(Author: LiteraCity; originally published in LiteraCity Festival 2016)
Amir Muhammad is a casual filmmaker, writer and publisher at Buku Fixi. We met Amir Muhammad at Khadijah’s Kitchen after an event at Gerak Budaya, Petaling Jaya. He opened up the discussion to the exploration of Malay film world in the studio era and English theater world.
Amir Muhammad:
Maybe not dramatically, but psychologically. If we observe writers like Hamzah Hussein and A. Samad Said, they were formerly based in Singapore, and later moved here. This includes P. Ramlee who was also a writer but specializes in screenplays. There was an attempt to recreate KL myths, because before them, KL was not considered a sexy city. The city was not a harbour, so its romance was different. KL was considered to be a place infected with malaria. In the process of establishing KL, many have died. People were not used to the environment back then. So in the 1960s, there were efforts to develop the image of KL myths.
LiteraCity:
Which works would instantly read as Kuala Lumpur?
Amir Muhammad:
Mat Som. It’s visual and we grew up during those times, despite how corny it is. If we look at bas mini, there’s a significant difference between his drawings and his writing. His drawings are not for the younger crowd. There are more details that were highlighted. If we were to write back then, it would be “getting on the bus”. But as a visual artist, we want to know what a bas mini looks like; the bus number. It’s a love letter to Kuala Lumpur from one standpoint, a mix between the working class, and also the creative class. That is KL writing. Indeed, many novels were set in KL.
LiteraCity:
What are the common themes related to Kuala Lumpur?
Amir Muhammad:
We can see the themes similar to what people write about Jakarta. The theme can be summarized by the Bernafas Dalam Lumpur title. Bernafas Dalam Lumpur began as an Indonesian movie, which afterwards became a Malay song. The phrase... Even though it is difficult materialistically, but people could still survive and be productive. And I feel that it is the common theme among cities in the world. Calcutta may be worse, but every city needs its romanticism. Maybe Bandar Seri Begawan also has its own Bernafas Dalam Lumpur. Mat Som is interesting and cute because there are real world characters making their appearances, so readers still remember people like Ghafar Ibrahim and Salleh Joned.
LiteraCity:
What would be your criteria to include a work, such as Mat Som?
Amir Muhammad:
Because I feel there is a documentary aspect to it. It becomes a story about Kuala Lumpur. A story about people who move there to become breadwinners, with whatever hurdles they faced and can still afford to go to a concert, at Panggung Anniversary. Other cities may be able to make the same kind of story, but this has an element of KL.
LiteraCity:
Pepatah Petitih by Pak Sako was also interesting.
Amir Muhammad:
I don’t really follow the comic scene. I didn’t read much of “Aku dalam Blues”, IBC – “Intelligent Blues Club” to name a few. I think Gila-Gila, most of it I didn’t really read. It definitely helped influence... the migration experience. Most of the young characters in there were not born in KL. They went there. In their 1920s, looking for a job, these were what symbolizes the cartoonists back then. It became a perspective.
LiteraCity:
What about your own involvement in the 1990s. Do you remember any specific works?
Amir Muhammad:
Books? In my opinion, the best Malaysian novel is still Devil’s Place by Brian Gomez. It may not be logical in other cities, but it makes sense here. For example, breaking out of prison with ease three times a day. Other places may find this hard to believe, but when set in KL we can imagine it because there are so many similar stories. Another thing was how he described the pimp in Bukit Bintang using comedy and voice intonations. Brian’s specialty is his ability in capturing the way people talk, which is truly essential for a comic novelist.
LiteraCity:
We are also looking for works in bahasa Melayu.
Amir Muhammad:
If you read the short story by Paul Bowles, Unwelcome Words, it was an epistolary. We only see a person writing. But there was one sentence, referring to KL. “Remember Kuala Lumpur, the city Cocteau called Kuala L’impur because of its many brothels.” It was the first time I saw KL in other works. It wasn’t even about KL. It made me curious, which came out of whatever decade it was from, but already existed in popular imagination, even in esoteric terms. And despite it being in the colonial era, The Malayan Trilogy, Anthony Burgess, scenes in the Coliseum Bar and Selangor Club.
LiteraCity: Which year was this?
Amir Muhammad:
It was published late 1950s, during colonial times, and one of his novels was Pearls (1987). There was a scene at BB Park, a place where you would pay women to dance for you. It’s similar to prostitution. I think it is between Bukit Bintang and Jalan Imbi. It’s a famous entertainment centre, Rose Chan performed there.
LiteraCity: Rose Chan?
Amir Muhammad:
You don’t know her? Rose Chan had a very interesting life story. One of her most famous acts was performing a striptease with a snake.
LiteraCity: Which year?
Amir Muhammad: 1950s and 1960s.
LiteraCity:
What about the 1990s, the year of Reformasi, any works recording the era?
Amir Muhammad:
Faisal Tehrani did write Cinta Hari-Hari Rusuhan. But he wrote about a time that was not his. He wrote about the early 1970s. The protagonist was supposedly Hishamuddin Rais. But the book was released even before Hishamuddin Rais came back to Malaysia. So, people’s idea about Hishamuddin Rais was one scene in Cinta Hari-Hari Rusuhan: A scene in Australia where he went to a party but was uncomfortable because everyone was drinking alcohol, so he was the only one who requested for orange juice. (Laugh). So that was how Isham looks behind the lens of Faisal Tehrani. It was that, the scenes in UM, American Embassy, and I’m not sure if there was a work that mentioned the hijacking of the Subang Airport.
LiteraCity:
Any non-Malay writers writing about Kuala Lumpur?
Amir Muhammad:
There are more short stories. One of the best ones was in KL Noir by Preeta Samasaran. It was republished in KL Noir. The tile was “Rukun Tetangga” (Neighbourhood). The name of the protagonist was Uncle Guna. The short story had very KL spirit as it took place in a shopping mall. And at that time, many little girls were being kidnapped. The protagonist was an old Indian man, a divorcee or has never been married before. He was upset because of the little girl kidnappings. So he began this stalking mission. He would go to a shopping mall, when he sees a little girl he will trail behind her. He will take pictures. But the twist was not that he became a pervert. I’ll spoil it. He entered a lift behind a Chinese girl. And the mother told her daughter, “I told you don’t follow any keling man.” So it was an ordinary cruelty. Maybe because Preeta did not live in KL, when given the challenge to write about KL, she contemplated about the psychology of the place. Not just about hanging out at Starbucks but on what the shopping malls represent. So many people but each and every one were isolated, and everyone who wanted to leave the borders will face a repercussion. I think it’s a brilliant short story.
LiteraCity: Year?
Amir Muhammad:
It was first published under MPH, so early 2000. And I believe that mall was Midvalley.
LiteraCity:
Midvalley was still new at that time. It was in an anthology?
Amir Muhammad:
KL Noir Red, but previously was in Urban Odysseys.
LiteraCity: What about stageplays?
Amir Muhammad:
Rahim Razali wrote for Malam Gelap di Bukit Damansara. Sounds familiar? He actually copied a famous short play, by Peter Shaffer I think, who created Equus, but this was comedy. As the curtains open, inside the stage was dark, and all characters entered and had conversations casually, and suddenly the lights go up and all the characters exclaimed, "oh no, where are the lights?" So they were in the dark but we could see them. It was a farce. From all the happenings and the misunderstandings, for one hour. So, Rahim Razali wrote his own version, if I’m not mistaken it had Marlia Musa. It was staged at MaTic.
LiteraCity:
There’s one called Spring in Kuala Lumpur.
Amir Muhammad:
That one I don’t know. There are a lot of scripts. Jit Murat had Gold Rain and Hailstones. It talked about rich young people growing up; there is a nightclub, Piccadilly in PJ. The setting was the 1970s. And there was another play set in KLIA. The title was A Flight Delayed. Set in KLIA’s waiting lounge. The four characters chatted with each other due to a flight delay. There was Azean Irdrawaty, Ida Nerina. Late 1990s. Maybe it was the first play to take place in KLIA. It was staged in 1999, one year after KLIA was launched. Regarding location, it was probably closest to Election Day by Huzir Sulaiman. It followed the election campaign. So he captured the facts from 1999 very well. The staging process was not even one month after the election. The writing and directing process was really quick, even getting the permit was done in a heartbeat.
LiteraCity:
But the script book was censored.
Amir Muhammad:
That was during second staging. The first staging at Dataran Merdeka was okay. When they wanted to restage it in Bangsar, DBKL would later say no to a lot of things. There were also some weird demands, such as don’t mention Wan Azizah. They had to say “That nice lady doctor with the spectacle.” And you can’t mention Guardian Pharmacy for some reason, so they had to replace it with some other thing. So specific things are dangerous, Guardian Pharmacy is dangerous because then people would know. It’s like wahabbi, they have to destroy the prophet’s birthplace because they were afraid it would be worshipped, something like that. I think it was one of the most entertaining, because this would have never happened anywhere else.
LiteraCity:
What about works from 2000?
Amir Muhammad:
If you’re looking for something set in KL it won’t be difficult but what is interesting and how to capture the mood of the place. Like Paris, all movies about Paris will showcase the Eiffel Tower. Like the Godard movie, running in a museum (Bande à part). To me this pictured something and not just anyone walking in a museum. Wasn’t there a Malay movie that was shot in Paris?
LiteraCity: Which one?
Amir Muhammad:
Azura remake (Azura 2). That’s why they had a scene of getting on top of the Eiffel Tower (laugh). I feel that movies from the 1970s were more interesting. Sometimes it depends on which era the movie was from. In the early 1970s, there were only black and white movies. It was during the time of Studio Merdeka... because the studio was beside the zoo. Studio Merdeka then became FINAS. So if they had to shoot a river, they shot the Melawati River. So the Setapak area was a very familiar sight. Back then there was nothing in Bangsar, just palm oil trees. The Badul movies in the 1970s were sometimes interesting as they were shot in specific places.
LiteraCity:
Where was Pi Mai Pi Mai Tang Tu shot?
Amir Muhammad:
I think it wasn’t anywhere specific, Kampung Seri Wangi, right? It used to be a squatters area, during the first season it was a squatters area but they had to change it during the second season because there was this idea that squatting was considered disrespectful towards the government’s efforts, so everyone moved into a flat (laugh).
LiteraCity:
Were there any specific works about squatter areas?
Amir Muhammad:
The original title for the theatre was Syyy... right? Which was then transformed into Pi Mai Pi Mai Tang Tu by Hatta Azad Khan, and published by DBP. Because it was a joke about building a water treatment plant like the sewers, where they filter biological wastes, which is why the title was Syyy... because they wanted to say shit but it became syyy... be quiet. That’s what makes it great, but once it became a sitcom, they repeated some of the safe jokes over and over again.
LiteraCity:
Balada Hilang Peta by A. Samad Said also lightly mentioned a squatter area but it was not specific. That was interesting too.
Amir Muhammad:
Okay, maybe we can find a thriller. There was a play by Gibran Agi, which featured Dayabumi. It felt futuristic. It was in about two or three time frames. Dayabumi played an important role. There was a sort of terrorist plot to bomb Dayabumi. Back then Dayabumi was a huge deal, before KLCC existed. I don’t remember the title. But you can find it on Google.
LiteraCity:
Have you read Sampah, by Shahnon Ahmad?
Amir Muhammad: No, what year was it published?
LiteraCity: 1974. Terdedah?
Amir Muhammad:
The story took one whole day. A lot of showering scenes (laugh).
LiteraCity:
We also tried looking for Mona Gersang.
Amir Muhammad: You have a copy?
LiteraCity: No.
Amir Muhammad:
Because the sequel to Mona Gersang exists. But the original was only 80 pages.
LiteraCity:
Kuala Lumpur Kita Punya was also good.
Amir Muhammad:
Interesting. There have been plans to reprint, but well you know.
LiteraCity:
He himself said he didn’t want it printed, or was it a rumour?
Amir Muhammad:
I heard people saying it. Some said he didn’t want it to go to print, because he was badmouthed after winning the Sasterawan Negara award, him and Shahnon, because it’s impossible that they’d forget to reprint it, because all the other books were reprinted.
LiteraCity:
But that’s makes it even better.
Amir Muhammad:
Yes, yes, that definitely makes it better.
LiteraCity: The 1960s.
Amir Muhammad:
Give and take the same year as Terdedah. I think the late 1960s period was the most interesting for writing.
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