KUALA LUMPUR – The nation’s film industry players have intensified calls for the removal of National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) chief executive officer Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nadzri and chairman Zakaria Abdul Hamid from the agency, following their alleged failures to look after the welfare of workers in the sector.
Yesterday, the group Art Revolt launched a petition addressed to the Communications and Multimedia Ministry, demanding the removal of the two from the Finas board.
“In the pandemic situation plaguing Malaysia today – we, players in the Malaysian creative and film industry, feel marginalised by the chairman and CEO of Finas, who should be thinking of ways to help us to continue working in helping our economy as well as the country,” read a description of the petition posted on Change.org.
The petition has so far garnered 3,299 signatures at press time, less than 2,000 short of its 5,000 target.
“We feel more depressed when Finas chairman and CEO make statements indicating that we are not contributing to the country’s economy on their social media posts, which only displays their shallow thoughts, proving that they do not deserve to hold important positions.”
Producer/actor and former Finas chairman Datuk Hans Isaac described the petition as a democratic testament that industry players are frustrated. “Many other industries are suffering as well and we can say that the creative industry is no different,” he said.
He said the petition would not have been initiated if proactive and efficient measures were proposed and implemented by Finas to ensure the industry is kept afloat during the pandemic.
“For example, other countries have practical standard operating procedures/guidelines. How hard is it to follow their best practices and adopt SOPs for your own industry in Malaysia? The SOPs should have been done months ago. We should not have waited till the industry starts taking action and voicing out.
“In my opinion, Finas regrettably has failed us. Announcing financial support through grants that have already been budgeted from the RMK11 (11th Malaysia Plan) funds is not an achievement. The industry wants job security.”
Minister waiting for detailed SOPs
Production designer and art director Rabbani Sujak said although Finas has seen leadership changes that did not bring much improvement in previous years, the current administration is the “worst ever”.
“They represent us all (creatives) and crew members are their responsibility. They should be the ones fighting for us to be able to shoot,” the 28-year-old father of one said.
On February 1, Rabbani posted an open letter to Finas on his Instagram and Facebook profiles, calling for the agency to help allow production crew members to resume working.
Rabbani said after the postings, he received a response from Finas’ president explaining that the agency was working with the National Security Council (NSC) on the matter.
However, Rabbani later noted that Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob did not make any mention of the film industry when announcing updates on the movement control order (MCO) on February 4.
“He (Ismail Sabri) allowed pasar malam to operate until 10pm and car wash operators to resume, but why couldn’t they (government) allow us (creatives) to work? When a reporter asked the minister on the creative industry, he said he was still waiting for detailed SOPs,” Rabbani said.
“So now, the question is, have they (Finas) submitted the SOPs or not? All the crew members are angry at Finas because they are late in taking action. That is why many including myself have signed the petition.”
‘Directors’ association members neglected’
Film Directors' Association of Malaysia (FDAM) president Ahmad Ibrahim, affectionately known as Mat London, claimed that while calls for the two to step down are not new, the petition was set up after Idham had insulted industry players.
Ibrahim pointed to a recent post on Instagram by Idham in which the latter had called the stakeholders “barking dogs”. He also shared a screengrab of the post in which the CEO said he was working on a script for a story called “Badut dari London” (“clown from London”) which the FDAM president said alluded to him.
“The industry felt insulted, and this is very unbecoming for a public servant and CEO who is supposed to be a very knowledgeable person,” Ibrahim told The Vibes.
“He (Idham) has disappointed his friends in the industry and has forgotten who he is after taking on the role of CEO.”
Ibrahim said the Finas CEO’s contract would only last another year or two before his term ends, and that the latter risks burning his bridges with fellow film industry players if he continues hurling insults at them instead of addressing their concerns.
He said associations such as FDAM, which has over 1,500 active members, have been neglected by Finas in decision-making regarding a host of initiatives and funding.
“The management of Finas for the past eight months (under Idham) has not developed the industry and has veered from the concept of Finas. We have not seen anything new as the current funding has been around for the past 15 to 20 years, but under a new name.”
“Finas now believes the associations do not bring any benefit; all decisions are made by the board of directors, which has caused unease among associations. We need to change the management to something that is more inspired.”
Ibrahim added that Finas’ current move to accredit industry workers and players on its own was not necessary as the associations already had the data, registrations, and background information such as the qualifications of those involved.
“We need to look into the rationale and objectives as well as the impact on the industry players. This initiative has been done more than four times and at a high cost,” he said.
“Instead, Finas should be calling the associations up for discussions as accreditation should be done by an independent body that is more transparent.”
Ibrahim added FDAM has always held a close working relationship with Finas over the past 25 years, but the ties have been fractured by Idham.
Cooperation with associations unduly ended
National Film Workers Association of Malaysia (Profima) president Khir Mohd Noor said Ahmad Idham had breached Finas’ code of conduct by hurling insults at the industry’s stakeholders.
“He is now a civil servant and should not offend people the way he did,” Khir said.
“The issue is mainly with his exclusion of those in the industry when making decisions on the accreditation move. He should be thinking of other immediate concerns such as how to help the industry in terms of upskilling and reskilling workers.”
Khir also said his association alone represented 15,000 workers in the industry, but Finas had chosen to end cooperation with three main associations such as Profima, FDAM, and Seniman, the last of which had some 28,000 members.
“The Finas board is made up of six or seven people from the industry who have personal interests and that is why they have dropped the cooperation with associations,” he claimed.
“Idham wanted to weaken the associations from the time he became CEO,” he added. “After this, we cannot blame outsiders who come to Malaysia to work in the industry with their talent, education, and skills as the industry players have nothing to protect such jobs for the younger generation, especially the fresh film graduates.”
Khir added that Finas should have had submitted proposed SOPs to the NSC prior to the current implementation of the MCO, but this was not done.
“This should have been done after the last MCO. They have to send such things ahead of time, not send them over only after the fact. Now industry players are wondering what is happening with Finas’ leadership, who have high salaries and drivers but have not done the work.
“Now is not the time for accreditation, which is not the role of Finas in the first place. Their role is to develop the film industry,” he said. – The Vibes, February 8, 2021
