and ended up receiving death threats and his/her property splashed with acid, do you think these are the reactions we’d be seeing?
I don’t think so.
Oh, how I wish we have leaders and politicians who would show us that we, the ordinary Malaysians, deserve the same respect and care as others. How I wish they would go all out to make us feel safe, protected, and heard, even if we have differing opinions.
Maybe the reason we don’t have enough of them is that they are part of the problem. They are the reason we face extremism among us.
In our country, every time a leader or a politician says something considered offensive, one can expect a violent-natured comeback.
Most of the time, instead of a “We will make every effort to correct your false perception” - which is a polite, respectful, and civilised way to engage in a disagreement - we will hear “Don’t you dare challenge our religion!”
You may search on Google “Jangan berani cabar Islam!” to see for yourselves how many times our leaders and politicians have resorted to such violent tactics to make a statement.
Now, how can we expect to control extremism among our people when it is the leaders and politicians who are normalising extremism by supporting violence and empowering extremists to take matters into their own hands?
What else do you think “Jangan berani cabar Islam” means if not to provoke their supporters, who’d most probably end up taking the inferences as direct instruction?
Most likely, the protestors who threatened my show four years ago as well as the perpetrators who threatened ‘Mentega Terbang’ a few days ago learned from the same leaders and politicians.
It makes perfect sense why they are mollycoddling the perpetrators, no? Because they created them.
So, what do we do about it? You tell me. - Mkini
FA ABDUL is a multi-award-winning playwright and director in the local performing arts scene, a published author, television scriptwriter, media trainer, and mother. Her ultimate mission in life is to live out of a small suitcase.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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