A Look At Urban Malaysia In Cinema

There is an obsession with culture in films. Culture is a tapestry that can weave a wealth of emotions and understanding when seen by those who understand it and by those experiencing it for the first time.

In Malaysia, there is this tendency to fall back on the countryside motif, the cultural journey, and of course the sports journey. All approaches are understandably popular but I feel as a filmmaker that the lives of the generation who grew up in the commercialised world that the new Malaysia, like many other nations has become.

Where are the stories about a college student struggling to find a job they are passionate about? It's like it's wrong to have options now and the generation who exercise their options are seen in a fair light.

The norm in films made in Malaysia is always about the physical and emotional struggle, but never the struggles of the soul. We love spirits, incantations, ghosts and zombies. We are suckers for under-represented, poor communities with worldly struggles that often come down to the need for money and a kinder approach to people in need.

This is all good and well, but where are the stories about how nowadays, kids don't go to arcades because they have their own tablets or smartphones? or perhaps the struggles of a fresh graduate navigating the new Malaysia in finding a job that isn't the be-all and end-all of their family's hopes? Maybe something about how our food culture is a lot more diverse than our already diverse cuisine.

The generation of today and tomorrow don't find some roadside stall where everybody knows everybody and it's all roses and daisies mixing cultural allegories left and right. The reality of today is a more transactional one. Kids now pay by QR codes instead of the 1 Ringgit which the nice uncle at the nasi lemak stall tells them to save and gives them the food for free because that's the right thing to do.

Sadly, those days are gone—not in the city, at least. It's becoming a time when someone could go a week without eating a single Malaysian meal and only consume Western or other Asian cuisine. Where are stories like that? Stories that reflect our reality.

It's like we're addicted to the melodrama and nostalgia of it all. A trip down memory lane that with respect, only applies to people over 35 years of age. Yes, I remember a time when I used to buy ice creams from a dude on a bike strapped to a freezer and it does still happen today but I can tell you, the prices of those ice creams are very different.

So what is the price of this over-indulgence in presenting the stories of people that the average Joe living in KL or any big city in the country can't relate to? People care less and less. It's a fantasy that we're forced to play along with as a movie-going audience and it is honestly sad to see the lack of pursuit of our reality in our films.

My point is that city folk aren't all wifi and gadgets dressed in Western culture like dolls at a tea party. There is a heart in the concrete jungle. I just want us to show it.

Anywho, thanks for reading this far if you have. It's 5:26 am here and I will be going to sleep now.