An activist friend recommended me to a site called EngageMedia and forwarded me a link to a documentary clip about Malaysia’s ten years before independent titled "10 Tahun Sebelum Merdeka". http://www.engagemedia.org/Members/fahmireza/videos/10Tahun.mp4/view. An interesting thought provoking piece by Fahmi Reza.
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October 20th, 1947 was a historical day in the rakyat's constitutional struggle for independence from British colonialism. This documentary chronicles the events that culminated in the Malaya-wide 'Hartal' (civil disobedience) day of protest against the undemocratic Federation of Malaya Constitutional Proposals devised by the British Colonial Government and the UMNO, and the rise of the people's democratic movement in Malaya, ten years before Merdeka.
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This is a short brief of their intro:-
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EngageMedia (based in Melbourne) is a video sharing site focusing on social justice and environmental issues in the Asia-Pacific. It is a space for critical documentary, fiction, artistic and experimental works that challenge the dominance of the mainstream media.The growth of digital distribution tools mean distributing video online has become a viable option for artists and activists looking for ways to get their work out there. Huge potential exists within these new technologies to bypass the control of big media conglomerates and create our own distribution channels.
I saw it last year at a workshop I attended in Penang. It was enlightening to say the least for I never knew that there already existed a movement for a Malaysian Malaysia then, 10 full years before merdeka!
ReplyDeleteToo bad for us the colonial British chose to look after their own interests first and chose UMNO to lead the administration of independent Malaysia despite the "hartal".
Imagine what this country could have been if the British were not such selfish bastards!
Asiseesit, you should watch the entire documentary if you can get a hold of it. It will blow you away and its only about 1/2 hour of your time (if memory serves me correctly).
it's 35 minutes long. i tried embeding the clip here but encounter problems. you can always watch it there again.
ReplyDelete