Tanda Putera; A Prejudiced View Of History.

KUALA LUMPUR: After a week Tanda Putera premiered in the cinemas and having received more criticism than a blockbuster hit, finally I was tasked to watch Shuhaimi Baba's film and see for myself how worthy is the movie that some say it deserves academic acknowledgement.
 Highlighting on the story of the friendship of Tun Abdul Razak and his then deputy Tun Dr Ismail, which was played by Rusdi Ramli and Zizan Nin respectively, Tanda Putera, to sum it up was a poor attempt of what had happened around the time of the May 1969 riot and how it was resolved.
 Despite the cost amounting up to RM5 million, Tanda Putera appeared poorly written and disorganized. It somehow lacked flow and connection in its storyline, lack of background research, wrong casting and in short, a complete shipwreck.
 On top of that, the movie has a biased and unbalanced view of history, whereby the Malays were put under good light and glorified while the Chinese was portrayed as inciting racial hatred against the Malays and had been infiltrated by the Communist.
 In the first half hour of the two-hour movie, the Chinese and Democratic Action Party (DAP) were shown from the very beginning as radical rebels; from protesting against the elections result to shooting police officers, except for one Chinese university student Allen, played by Alan Yun and his father, who were the only good apple among all the other Chinese represented in the movie.
 While the Chinese received most of the bad light, it had not at all mention on the Malayan Communist party, which had Malays in their groups as well. As for MCA, the movie had easily passed the party member as a coward, not only by not showing the party's role, but also for quitting the alliance when things had turned ugly.
 Though the film showed the cooperation between Razak and Ismail and how they resolved the racial issues after the 1969 riot, if one was not familiar with the history, it could have easily been perceived that the 1971 Kuala Lumpur flood was what brought races together.
 What was meant to highlight on their achievements and how they had put aside their personal health problems for the better of their country, Tanda Putera seemed to be more on our seemingly fragile leaders whose illness was emphasized too much over their major contributions.
 As for the casting, Shuhaimi should have known that gone were the days where mothers look just as youthful as their teenage sons and daughters, and this goes for both Razak and Ismail’s wives, played by Faezah Elai and Linda Hashim respectively.
 Too many miscasts and tummy-wrenching acting were jumbled up in the horrible mash-up of flashbacks that were not even worth mentioning at this point. While there are some fictional characters to bring color to the movie, the only worth giving credit for was the stenographer Jah, played by Ida Nerina, while the other characters weren't even necessary and brought more confusion than color to it. For an experienced director like Shuhaimi herself, Tanda Putera was a disappointment.
 Little attention was given to small details which could have brought great differences to the representation of history. For instance, the university students dress-up almost made it seemed like it was in the current times rather than in the early 70s.
 The characters had rebonded straight hair and one even had obvious-dyed golden hair, police officials kept getting shot on the same spot in the same street and in the same car, and election posters looked like they were printed by ink-jet printers on crispy white papers.
 Such lack of research and effort showed a lazy attempt, giving the movie an unfinished cut and badly represented production. It is true most movies based on true events can be both factual and fictional at the same time, whereby fiction were used to bring drama to the event, after all, it is still entertainment.
 But when a movie is produced in such a poorly and prejudiced manner, it brings great disappointment to moviegoers. All in all, not only that Tanda Putera was not at all entertaining (although somewhat tear-jerking), but the movie was not even educational, focusing too much on unnecessary details while lacking on others.
 How the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department thought it could be an academic study material is a great wonder. In the end, Tanda Putera may not be a must-watch movie, but it is a great lesson for those who wished to see the level of improvements in our entertainment scene and also to proof a point to the government that the society is no longer easily swayed.

Zamboanga Attack; Malaysia Goes On Security Alert.

KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia has gone into security alert along its sea borders with southern Philippines following Moro rebels attack on Zambonga city.
 The security alert in Sabah was to check on possible spill over of the trouble that broke out in the southern Philippines on Monday morning. About 400 armed men of a break away Moro National Liberations Front (MNLF) group launched an attack on Zamboanga City, about 460km away from Sandakan in the east coast of Sabah. According to latest reports, the Moro rebels claimed it has captured seven villages and has asked the Indonesian embassy to intervene in the on-going encounter.
 The reports stated that at least one Filipino cop has been killed, several injured and some 30 people held as “human shields” with Malacanang condemning the attack. Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) director general Datuk Mohammad told The Star Online that the military was taking measures to strengthen the sea borders while monitoring developments of the fighting in Zamboanga.
 “We have informed our security and defence to be on the alert and Esscom is also coordinating with security forces following the incident,” he said Sabah’s close proximity to the southern Philippines raises fears that the rebels might flee towards Sabah in a bid to escape capture by pursuing Philippines forces.
 MNLF led by Nur Misuari who was left out of last year’s peace deal between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has been restive and on Aug 13 had declared independence for the southern Philippines region which included Sabah.
 Misuari, a former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor, claimed independence for Palawan, Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-tawi and even North Borneo (Sabah) while stating that they did not want to be part of Philippines.
 Many officials in Manila took lightly the ageing Misuari’s declaration of independence as they saw it as a move to threaten the Philippines government to include MNLF as party to the Malaysia brokered peace process for Mindanoa.
 They felt that Misuari did not have the support of enough Moro fighters to achieve his independence plan. In 2001, Misuari was arrested by the Malaysian authorities when he entered Sabah and deported to Manila where he was placed under house arrest for a failed rebellion in Sulu and Zamboanga.
 He was later freed MILF had broke away from MNLF following the 1996 peace agreement brokered by Indonesia and Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) for autonomous region of Mindanoa.

Malay Bible Not 'Authentic' Christian Holy Book, Say Perkasa Veep.

KUALA LUMPUR: As Malaysia's "Allah" dispute heads back to court, Perkasa's Datuk Zulkifli Noordin has batted for the Home Ministry, saying the Malay version of Christianity's holy book is not "authentic" because it is only a far-removed translation.
 In his attempt to dismiss the historical claim forwarded by Christians here on their right to use the Middle Eastern word for god, the vice-president of the far right Malay group also painted a dire outcome for the mainly Muslim nation that has become religiously conservative over the years even as it seeks to turn into a global economic force by 2020.
 "A fundamental thing I got after reading the Al-Kitab, the Malay version of the Bible is that actually it is not the Injil as Muslims understand. It is actually the translation of the book called the Bible from the English version. "This means the Malay-Indonesian language version of the Al-Kitab Bible does not deserve to be called the original holy book, instead it is only a translation," Zulkifli wrote in an opinion piece published today in Umno-owned Malay broadsheet, Mingguan Malaysia.
 In making his case, the lawyer moved to link Muslims, Christians and Jews as coming from a common religious history as members of the same Abrahamic family upon which the divine message had been revealed. Apart from the Quran, Muslims believe in the existence of three other holy books, Zulkifli said and named them as the Taurah, the Injil and the Zabur.
 According to the Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, the Taurah -- also called the Tawrat -- refers to the Books of Moses or the Pentateuch, and is commonly associated with the divine message as revealed to the Jews; the Injil refers to the Gospels of Jesus and the Zabur refers to the Psalms of David. "Whatever it is, we must realise that Moses and Isa were Jews. Therefore the original holy book as revealed to them was certainly in Hebrew or Aramaic," Zulkifi said.
 He added: "Meaning that which can and qualifies to be called the holy book are texts in Aramaic, the language used by Moses and Isa. That is the book that should be the authority. As the Quran in Arabic is for Muslims." However, Zulkifli said Muslims believe the original Taurah and Injil are gone, with the Quran being the sole divine message revealed, which was why Muslims regard it as sacred.
 In contrast, Christians regard the Bible as their word from god, but the former federal lawmaker cast doubt over its authenticity, claiming the book was actually a combination of two separate texts, the Old Testament that was originally written in Aramaic for the Jews, and the New Testament, originally penned by a Christian cleric of Roman ancestry named Saul. "This book was in Greek.
 The Church then combined these two Testaments and labeled it the Bible. The Old Testament was translated into English from its original texts in Aramaic while the New Testament was translated into English from the original Greek.
 "This English language Bible was the source of translation for the Malay-Indonesian Bible Al-Kitab," Zukifli said, and further argued that the Al-Kitab was so far removed from the original that it could no longer be regarded as anything but a thrice translated text, having passed through Aramaic, Greek, old English, new English before appearing in Malay and Indonesian.
 He insisted that if anyone were to debate the divinity in the Christian faith, he or she must refer to the original texts in Aramaic or Hebrew. "So allegations that the Malay-Indonesian language Bible or the Al-Kitab is the original and authentic holy book are completely without basis. It is only a translation!" he said.
 In his preamble to his article, the 51-year-old who has repeatedly drawn attention to an "aggressive" conspiracy to convert Muslim Malaysians to Christianity, pushed for Christian s to be denied any claim to "Allah".
 "Their latest demand is for the right to use the word 'Allah'in their book and publications! What will be the effect of Christians are allowed to use the word 'Allah' in our country?" he asked. "Can we guarantee that when our children say 'La ila ha illalah -- There is no God but Allah'; are we convinced our children is referring to Allah as understood by Muslims to be Allah Almighty?
 Or is he referring to Allah the Three In One Trinity that Christian missionaries have tried to graft onto us -- Allah the Father, Allah the Son and Allah the Holy Spirit! "This is what we must understand. This is a direct effect that will happen if Christians are allowed to use the word Allah in this country," he warned.
 To back his argument that Muslim Malaysians may become a religiously confused lot if non-Muslims were allowed to use "Allah", Zulkifli pointed to an event at an inter-creed marriage in an unnamed neighboring. The groom was Muslim and the bride, a famous artiste, was a Christian, he said.
 After their wedding, he related that the bride was asked if she would follow her husband and embrace Islam. "The answer of this famous and beautiful actress should serve as a lesson for us: Why should I change my religion! Isn't my god and his god the same," Zulkifli said, and added, "Allah! Na'zubillah minzalik!" The last phrase in Arabic is a prayer often invoked by Muslims asking for protection from a future disastrous event.

Hazama Akui Rapat Dengan Pemain Violin.

Penyanyi Hazama mengakui sedang mengenali hati budi seorang pemain violin profesional yang dikenali sebagai Genervie Kam sejak empat bulan lalu. Bercakap kepada mStar online, Hazama berkata, persahabatan yang terjalin diantara mereka itu sedang menuju ke arah percintaan dan enggan menyorokkan perkara itu daripada pengetahuan peminat walaupun tidak selesa berbuat demikian. "Benar saya sedang berkawan rapat dan mengenali hati budi Genervie sejak empat bulan lalu dan sedang ke arah percintaan namun masih diperingkat awal. "Ia masih terlalu awal untuk diperkatakan kerana hubungan ini masih lagi baru walaupun kami sudah lama mengenali antara satu sama lain," katanya. Hazama mengulas mengenai laporan sebuah akhbar mingguan pada Ahad yang mengatakan dia dan Genervie sentiasa menghabiskan masa bersama dan keluar bersama. Tambah Hazama, dia seboleh-bolehnya tidak mahu mengembar-gemburkan cerita peribadinya untuk tatapan umum namun menyedari dirinya milik masyarakat dia perlu berterus terang. Jelasnya, dia tidak mahu menipu tentang statusnya yang pada kemudian hari akan merosakkan karier seninya. "Saya seorang yang berterus terang dan tidak suka menyembunyikan sesuatu daripada pengetahuan peminat jika ia benar kerana saya sedar kedudukan sebagai seorang selebriti. "Tetapi pada masa sama saya tidak mahu ia terlalu mendapat perhatian sehingga kerjaya saya tenggelam dengan kisah-kisah peribadi," tuturnya. Sementara itu, Hazama berkata, dia selesa berkawan dengan Genervie kerana sifat wanita itu yang matang dan berkongsi minat sama terutama muzik.

Jejaka Bernama D' Tawan Hati Wan Sharmila.

Pelakon Wan Sharmila mendedahkan dia mempunyai kekasih barunya dengan menyiarkan gambar zaman kanak-kanak kekasihnya itu, di laman Instagram. Niat awal sekadar untuk berkongsi cerita di laman sosial namun akhirnya telah disalahertikan sekaligus gambar itu telah mencetuskan kontroversi.
 Ada yang membuat andaian bahawa kekasihnya orang kenamaan dan tinggal di London. Padahal semua dakwaan itu tidak tepat sama sekali. "Saya tidak senang kalau timbul isu yang boleh mengganggu hubungan kami.
 Dan saya juga tak boleh duduk diam jika ada anasir luar yang cuba merosakkan hubungan kami. Sebenarnya saya mahu menjalani hubungan istimewa tanpa ada sebarang masalah. Salahkah saya berkongsi kebahagiaan yang sedang dinikmati dalam Instagram saya sendiri?.
 Mengapa perlu ada pihak tak berpuas hati melihat kebahagiaan saya? Apa salah saya sehingga tak boleh ada teman lelaki? Mungkin disebabkan cerita-cerita hitam saya sebelum ini yang menyebabkan masyarakat berterusan memandang serong terhadap saya. Tapi adilkah saya diperlakukan sebegitu?", katanya. Bagaimanapun Wan Sharmila enggan mengulas lanjut tentang identiti teman lelakinya itu.
 Namun tidak menafikan lelaki yang dikenali sebagai D itu adalah hadiah daripada Tuhan yang cukup istimewa untuk dirinya. "Saya hanya boleh beritahu kekasih saya berpangkal nama D. Itu saja. Yang selebihnya saya betul-betul minta maaf. Hubungan kami terlalu awal untuk dihebahkan. Bimbang pula kalau ada apa-apa perkara yang berlaku di kemudian hari.
Tapi saya berjanji kalau sudah okey dan cukup masa saya akan kongsi secara terbuka. Sebenarnya saya bersyukur kepada Allah sebab doa saya termakbul untuk bertemu dengan seorang kekasih yang menghargai, menyayangi dan sentiasa ada dalam apa juga keadaan.
 Saya menganggap D adalah hadiah Tuhan kepada saya. Cukup istimewa dan kalau boleh saya tak mahu mencalarkan hatinya. Sebab itu saya agak keberatan untuk mendedahkan hubungan kami buat sementara waktu ini", katanya.

Jalin Hubungan Sulit: Adi Putra Akui Tertekan.

Dikala rata-rata peminatnya sukar untuk percaya apatahlagi menerima berita yang cukup mengejutkan mengenai pelakon berkaliber, Adi Putra ekoran isu dia didakwa menjalinkan hubungan sulit dengan isteri seorang ahli perniagaan, aktor kesayangan ramai ini mengakui dirinya sekarang sekarang tertekan. Namun Adi berkata, dengan adanya sokongan isteri tercinta, Aida Yusof dan rakan-rakan menguatkan lagi semangatnya berdepan dengan hal itu. "Mana-mana manusia pun pasti tertekan. Di sebelah sekarang ini adalah isteri saya, keluarga dan rakan-rakan yang buat saya rasa tidak tertekan. "Ini kerana sudah menjadi lumrah anak seni untuk dibual bicarakan. Kalau saya bukan dalam dunia selebriti orang tidak akan ambil berat tentang saya,” katanya. Adi juga berkata, kontroversi terbabit tidak sekalipun mengganggu kariernya kerana beliau menganggap perkara itu adalah ujian yang harus diterima daripada Tuhan. “Alhamdulillah secara ikhlas saya rasa ia tidak ganggu aktiviti seni saya kerana apa yang diputuskan dan rezeki yang diberi itu adalah kuasa Allah", katanya seperti yang dilaporkan Sinar Harian. Dalam pada itu MD difahamkan Adi Putra bakal mengadakan satu sidang akhbar khas dalam minggu ini, bagi menjelaskan segalaya mengenai isu tersebut. Sama-sama kita menantikan penjelasan daripada beliau.

Maya karin Beli Rumah Lebih 2 Juta Di London.

Selebriti Maya Karin memang rajin terbang ke luar negara untuk bercuti dan satu destinasi yang kerap di kunjungi ialah kota metropolitan, London. Kebetulan adiknya, Irina bekerja sebagai seorang peguam di sana dan jika ada masa kelapangan pasti Maya Karin akan terbang ke sana untuk menjenguk. Menerusi laporan Harian Metro mengatakan Maya Karin sudah pun membeli sebuah kediaman di tengah-tengah kota itu dengan nilai melebihi RM2 juta. Baru baru ini juga Maya Karin ada pulang ke London dan kongsikan sekeping gambar menerusi akaun Instagram beliau & menulis “…just arrived at my other home. London for a week again”


Laporan akhbar itu juga menyebut yang kediaman ini di beli oleh Maya Karin bersama adiknya yang masih bujang. Dengarnya sehingga ke hari ini, Maya Karin sendiri sudah mempunyai beberapa aset hartanah di Damansara, Kuala Lumpur & Terengganu.

Nabila Huda Dan Anak Kemalangan- Bekas Suami Berang?

Lewat petang semalam peminat dikejutkan dengan berita pelakon Nabila Huda dan anaknya, Keisha mengalami kemalangan lewat di Lebuhraya Karak. Difahamkan dua berana itu dalam perjalanan pulang ke Kuala Lumpur dari menjayakan sebuah program anjuran Astro di Kuantan, Pahang. Kenderaan pacuan empat roda (4WD) yang dinaiki mereka bersama seorang pemandu terbalik akibat kemalangan tersebut.


Khabar angin bertebaran mengatakan Keisha telah tercampak keluar dari kenderaan ketika kejadian tersebut. Bagaimanapun ayahnya menerusi status di Twitter menafikan perkara itu dan berkata Nabila Huda memaklumkan Keisha berada dalam kereta sepanjang kejadian. Dalam salah satu status Twitter bekas suami Nabila Huda itu juga ada mengatakan yang Keisha mengalami patah tangan akibat kemalangan itu namun tiada berita tentang kecederaan yang dialami oleh Nabila Huda. Namun kedua dua mereka di’laporkan selamat.


Menerusi beberapa status Zaidy Zailani menerusi laman Twitter, beliau nampaknya tidak dapat menahan geram apabila mengetahui anak kesayangan’nya terlibat dengan kemalangan dan turut menulis beberapa ayat pesanan buat bekas isterinya, Nabila Huda.