Setapak School For The Blind Brings Students To Watch Mat Kilau, M’sians Have Mixed Reactions

By now, Malaysians are well aware of the movie Mat Kilau, not only of the overwhelmingly positive receptions toward the movie but also of how much it has been a financial blockbuster since it was released in Malaysian cinemas. 

Just yesterday (August 3), the management of a school in Setapak decided to bring some of its students to catch the movie in Wangsa Walk Mall, Kuala Lumpur. Watching a movie with your classmates and the higher-ups of the school certainly sounds rare, but Malaysians are baffled by this due to the circumstances – the students are mostly blind.

According to a Twitter post by BERNAMA, the school is a special education secondary school for the blind in Setapak. Sinar Harian reported that despite their blind sight, some of the students who suffer from severe far-sightedness helped to explain and describe the crucial scenes in the movie to their classmates who were completely blind.

The headmistress of the school expressed her gratitude for having the opportunity to bring the less fortunate students to catch and experience the Mat Kilau movie. She said that the students consist of 40 students who suffer from complete blindness, and 68 students who suffer from far-sightedness.

Malaysians on Twitter, on the other hand, felt that it was not a brilliant idea for the school to bring the eyesight-challenged students to catch a movie in the cinemas. In the comment sections, some netizens have questioned the relevance of the decision.

There’s something called Audio Description

In the meantime, other netizens have defended the school’s decision to bring the students for a movie as there are certain ways for the students with disabilities to enjoy the movie.

‘Some of them are not completely blind, sometimes they use a specific device to aid them in the experience.’

‘The theatre uses something that’s called Audio Description to describe every scene verbally to the audience who are eyesight-challenged.’

‘Being blind doesn’t mean they can’t hear the movie. Many of them can still feel and listen to the movie.’

‘Audio Description exists, you guys. Please think out of the box for once.’

Regardless, we do hope the students manage to enjoy the movie as much as others did. Do you think the Audio Description function would have improved the students experience watching the movie?

Also read: Sultan Selangor Says Malay Political Leaders Should Watch ‘Mat Kilau’ Movie & Reflect On The Lessons