Namewee is a name known to many Malaysians be it for the wrong or right reasons. That being said, what is the real status of his highly cultivated personality, seen through the big screens to even the small one of our computer. The rise of Namewee I contend is synonymous with rising consciousness of the Malaysian people. It is not a big secret that youtube has contributed to his rise as an artist, colloquially speaking, as when he first burst into the scene, he was regarded by the mainstream media as a trouble maker, but for some, an agent provocateur, in the full essence of the word.
With the mainstream potraying him as a mischief-maker, the more savvy of us went to the internet and read up more about him. Sure he may come off as uncouth but we have to admit he has the proverbial, balls. Most malaysians being the clicktivist that we are went about silently with our lives, knowing he isn’t all that bad as potrayed in most parts, while we allowed our collective amnesia to take over when he went on a self-imposed exile to Taiwan. So why were most quarters angry with him? Is it because he tugged on certain primordial instincts of the survival of a certain race, and more so, their political beliefs and the perceived corrosion of which that will bring about their demise? By that account I truly think so.
Now, while I am not a big fan of full on capitalism, I have to say the market place did its job. Where the government failed intrinsically to finance Namewee’s film through it’s vehicle – the Malaysia National Film Development (FINAS), a private sector investor took up the initiative to fund the film. Sure in most cases, such an investment will require profit to the investor, but deep down inside, I feel that the investor knows he is putting money into a potentially sinking ship, that being the risk of the film not seeing the light of day at all. Namewee with a limited budget at hand, went to work with an overworked, underpaid crew, along with local artists of different faiths and colour, did well above their means to churn out a film.
So what does this all say? On the one hand we can say the Malaysian government failed to be an “ensuring state” which post-modern societies have come to define the new role of governments. Paradoxically, the government through various means have been trying to promote the Malay culture and language via competitions and pageantry but failed where it meant the most – to promote local initiatives – in the form of a film (this author humbly apologises to have not seen the film but the trailer) that speaks about harmony among races. Again, isn’t that paradoxical, not to mention confusing!
Art I believe is a bottom up phenomena when man became homo economicus as seen in the passage of time. During the renaissance, many artists had patrons of the arts who supported them and thus allowed art to flourish. This included not only businessmen but also princes and kings. In this context, what is the Malaysian government doing on its part? Namewee needed the funds but the government (through FINAS) did nothing about it. Fine, the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia approved the film itself, but what I question ultimately is the message to local artists. On the one hand the government is trying to stimulate creatives mind, while its actions finally say otherwise. All I can imagine is that the process will be highly bureaucratic and ultimately frustrating for projects not conforming to the government’s ideological leaning.
This brings me back to Namewee. He truly is a national hero, seen beyond the context of an artiste but as an activist. He challenges one to rethink how we perceive the government and the work that it has done in the past. In my view, not only did the government streamrolled civil society on various accounts, on the smaller scale, they have trampled on local habitants’ welfare, in this case impoverished fishermen by proceeding with the rare earth refinery in Kuantan, Malaysia. This brings me to my last question on this matter is – is economic growth the only indicator of a government’s success and its continuing stay in power? Alas, Namewee definitely opened many Malaysians’ eyes to yet another government failure.
