Aliran Media Statement
Licence to Snip?
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Is City Hall instituting thought control? |
Kuala Lumpur City Hall's proposal to impose guidelines for the arts fraternity is nothing but an effort to further curb the civil liberties of Malaysians. Aliran deplores City Hall's latest move because it clearly goes against its mayor's earlier promise of political liberalisation and artistic freedom.
The guidelines imposed are so strict that they leave no room for people of creative imagination to motivate Malaysians to think and laugh at the parody of Malaysian life. It doesn't take an expert in theatre to tell us that political satire, for instance, often depicts, comments on and critiques political life in a hilarious manner that is both informative and instructive. If this freedom is taken away from such creative people, then you'd have the kind of plays that were once the staple of people behind the Iron Curtain - plays that only glorified the leadership and the party in power.
It is also downright patronising and insulting of City Hall to dictate what should and should not be in a script - an act akin to breast-feeding the artistes concerned. A City Hall-censored play would amount to a theatre of the absurd - next to which a schoolplay would seem like a cultural paradise
What is perhaps not realised is the subtle way in which City Hall is going about in deciding what Malaysians can see and enjoy. This is another form of thought control. Is City Hall instituting this thought control on its own or is it acting on behalf of the Barisan Nasional? After all, aren't these councillors appointed by the BN to do, as some would claim, their dirty job? In the process, the Mayor's sensible sentiments were over-ridden without a second thought. This reminds us of interrogation under the Internal Security Act where two groups take on two different roles: 'the good cop' and 'the bad cop'.
Such a scenario doesn't do justice to the government's endeavour to attract more tourists to the country and to project Kuala Lumpur as a vibrant cultural city.
We call on City Hall to drop its crazy guidelines and save itself from becoming the laughing stock of the world.
Aliran Executive Committee
4 October 2003
This statement was sent to the local media including The Star, New Straits Times, and The Sun.
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