Malaysians have had enough of politics and religion being used to divide the country. Surely, the arts should and must remain a platform for keeping Malaysia and Malaysians together still.

IT’S totally absurd – to put it bluntly. It is a no-brainer that the best picture of the year has to be the Malaysian favourite OlaBola but we are now told that the movie has been disqualified because it is not entirely in Bahasa Malaysia.

This has taken place because organisers of the annual Film Festival Malaysia (FFM) have tied themselves up with inflexible rules.

The rule has always been there – the movie dialogue must always be 70% in Bahasa Malaysia – to be eligible for nominations and subsequently for awards.

The local film industry has been a mono ethnic one and no one thought that local movies, in Chinese or Tamil, would emerge, and in the case of OlaBola – a mix of Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese, Tamil and English, which is certainly Malaysian.

In short, Malaysia has changed but FFM hasn’t. Suddenly, a superb movie like OlaBola, emerged, winning accolades, breaking box office and getting the support of all races.

The FFM, stuck with its archaic rules and inability to adapt efficiently, has now found itself caught in a controversy and worse, accused of being racist which is a little harsh as the issue in contention is language. To be fair, non-Malay directors have won previously.

But the arguments put forth have been flimsy. Does it mean that if someone were to make a movie about the Tang Dynasty in China or geishas of Japan with a script fully in Bahasa Malaysia, the movie would be acceptable even though it has nothing to do with Malaysia?

A movie about Malaysia and Malaysians, produced and directed by Malaysians, and acted by Malaysians isn’t “Malaysian enough” because it has a mixture of languages and dialects spoken by Malaysians?

No one wants to say it straight but essentially, OlaBola may not be Malay enough. No one cares if it is Malaysian enough.

The Malaysian Film Producers Association (PFM) said the segregation of award categories in FFM is based on language, saying it was to uphold Bahasa Malaysia in local films.

According to a news report, FFM and PFM led by SKOP Production chief Datuk Yusof Haslam, made the decision due to the use of mixed languages in OlaBola and another movie, Jagat.

Director Chiu Keng Guan’s movie OlaBola, which is more well-known, was inspired by the multiracial Malaysian football team that qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympics and it certainly stirred the hearts of most Malaysians.

According to press reports, within just 18 days of its release in cinemas nationwide as well as in Brunei, the football-themed movie made more than RM12mil.

Previously, the Astro Shaw-produced movie crossed the RM2.5mil mark in just four days before growing to RM8mil after 13 days of showing.

Jagat is about the plight of Malaysian Indians during the post-estate era, set in the early 1990s. The film directed by Shanjhey Kumar Perumal is about a mischievous 12-year-old boy named Appoy and his relationships with his father, Maniam, and uncle, who is a former drug addict and local gangster.

This film is said to be the first Tamil language Malaysian movie to screen in cinemas for eight weeks running although it did not make the kind of money as OlaBola did.

But here’s the real sad part. The movie was called a Malaysian movie at the New York Asian Film Festival, and in India, where it was sent for a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) process, it was classified as a Malaysian film.

And here, we learnt that these two films are not Malaysian enough and that these films have to be categorised according to language. Those behind the decision to change rules midway should just listen to how Malaysians speak in real life.

That’s how Malaysians speak, like the characters in OlaBola, and in the estates, where many of the Indians lived. And yes, they are Malaysians too. Yes, they speak Tamil. Surely, we wouldn’t expect them to speak in Bahasa Malaysia, which would have been unreal.

Last week, prominent banker Datuk Seri Nazir Razak openly supported the call by comedian Afdlin Shauki to boycott the FFM.

In a post on his Instagram account, the CIMB chairman questioned the language division for the Best Picture category in the national film awards ceremony and congratulated Afdlin Shauki for taking a stand.

“Respect. I was aghast to hear that my favourite, OlaBola, and others can’t compete for best Malaysian movie. Why the segregation?

“Change will only happen because individuals like Afdlin make a principled stand, well done!” he said, captioning an image of a news headline which read “Actor Afdlin Shauki boycotts Festival Filem over racial segregation”.

AirAsia Group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes has joined in to support the move, saying the racial diversity portrayed in local movies like OlaBola and Jagat was a strength that shouldn’t be penalised.

“When will we realise our strength against the world is our diversity? Come on Malaysia. The world is changing,” he said in a comment on Nazir’s Instagram post.

There may be a perfectly logical and fair rationale for the rules being interpreted in this manner, but the explanation so far hasn’t been convincing.

The organisers may perhaps want to encourage non-Malay movie producers to enter the local film industry by creating more ca­tegories.

As in any contest, there are always other contenders, which included Munafik, a horror movie, directed by Syamsul Yusof, about Adam, a Muslim medical practitioner, who is unable to accept the fact that his wife is no longer in this world.

The movie is produced by Yusuf Haslam and has grossed RM19mil in the box office.

The movie is now competing in the Bahasa Malaysia best movie category – along with Mat Moto – Kami Mat Moto Bukan Mat Rempit and action-packed Polis Evo.

Director Saw Teong Him’s Jejak Warriors is said to be another front runner in this category. The movie is about a teenager, Wan Raja, whose father was a fanatical fan of the Kelantan football team and how he fulfilled his late dad’s dream to get the autographs of every player.

One should also point out that in Polis Evo and Jejak Warriors, the use of the Terengganu and Kelantanese dialects are so heavy that standard Bahasa Malaysia is almost non-existent.

The decision of the FFM, even with the best of intentions, is perhaps not well thought of, because arts, like sports, is about bridging people and surely not dividing and sub-dividing them into categories.

Malaysians have had enough of politics and religion being used to divide Malaysia, with unnecessary suspicions, and surely, the arts should and must remain a platform for keeping Malaysia and Malaysians together still. Of course, fair play, too.

I am reminded of the final scene in OlaBola when Soh Chin Aun, who played the role of the older Chow Kwok Keong (the character based on himself), was interviewed.

Asked how the team was so united, he said: “We speak diffe­rent languages, but we all sing the same song.”

Changed world: Sam (right) walking down Petaling Street with Rumah Petros house leader Martin Claude Balhetchet.

A lesson learnt from Sam, who was recently pardoned, was to never give up. For me, it was very emotional to know that his biggest campaigners were the prison wardens themselves.

IT is very rare indeed – probably unheard of – to have prison officials campaigning hard to seek the release of a prisoner but that was precisely what happened.

After years of failed appeals to the Pardons Board, Sam Kian Seng – Number 1000 2901 – who has been in jail for 28 years, walked out of Kajang Prison a free man at 2pm on Monday, July 25.

It was nothing short of a miracle and it reaffirmed my faith in God and the goodness of human beings.

It also refreshed my belief that no one should give up hope, even in the most difficult moments, and this man, Sam Kian Seng, is a living example.

Sam, who was arrested for armed robbery in 1988, was never sent to the gallows because he was not the principal offender. Charged with gun possession, he was found guilty and sentenced to natural life imprisonment and also given six strokes of the rotan.

This is different from a normal life sentence which carries a maximum of 30 years jail but in Sam’s time, a life sentence was 20 years. There is also a one-third remission for good behaviour.

Natural life imprisonment, however, meant that Sam, no matter how well behaved, was doomed to die behind prison walls. His only hope was to get a pardon.

His story has been an extraordinary one. Each time his appeal got rejected by the Pardons Board, it upset the wardens more than Sam himself.

After all, they said they watched over Sam daily and they knew him better than members of the Pardons Board.

The telephone call came to me one day in 2010 from a senior prison official whom I have known for a long time.

He said the media was their last hope and they chose me.

A prison visit to Kajang Prison was arranged and I came face to face with this total stranger who sought my help to get him pardoned.

The prison official showed me a thick dossier of appeal letters from politicians, lawyers, faith-based groups and prison officials – all supporting his case. Some of them have since passed away.

I was told how this long-serving prisoner was able to do what many prison wardens and counsellors could not do – he turned hardcore criminals into church mice, literally.

He counselled the inmates, led daily worship and conducted Bible classes in cells. He also provided information about non-governmental organisations like Malaysian Care and halfway houses to prisoners about to be released.

Every Sunday, more than 60 inmates, including former hardcore criminals, spent their time in worship under his leadership.

In a smattering of Cantonese and English, Sam spoke extensively to me of how he intended to carry on with his counselling work once he was released from jail.

I just let him speak, not interrupting at all, and when he finally stopped, I told him that I would try my best to help him.

I wasn’t even sure when and how I should start. I may know several Sultans, who would chair the Pardons Board in their respective states, but this case was carried out in Kuala Lumpur and that meant it came under the King. For sure, I do not know the King.

But I never forgot Sam. He made sure I didn’t either. He frequently sent out messages, via non-governmental organisations doing work in prison, to enquire about the progress I had made to secure his pardon!

Sam’s pardon by the King is a result of NGOs and individuals working patiently to seek his release and even if at some point some of us thought it would never happen, we knew we mustn’t give up because Sam has not given up on us.

The messages that suddenly cropped up from NGO workers were simply reminders that he was fighting on the inside there.

As many others worked, I finally sought the help of businessman Tan Sri Barry Goh and his assistant, Johan Abdullah, to convey the appeal personally to the King. I also revisited my encounter with Sam in this column on May 24, 2015 (“Hope Within the Prison Walls”) to get the attention of the palace.

We do not know if what we have done has been critical or pivotal, but it doesn’t really matter, and no one is out to claim credit, as what is important is that Sam left a mark on those who met him inside the Kajang Prison.

It has been very impactful, and even emotional, for me because among his biggest campaigners were the Muslim prison wardens, even though Sam’s work was primarily Christian. For these wardens, Sam was just a good man and that his choice of faith wasn’t an issue.

On Monday, when he walked out of Kajang prison at 2pm, the message was conveyed to me by Malaysian Care that Sam was finally out!

It was unbelievable! As the news spread, I called up the prison officials who had alerted me about Sam earlier, and the joy at the other end of the line was emphatic as they expressed their thanks to Allah.

They shared with me about another case – and how exhilarated they were when this person, too, was pardoned for a crime committed when he was a boy. As a minor, he was held “at the pleasure of His Majesty” with no fixed term and sometimes, they get forgotten.

All Sam wanted was his first plate of wantan mee on Monday evening. On Tuesday morning, he was still eating wantan mee.

He has bought himself some new clothes and he is learning to use a mobile phone. He kept calling me, wrongly, and kept apologising for that.

He is clearly eager to join in what most of the world is keen on now – starting with creating a Facebook account and discovering the wonders of social media.

His parents died when he was serving his time. He didn’t get to attend the funerals unlike some privileged politicians serving jail sentences.

At 59 years old, the bachelor is now busy catching up on lost time with his brothers and sisters. The news report in The Star on Wednesday was the top read item online and I got plenty of calls from reporters including an international TV station seeking to interview him.

Let Sam have his space. He has plenty to catch up with his family and adjusting to life in the new Malaysia.

There is one lesson for me from Sam which will remain etched in my mind forever – how not to give up hope and to remain steadfast in the belief in God, regardless of our religion.

I remember that interview with Sam and how he pressed his hand against the glass panel separating us to say goodbye, fervent in his belief that he would walk out of prison one day and continue his mission work outside.

When I asked him why he should be optimistic, he looked at me and said: “Sir, even the word hopeless begins with hope.”

Unnecessary controversy: Yuna has been criticised for sharing a friendly hug with Usher.

We need to stop any kind of religious-political culture from rearing its ugly head in Malaysia. We just need to be bold and say no.

IT’s unbelievable. A friendly hug, which is more sisterly and brotherly in nature, between Malaysian singer Yuna (pic) and Grammy award winner Usher can actually become a controversy.

There was nothing sensual about it but for some people, these holier-than-thou critics, it has become an almost punishable moral crime, but luckily they are only in the minority.

The majority of her fans, who are rational people, have chosen to support her via social media but it must have hurt the US-based Yuna badly.

For one, she wears a headgear and her body is mostly covered up, even though it is well-known that her American friends have often told her it is all right to drop her fashion taste, thinking she is under some form of religious pressure.

But that does not seem to be enough for some critics, who supposedly uphold religious principles, but could in the same breath fire away profanity and curses.

Last week, Yuna, through her Instagram account, wrote: “I’ll show my appreciation whether it’s a handshake, or a hug, to my friends, this is me.”

“They call me ‘perempuan sampah’ and tell me to ‘might as well go naked’. The worst, hurtful & sexist things I’ve ever had thrown to me, were from the lips of the Malays,” Yuna added.

The hugging incident happened spontaneously while they were singing their hit song, Crush, at The Roots Picnic 2016 in Philadelphia, USA, last month.

The video was posted on Instagram and Twitter by Yuna on June 5, and her act was immediately criticised by some bloggers.

Yuna has been reported as saying that “I have some Americans telling me to take my hijab off, and I tell them no. I have some Malays tell me to take my hijab off because ‘from wearing a turban might as well take off your hijab’, I tell them no too.”

Usher could have chosen anyone to duet with him. We are talking about a huge name who has partnered with the likes of Pharrell and Justin Bieber but he has given the privilege to Yuna, who may be a nine-time Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) winner, but isn’t exactly a household name in the United States.

The collaboration has given Yuna international fame and instead of cheering and being proud of our local brand, some of us are kicking her for the most ridiculous things.

What did we expect her to do? Push Usher away, who is simply not used to Muslim etiquette but was merely hugging her without any sinister intentions?

She has signed up with Fader Label and this means she has also started working with Pharrell, whom we all know for giving us monster hits like Happy and Blurred Lines with Robin Thicke.

Her critics clearly can’t see the forest for the trees. Can Malaysians be blamed if some of us are beginning to be concerned with the new kind of intolerant religious-political culture that is taking shape in our country?

Even His Royal Highness the Sultan of Johor, in an interview, has expressed his worry that many Malaysians are becoming more Arab than the Arabs, with some female Malaysians refusing to shake his hand.

Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Sultan Iskandar said in an interview: “If there are some of you who wish to be an Arab and practise Arab culture, and do not wish to follow our Malay customs and traditions, that is up to you. I also welcome you to live in Saudi Arabia.”

And of course, picking on entertainers didn’t end with Yuna. The Islamist party, PAS, threw a tantrum when it heard that Selena Gomez was putting up a concert in Shah Alam tomorrow.

The party, which was only momentarily moderate in the last general election, has gone back to its fanatical ways.

The wing’s dakwah committee chairman Hafez Sabri claimed that the American singer’s “sexy appearance” would tarnish the sanctity of the month of Syawal, which is when Muslims celebrate Hari Raya.

The state religious affairs executive council member Ahmad Yunus Hairi, who is from PAS, then ordered all mosques throughout the state to hold solat hajat (special prayers) to pray for the cancellation.

Obviously, Ahmad Yunus isn’t aware that although he may be the exco member in charge of religious affairs, it is the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) which carries more clout. Jais issued a statement late Friday to say it did not issue any notice or order for mosques to hold special prayers.

Its director Datuk Haris Kasim said any decision to cancel the show will be up to the local authorities, adding “as the people already know, the concert is set to take place on July 25.”

To top it all, the Raja Muda Selangor Tengku Amir Shah sent out a cheeky Instagram posting, on Friday night, which says “Welcome to my home town @selanagomez!” with a poster of the concert.

If PAS has its way, Malaysia will become another Taliban state. In Kelantan, its members are still dead against the revival of cinemas in that state.

Its youth wing has imposed conditions, such as gender segregation with the need to have the lights switched on while movies are going on.

So, if a husband takes his wife to the cinema, he would have to bring along their marriage certificate to prove they are married and we are not even sure if non-Muslims are exempted.

No wonder the Kelantanese prefer to just go to Golok and of course, bring back all kinds of diseases.

We need to bring back sanity and must be bold enough to stop this kind of religious-political culture, which is completely alien to Malaysia, but justified in the name of religion, as interpreted by PAS.