CALL it paranoia or whatever. But something scary is definitely going down.
Tomorrow is Chinese New Year and suddenly Covid-19 infections have dropped below the 3,000 mark for the first time in quite a while, and the health minister announced that this is due to public diligence. Really?
Reunion dinners of not more than 15 guests are allowed tonight.
Restaurants and all eateries are allowed to have dine-in guests – although seating is limited to just two diners per table as the standard operating procedure (SOP) does not specify the size of the table.
Malls are allowed to open, and so are barbershops, hair salons, and clothing, fashion and accessories shops, second-hand shops, photo studios, as well as nurseries and florists, gifts and handicrafts, cosmetics, sports equipment and antique stores. Yes, antique stores are essential!
Cabinet members who travelled abroad for official visits are required to observe only a three-day quarantine period upon their return, and need not quarantine for 10 days like the rest of us. Although there have been some back-peddling on this.
Later, this was modified to say that this SOP only applies if said minister travelled by private aircraft and not commercial flights.
And then, of course, the most brutal confirmation that our country is in trouble is when the health minister announced that plummeting foreign direct investments are caused by investors not wanting to endure our mandatory 10-day quarantine!
What gives?
The National Film Development Corporation (Finas) has been hitting the headlines recently, with members demanding that the CEO and chairman be sacked for not doing their jobs and supporting the local industry.
Funny thing is, today I read that the deputy chairman said all Finas members and management have expressed their full support for the leadership of chairman Zakaria Abdul Hamid and chief executive officer Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nadzri.
Huh? All of Finas’ members and management? So, who were those fellows calling for their sacking? While there are those who say that the CEO and chairman have not been doing their jobs, deputy chairman Datuk Norman Abdul Halim of KRU said on the contrary, they have done great work and implemented this-and-that projects that have benefitted the local film industry and welfare of its practitioners.
Somebody is not telling the truth here.
And Finas has announced that it will hold a virtual town hall session with creative “industry players”. Just as well that it is going to be virtual because otherwise there will be a riot.
This is very interesting. One of the things that it plans to discuss at the session is the internationalising of the local creative industry. What?! “Internationalising”?
Got such a word, ah?
But what does that really mean? So, in future, Malaysian-made films:
– Will not feature “boy-meets-girl-boy-falls-in-love-with-girl-boy’s-parents-object-girl-commits-suicide” type stories?
– Will feature corrupt policemen and politicians who get their just desserts?
– Will contain scenes in pubs, where people actually drink alcohol and not pink-coloured liquid with straws?
– Will touch on global issues like the pandemic?
Actually, come to think of it, this Finas debacle will make a pretty decent “internationalisation” feature film! – The Vibes, February 11, 2021
Radio personality Patrick Teoh is vice-president (special projects) at Petra Media, and a veteran of stage and screen
