By: Natalie Shobana Ambrose
theSun, Malaysia (pg 13) September 5, 2013
A while back the New York Post landed itself in hot soup for publishing a disturbing photo on its front page with the words "DOOMED" followed by "Pushed on the subway track, this man is about to die".
That is exactly what it was, a photo taken seconds before a man was hit by a subway train after being thrown on the tracks at New York City's Times Square station.
It raised a similar ethical debate as Kevin Carter's haunting Pulitzer prize photo of a starving Sudanese child being stalked by a hooded vulture.
A multifaceted ethical debate looms when such photos are published. Do you capture an event, make money of it and become famous through someone else's pain when there is an opportunity to save a life (or at least to attempt to save a life). Or is non-intervention part of the job and do all photos taken have to be published?
It irks me when newspapers and television air images of death. It violates the privacy of the deceased and their loved ones, yet journalistic boundaries are pushed more and more in modern times with little regard for ethics.
The same applies for the arts – creative freedom and artistic licence for some mean that the truth can be stretched, history changed and one wonders do these "artists" know the extent of the damage caused?
While creative freedom is important, on the other hand there needs to be a sense of responsibility because there is so much power in the arts.
Lately on our shores there have been examples of creative minds producing government funded reinterpretations of historical events couched or hiding behind the stance of artistic licence. While on the other extreme, authorities go berserk hauling up artists for works produced over a decade ago.
This causes apprehension as the sacred space of creativity is defiled by the politics of the day. In instances like these, the best way to judge a piece of work is by the intent of the artist and of which it was created.
In a country where sensitivities are high and there are many restrictions, the arts has a special role as an avenue to address difficult issues in non-contentious and creative ways.
One positive example of the many Malaysian theatre works is that of the play PARAH which was written by playwright Alfian Sa'at, directed by Jo Kukathas and has an excellent cast.
The play is set around the book Interlok during the time it was introduced as a required text for secondary school students some two years ago. If you remember, there was a lot of uneasiness to put it mildly. Police reports were made, there was a backlash and even protests.
Though the book which was written in 1971 was not intended to cause division, in modern-day Malaysia it hit a lot of nerves and opened a lot of wounds.
Sensitivities were raw and it was next to impossible to talk about the book in an objective manner, both sides of the argument provoked such vitriol.
The issue died down only because the book was removed from the reading list, but that didn't mean that the feelings that run deep were healed or have healed which was made worse by the lack of discourse about the issues felt by the various communities.
This was an important space which PARAH filled. The play brought to the fore the feelings of the various ethnicities that were written about and made the audience question if one word had the power to define who we are and change our friendships.
That essentially was the pulse outside the theatre which no one was discussing openly but clearly the play addressed it.
PARAH which means wounded in Malay, cleverly reversed means hope (harap), and essentially, theatre works like these give us a sense of hope.
Hope that there are people who share similar values and want a better Malaysia, a more thinking Malaysia, a less polarised Malaysia.
It also took on the role of dealing with difficult topics in a neutral setting and provided a space to have the necessary discussion, and open our eyes to how the different races feel in this country – it shed light on the age old statement "you really don't know what it's like to be me".
As juvenile as that may sound, it is not something that only resonated with the teenagers in the room but with every audience member of every age, race and gender.
Many times we idealise Malaysia as a multiracial country where people live happily together. We see this especially so during festivals, national day and it even seems to be the epitome of how a good commercial is measured – sappy music, a tear jerking life crisis and in the end all is well because we live in apparent harmony.
But the reality is that our country is wounded not by wars, communists and colonisation but by the careless policies and rude politicians that have placed us in positions where we are forced to take sides, and this is where the arts has the power to heal, if the intent is meant for good.
Natalie has found that suppression breeds creativity, and hopefully soon there will be a well-researched, true account of our history including May 13 so that it is no more the bogeyman that is used to divide, scare and scar.
Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
 |
| http://www.thesundaily.my/node/221505 |
