“Please don’t be like Malaysia” Director Namewee Responds To Police Reports Against His Film “BABI”

Malaysian film director and singer, Namewee has broken his silence on the backlash of his controversial film, BABI, following the police reports launched against the film for its movie poster from a member of Pemuda Perikatan Nasional.

Namewee took to his Facebook to address and clarify a few matters concerning what has happened since the release of his film, which has been nominated in four international film festivals.

Addressing Police Reports

In a video that accompanied the post, the award-winning director started off by explaining the context behind the film.”Today I want to explain what’s going on. Firstly, I want to say that this film is a story about school violence. As the director of the movie, I want to send a message about the importance of unity and tolerance between races. I sincerely hope that all races can be united instead of becoming divided by internal conflicts.”

He then addresses the police report that was made on the basis of provoking racial tension due to the presence of the phrase, ‘Melayu B*doh’. “This story describes the racial conflict in a school setting which is why there are offensive words on the walls of the school’s washroom,” explained Namewee. “The movie poster was based on the writings on the wall as the backdrop. We used the wall as a background to show the summary of our film. “If you look at the movie poster, it’s not just ‘Melayu B*doh’ but there’s also ‘Cina B*bi’ and ‘India K*ling.’

Namewee then questioned the motive behind the report as the presence of the other offensive words wasn’t brought up. “When the member of Pemuda PN made the police report, he said he was only highlighting the Melayu B*doh that was on the poster. As for other words, he didn’t report.”

BABI not registered to be released in Malaysia

The director then clarified that the movie was not banned in the country but it was his own choice to not apply to LPF (Lembaga Penapis Filem) for local viewing.

“The film was only shown in selected cinemas in Taiwan, not Malaysia. But I need to clarify that this film was not banned by LPF Malaysia because we didn’t apply for it to be shown at all. Not applying and being banned are two different things. I knew that my film involved sensitive content so I didn’t apply for it to be shown in Malaysia.”

“The reason why I didn’t send the movie to LPF is because I know that everyone there is old and conservative. Everything is sensitive to them. They can’t deal with creative films that have realistic themes or anything that involves racial issues that point out the dark side of our society. With a board like that, films in Malaysia will never improve to reach international status,” added the director.

“Please don’t be like Malaysia”

Namewee said that despite his international success, he has always embraced his identity as a Malaysian. “As a film director, I’ve had to leave my country and find success in international waters but even when I win awards, I will emphasise with pride that I am Malaysian.”

“If this movie was meant to instil hate among races, why did the jury and judges from four international film festivals acknowledge the film? As Malaysians, shouldn’t we be proud of this success? Why is our country not giving us any recognition? Why is our country not supporting us and why are they involving the police in this?”

In his Facebook post, Namewee said that he was extremely disappointed in the authorities for not practising professional judgement when dealing with the case. “I hope everyone will share this video with more people to let the world know the current situation in Malaysia. Please cherish democracy and treasure creative freedom. Please don’t be like Malaysia.”

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Also read: M’sian Film, “BABI” Nominated For 4 Global Film Festivals But Police Report Filed Against Director