Tanda Putera

So so soooo many controversial comments and reviews on this one particular film don't you think?

As you can see from the poster, this movie was postponed not once but twice. Showing there are some hot issues going on over here.

In conjunction of celebrating our Independence Day, my dad brought the whole family to watch this movie. Regardless all the negative comments and reviews on this movie, I believe to watch first and then judge it for myself.

Firstly this review is from my own perspective and my own opinion. Again, I don't take sides, especially in political side of view.

I do admit, I am one of those groups which believe " Why watch malay movies in cinema? No quality, better watch western movies, with great and beyond visual effects" . But after involving a bit in videography and cinematography, I now do understand how much work and effort one can give into producing just one short film, so a movie, much much more work have to be done.

Nevertheless, it depends on the plot of the movie too, if it's another ghost story or some mat rempit movie, I'd passed. After watching my 2nd Malay movie in a cinema which is KIL, ( 1st one was in 2011 Ombak Rindu, this was due to my hangout with my school friends, it was between Ombak Rindu or being alone outside of the cinema, of course I choose being with my friends )  It opened my eyes on Malaysians' products. Not just in movies, also in short films.

The thing is, there are so many good movies and short films out there but not in the mainstream market. So as an audience I can assume that, only in the cinemas are the products of Malaysians filmmakers have. Not more than that. On the contrary, there are lots more beyond the mainstream media. The problem might encounter due to lack of audience market, racist issue and maybe the movie was just too deep and with that thought being afraid the Malaysians would not even understand the whole movie. (I think that happened with KIL, from my point of view).

Shuhaimi Baba or Shumi ( her manja name ) strongly advised to the people for to watch the movie first and  then judge. And her main objective was to make a  fictional biographical film about the 2nd prime minister of Malaysia Tun Abdul Razak (father of current Prime Minister Najib )  and his then deputy Tun Dr Ismail set around the time after the 1969 racial riots. In her defense, the film is mainly about the friendship between Tun Razak and Tun Dr Ismail, while the May 13 incident is merely a backdrop to the film.The research process for the movie took almost 1 year. From universities, interviews, libraries, the whole crew made a great effort in making this movie. But to be honest, to cramp a very historic event in a 2 hour movie is very very hard.

For me, the main actors, Rusdi Ramli as Abdul Razak bin Hussein and Zizan Nin as Ismail bin Abdul Rahman had made a good effort in portraying our legend heroes. Even before the shooting starts, all the main actors have to go for history classes for 2 weeks and 1 month of training and practice. But a bit disappointing with the extras and cameo for the riots, some of them are not showing full of hatred with each other. Just maybe, they are amateurs in the first place. 

From the cinematography and CGI effects point of view, I have to say it is kind of obvious to see CGI effects almost everywhere, but than again, it is good to see we are improving in this kind of visual effects rather than popping out ghost here and then. Don't compare with the high quality CGI's from the western movies but still it's a start. Kudos to KRU too, because they were among the early companies brave enough or maybe rich enough to use CGI in a movie and nailed it. Even this Tanda Putera movie shoots in KRU's studios. Again, kudos.

I do admit, I cried along watching the movie, because it was really inspiring to watch how 2 men sacrificed a lot in saving this nation. Also, how hard it is to unite the people, how hard it is to protect the country from crumbling after the May 13 incident. The OST for this movie really played a big role in making this movie a success.

I'm from the 90's generation and after watching a movie about two leaders that I've never felt their existence before this, it really changed my thoughts towards our leaders. Don't get me wrong, before this I just know that Allahyarham Tun Abdul Razak was the Bapa Pembangunan and some facts about his background but now Allahyarham Tun Abdul Razak has my most respect of all. And Dr. Ismail, seriously before this I hardly knew him, but now to know how he sacrificed a lot in defending our country, hats off to you sir. Am glad to have such great warriors in our country. 

I am not saying Tanda Putera is the best movie I watched, but to have a movie that builds up my patriotic values once in a while is good enough for me. Even watching the BTS of this movie gave me chills.

About The New Village movie issue, I can't wait to see it for myself though it may be banned. I want to see it for myself and judge if it is a double standard to allow Tanda Putera to be shown and not The New Village.
I mean the Malaysians are not that shallow to believe that the communists are the hero to all of this.

For me,sometimes there are no right nor wrong in history, but only different point of views. That's why we in Malaysia write the Independence history differently from the colonialist. Of course to them, the famous Mat Kilau is not a warrior but only a nuisance. 

For the record, I'm glad to be a part of the Negaraku program, where before watching a movie in a cinema, we have to sing Negaraku. I sang very loud and clear in my defense, because I do admit, I am a bit of a patriotic type of girl. 

Selamat Hari Raya Merdeka to all ! 

I love Malaysia even more after my trip to Vietnam.

Last year's merdeka photoshoot at home. 

Duta Jacobs

Kalau gambar ni, boleh ke kiri lagi, ada banyak lagi tin jacobs, tapi tak masuk frame pulak.

Inilah hasil abah kumpul tin biskut jacobs selama beberapa tahun.

Tapi dalam 3-4 tahun ni, abah beli yang refill packet saje, katanya lebih murah.

Tapi andai kata dia beli juga yang tin, memang dah tak muat pun nak letak.

Tujuan abah kumpul? Kata beliau, ini harta pusaka, boleh jual tin dan dapat duit.

Haaaa, rare tak, tin jacobs pun boleh jadi harta pusaka.

Aku tengah tunggu pihak Jacobs contact kiteorg untuk buat iklan promosi Jacobs kat rumah (angan-angan)

Korang jangan terkejut, satu hari nanti, tengah tengok drama melayu tetiba keluar iklan Jacobs, terpampang muka satu satu family aku.

Selamat Hari Rayayaya !

Anugerah Syawal - Bunkface #np (lagu ni memang best sampai tekan replay 79 kali pun tak bosan)

Agak outdated juga post pasal raya tahun ni, kononnya busy dengan MASUM.

MASUM? Majlis Sukan Universiti, ramai member davix ingat aku masuk Basketball, tapi hakikatnya aku masuk Netball. Sejak masuk Uni, aku tukar profession dah.

Kembali kepada tajuk asal, pasal raya.

Preparation raya tahun ni sekadar baju raya, kasut raya, tudung raya is not in the budget.

Memang hakikat pun, raya first after solat raya, kami sekeluarga dijemput direct ke rumah kawan abah utk beraya.

Tapi masalahnya, memang habit kami kaum hawa keluarga Manaf, jika ke surau, kami akan sarung telekung terus, tanpa bawa tudung. Macam ala pergi terawih gitu.

Haaaa, memang nasib kami lah, beraya rumah orang dengan telekung, nak update sikit, kebetulan aku pakai crocs purple gabak aku tuh, silap tak amik gambar je.

Dalam fikiran aku,

" Macam mana nak elak rendang tumpah kat telekung ni? "

Jangan risau, tiada sebarang tumpahan berlaku. 

Aku rasa sangat steady time tu, mana pernah dibuat orang beraya rumah orang dengan full telekung dengan crocs ungu. Rare gitu.

Ok sekian raya pertama, kita masuk acara tahunan , iaitu konvoi raya. Tahun ini serious last minit punya preparation, tapi berjaya juga.

Kali ini, aku tahan sikit nafsu makan aku, sbb kononnye kena jaga badan untuk MASUM. 

Overall, success juga konvoi tahun ni, tak puas, rasa nak borak borak lagi, tapi malangnya petang tu, aku nak kene gerak balik USIM utk latihan pusat bola jaring.

Bak kata lilot " gambar raya family tak penah tak rare "

Akhir kata, Selamat Hari Rayyyyaaaaaaaa ! *gaya sam bunkface nyanyi*

BTS Tumpang Raya

Just got home from MASUM tournament, and currently having a bad fever. This post is a bit outdated, but still what harm can it do.

It was 2 weeks before raya I received a text from my media kreatif lecturer, the text was

 " Di mana lokasi awak sekarang ? "

Yes, I know, it is a weird question. Lokasi? What's up with that?

So the texting goes on and on, until we have a team to participate in a short film competition.

To be precise the name of the competition is Festival Filem dan Video Pelajar Malaysia 2013, and it is organized by FINAS. I can say that it is a quite prestigious competition.

For this competition, there are a few categories to choose from, Commercial, Short Film, Experimental Short Film, Documentary, and many more.

We participate in the Commercial category, it was a raya commercial.

The theme for the competition is quite tough though, Evolusi Lensa Merentas Globalisasi.

The team

Aiman  : Director

Jasmi    : Editor

Fairus   : Production Manager 

Not to forget our sifu, En shah, who helped us along the way.

The whole process took us one week. 4 days of shooting and 3 days of editing. 

Though in the end the commercial was only 4 minutes ++ , we had lots of fun while doing it.

The link to the competition website - http://ffvpm10.usim.edu.my/

The link to the raya commercial (short version) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EvkJkxJlWA

The link to the raya commercial (extended version) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fkrvPFVXcQ

The festival is on the 15th-16th November 2013 at Stadium Tertutup Nilai. 

Pray for us !

PSP

These days there are just tonnes and tonnes of games available. Play Station, Nintendo Wii, X-box, PSP and lots more.

During my days, I played Play Station 1, abah did bought PS 2 but sadly it was stolen before I had the chance to even try it once.

A few years later, my sis bought Nintendo Wii for my lil bros, so they did enjoyed it for a while. Now, they are bored to death.

Even for me, the options for games from the Nintendo Wii company did not provide the interesting range of games.

Thus, my two lil bro, Muqry and Azim are now collecting their money to buy a PSP. As for me, I asked them to buy the X-box because we can play multi-player.

So the conversation begins

Muqry : Abah boleh la beli PSP, muqry guna duit sendiri. Gabung duit azim dgn muqry

Me : Kenapa beli PSP, belilah X-box lagi best, game dia pun banyak

Muqry : X-box mahal la ! Kiteorg takde duit.

Abah : Kenapa nak beli lagi? Kita kan dah ada

Me : Ada apa? PSP ? X-box

Abah : Ala kat dapur tu, Ice box

Muqry and Me : ABAH ITU ICE BOX BUKAN X-BOX LAAAA !!

Abah : La, ingat ke sama je ( being sarcastic)

Siblings

Yesterday went through some old pictures and found some of our kindergarten graduation's day pictures.

My siblings and I went to the same kindergarten and have been taught by the same teachers.

Because I'm the oldest so my picture has to be bigger.

And btw what's with the way that I hold the scroll, my other siblings are holding it naturally.

Maybe one of these days me and my siblings should pay a visit to the kindergarten and see Ms Lim.

Saving mother nature

During my tamhidi (foundation) years, every Thursday I would declare it's 'Save The Earth Day'. I would wear all green, from head to toe. And this trend is sometimes followed by my friends too. So what do we do on a Thursday where yours truly declare it as a 'Save The Earth Day'? Hmm, basically anything is possible.

From taking the bus instead of driving till reducing amount of plastic bag usage.

I know it's not a big of an effort, but still, small steps bring big changes.

As most of you probably knew, I have always helped or may I say being busybody at some of the food stalls that my college have. From selling burgers to selling banana fritters, I have done it all.

Usually I took part as the cashier, the pakciks,makciks,abangs and kakaks has always asked me to be the cashier because as they quoted " Pai, kira laju so senang sikit ". All my years of learning  arithmetical mathematics were put into good use.

So as the cashier, I also have to pack all the food that they ordered, so from that I can reduce the usage of plastic bag. I mean if you buy just one burger, do you really need that plastic bag? Once you get to your room or somewhere, that plastic bag is a nuisance already.

So one day,

"Bang, saya rasa tak perlu la kasi budak2 ni plastik, bazir je"

"Ish, mana boleh, dieorang mesti nak punya"

"Kita kene save mother nature bang,suruh dieorang bawak Tupperware sendiri ah,baru rare"

"Oh tak payah pakai tupperware, kita pakai yang lagi bagus"

"Oh apa tu bang?"

"Kita balut burger ni pakai daun pisang, lagi rare"