Wide Angle 37 (spiked): The Malaysian Political Oscars!

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WIDE ANGLE – Huzir Sulaiman


The Malaysian Political Oscars!
Our political situation is like something out of a movie – so here are the awards. The envelope, please…

The Wide Angle Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, headquartered for no particular reason in Skudai, presents this year's Malaysian Political Oscars.

The most widely watched television event in Malaysia, the Political Oscar telecast reaches over 1 billion viewers, some of whom are dead, some of whom are 130 years old, and most of whom are registered at the same address.

How does it work? Members of the academy (all Malaysian taxi drivers who despite being allegedly the worst in the world at driving taxis are remarkably good at political analysis) vote on these awards, and the results are tabulated by the auditors of some large accounting firm who would rather do this sort of thing than real accounting work, which might explain the state of the economy.

Here are the nominees and winners.

Best Supporting Actor

It is a crowded field this year, with many stellar performances from both veterans and newcomers.

The nominees include private investigator P. Balasubramaniam in Missing; Pusrawi's Dr. Mohd Osman in Rear Window; Zaid Ibrahim in Gone in Sixty Seconds; and Raja Petra Kamaruddin in An Inconvenient Truth.

But the Best Supporting Actor Oscar goes to Penang Umno leader Ahmad Ismail for his controversial performance in Pride and Prejudice.

Despite his recent success, which led to him being cast in Under Siege and Raging Bull, Ahmad has flatly refused roles in the films Anger Management and Atonement.

Best Supporting Actress

For her critically-acclaimed performance in Minority Report, this year's Best Supporting Actress Oscar goes to Sinchew Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng.

Interestingly, immediately after that film completed principal photography, Tan was the unwitting star of Catch and Release, a film that may or may not have been directed by Syed Hamid Albar, depending on which version of the studio press kit you read.

Tan spent just 18 hours on location, before quitting, citing creative differences.

Best Cinematography

For his impactful camera work in the V.K. Lingam vehicle The Conversation, the Oscar for Cinematography goes to Gwo Loh Burne.

(Although The Conversation was shot some time ago, due to his refusal to be credited for many months, Gwo Loh Burne could not be given the award earlier. When he finally came forward, this legal thriller was re-released in some markets as The Burne Identity.)

The Conversation beat out Entrapment, starring Chua Soi Lek, which also features an anonymous cinematographer.

Best Foreign-Language Film

Agricultural Study Tour, a Taiwanese sleeper hit, was shot entirely by coincidence, supposedly with no director and no funding.

Nonetheless, a sequel, Exile on My Taiwanese Farm: Peeling my Taugeh might be filmed next year with some of the original cast.

Best Original Screenplay

Jumper, written by Anwar Ibrahim, wins this year's award. Although the film suffers from a cast of unknowns, whose number seems to fluctuate from scene to scene (though always at least 31), the script is undeniably original and exciting. It also has the potential for numerous sequels, which will prove profitable for the actors.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Written by a team of in-house screenwriters from the Attorney-General's Studios, The Accused, starring Anwar Ibrahim, is allegedly adapted from instructions given by political superiors. A remake of the 1998 flop, but with many of the same actors and production team.

Best Actress

Seputeh Member of Parliament Teresa Kok was competing against herself this year with sterling performances in a slew of releases: Election; Woman on Top; Supergirl; and, in cinemas until last Friday, the black comedy Enemy of the State.

She wins the Best Actress Oscar, however, for her most famous role, Miss Congeniality, which has earned her praise from audiences and critics alike.

Best Actor

The big stars of yesteryear dominated the Best Actor category this year.

Nominees include S. Samy Vellu in Gone With The Wind; Dr. Mahathir Mohamed in V for Vendetta; and both Najib Tun Razak and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in the comedy Trading Places.

The winner, however, of the Malaysian Political Oscar for Best Actor is Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for his flawless, nuanced, masterful performance in Eyes Wide Shut.

Best Picture

The nominees for Best Picture in the Malaysian Political Oscars are all gripping epics.

They include the moving story of the many members of Parti Sosialis Malaysia, The Magnificent Seven; the Khairy Jamaluddin biopic Million Dollar Baby; the Hindraf saga, Out for Justice; and the tale of Gerakan in the Barisan Nasional, The End of the Affair.

The winner for Best Picture, however, is the story of the MCA's struggle against the Internal Security Act, Look Who's Talking Now.

Lifetime Achievement Award

For his astonishing film career spanning many decades, and including both commercial hits and small but critically-acclaimed art-house movies, Anwar Ibrahim wins the Lifetime Achievement Award.

His roles, in chronological order, include: Wild at Heart; The Young Guns; The Great Debaters; Sleeping With The Enemy; The Insider; The Sweet Smell of Success; Reversal of Fortune; Cast Away; The Accused; The Cell; Cry Freedom!; Into the Wild; Back to the Future; Mission: Impossible; The Perfect Storm; and, most recently, Eastern Promises.

Depending on the outcome of contract negotiations, Anwar's next movies may include The King and I; Top Gun; and Great Expectations.

Alternatively, he may take roles in Crash; The Departed; and The Forgotten. That's the thing about show business – you never know what the big stars will do next!

That's all for this year's edition of the Malaysian Political Oscars. See you on the red carpet next year!


Copyright © Huzir Sulaiman 2008. All rights reserved.

Labels: Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Anwar Ibrahim, huzir sulaiman, khairy jamaluddin, Loh Gwo Burne, najib tun razak, samy vellu, teresa kok

Anonymous merepek ... permalink ... 9/21/2008 09:06:00 pm ... 0 blast off

 

 

Malaysian Insider Quoted Me Again

No wander people being saying that they have read quite a number appearance about me in the internet news.

I tried googling ad found, 'yes' there is some reporters I remember did ask me about certain regulations oN the Elections Law etc.

One of those is the new upcoming (very fast) Malaysian Insider.

Khairy Jamaluddin, hot seat getting hotter
By Debra Chong

KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 – It's bad enough being the son-in-law of the prime minister who is being blamed for his party's and the entire national coalition's abject performance at the 12th General Elections.

It's worse when your very name incites normally placid people to gob out great balls of spit after each mention. But Khairy Jamaluddin's seat is going to get hotter than hot in the next 2 weeks.

Come April 19, the beleaguered Umno Youth deputy chief, already under fire from within his own ranks, will face a new threat to his tenuous position as MP for Rembau.



Why April 19?pk

Because that is the day his 30-year-old political rival for the parliamentary seat, Badrul Hisham Shaharin from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) will finally be able to file a petition in court to nullify the results of the general election.

Since polling night on March 8, Badrul Hisham, fondly known as Chegu Bard, has claimed that the counting of votes was not done according to procedure.

“There were irregularities in the vote counting procedure. The Election Commission (EC) did not issue the Form 14 to us when it was compulsory to do so,” he is reported to have said back then.

Form 14 lists out the number of total voters for a particular polling station and once the vote counting has been finalised, the form will be the official indicator of the number of votes designated for each candidate.

Without this form, the results cannot be considered official. It opens up the way for figure manipulation as votes may be added later to favour a particular candidate.

The results on the night showed Khairy getting 26,525 votes against Badrul Hisham's 20,779 votes; a majority of over 5,000 votes.

There have been several counter allegations to the contrary from the EC officials on the isuance of Form 14 in Rembau. One official claimed that the form was issued, but the PKR candidate did not see it. Another claimed that they had run out of Forms 14 in Rembau that night.

As it stands, the court can only entertain such protests after the results have been gazetted by the Election Commission, said Faisal Mustaffa, 37, a PKR member since 2004.

Faisal is also the secretariat for the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih), an independent human rights organisation that has been closely following the proceedings of the recently concluded general elections.

And word is that the results will be gazetted on April 19. Those who wish to contest can do so within 21 days of the results being gazetted, added Faisal.

Badrul Hisham's petition will be presented by William Leong, a practising lawyer who is also PKR's supreme treasurer.

The Rembau case is not the only one, said Faisal, but it is the one with the most clear-cut evidence. There are several that the PKR would like to take up, including at least one in Sabah, for the Pensiangan parliamentary seat.

Labels: badrul hisham shaharin, chegubard, debra chong, Elections Commission, khairy jamaluddin, malaysian insider, PKR

Anonymous merepek ... permalink ... 4/15/2008 01:17:00 am ... 2 blast off