ALTHOUGH The King’s Speech only won four out of its 12 nominations for Oscars, this was still tremendous for the independent film, encouraging the likes of Norman Abdul Halim who said “Finas should be privatised” in an interview on Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (‘A cut above the rest’, theSun, 17 February 2011). Nonetheless, Elizabeth II’s seal of approval is surely worth far more. Thankfully the Film Censorship Board left the film alone: the string of expletives that led to an alternative version in the USA is very much intact. Alas, friends have said that Black Swan and No Strings Attached have been heavily censored due to scenes of sex and nudity (or perhaps they have something against the Jewish and pro-Israeli Natalie Portman). As long as the social authoritarians in the Home Ministry continue to insult our intelligence, a major factor in the demand for pirated DVDs will continue unabated. One might imagine they are in cahoots with the pirates, given the impunity with which sellers operate either in well-lit shop lots or roaming mamak stalls.
It was good that I had George VI to inspire me as, last week, I had to give three speeches with little advance warning. The first was on 24 February, where I was Guest of Honour at the Cempaka Voices in Concert. It was easily the best school concert I’ve attended in Malaysia. These kids were supremely confident and their musicality was a delight. (I had earlier toured Cempaka International Ladies’ College with graduates of the Royal College of Music, who exclaimed that its facilities were superior to their alma mater’s!) At the end of the concert Dato’ Freida Pilus announced that I would be saying a few words, which was unexpected. En route to the rostrum I stitched together Cempaka’s motto – ‘Nothing is Impossible’ – with the lyrics of a song they had just performed – Defying Gravity! Had I more time to prepare and print my speech I would have said that all schools should strive to replicate such enthusiastic displays of talent. Afterwards, I listened to a teenage opera singer perform part of a Schubert Lieder, and I am sure she will achieve worldwide recognition one day.
The next morning, I received a note saying that I was to give a speech that evening, when I was Guest of Honour at the first concert organised by the Persatuan Mahasiswa Anak Negeri Sembilan19 at Universiti Putra Malaysia. They had drafted a speech for me, but just as with my writing, I think it is always better to write your own, which I did, making reference to the fact that the appreciation of arts and culture is one way to overcome differences such as those experienced within the student body amidst recent university campus elections20. The concert itself was an enjoyable display of different dance and musical traditions, but what was new to me was the Gordang Sembilan troupe – consisting of nine long-barrelled drums lined up from big to small played by four drummers accompanied by a series of gongs and a flautist-singer. At supper later, one of the hosts admitted his “surprise” that I changed the script. Let’s see if I get invited again!
Finally, the evening after that, I was at the Epicurean Club’s dinner in Seremban. Accompanying the delicious food were presentations by Professor Dato’ Dr Zakaria Ahmad, who is Senior Vice-President of HELP University, Vice-President of the Olympic Council of Malaysia and formerly Head of Political Science at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, as well as Tan Sri Khoo Kay Kim. Near the conclusion of a speech highlighting the problems of government interference in sport, the club president asked me to give a speech to precede Tan Sri Khoo. Daunted by being flanked by two intellectual giants, I focused on thanking the hosts! But Tan Sri Khoo adopted a method that I will definitely copy from now on: instead of giving a speech, he asked the audience a series of questions on Malaysian history, which was very enlightening.
I disputed four points though: firstly, he claimed that Negeri Sembilan was formed around 1700 and not 1773, but surely it depends on the definition and one can go back much further; secondly, he said the British swapped Lukut for Semenyih, but the treaty was between the Sultan of Selangor and Undang of Sungei Ujong; thirdly, he implied that sovereignty was “returned” to the Rulers after in 1948, but I think sovereignty was never taken away because the MacMichael Treaties were illegitimate; and fourthly, he said that sovereignty was then transferred from the Rulers to the people, but I’d argue that sovereignty (and only some, not all) was lent by the Rulers to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on behalf of the people.
19 Negeri Sembilan Students’ Association