Malaysian-born filmmaker Lau Kek Huat grapples with the difficulties of visually representing the Emergency
September 6, 2023
This piece is part of “The Rainforest Speaks: Reimagining the Malayan Emergency,” featuring art by Sim Chi Yin.
Editor’s note: This is an edited excerpt from a workshop about the Cold War and Chinese-Malayan cultural productions, held at the National Taiwan University in June 2022. During the workshop, Taiwan-based Malaysian filmmaker Lau Kek Huat discussed the Malayan Emergency and his documentary Absent Without Leave (2016). The film narrates the stories of Malayan Communist Party members living in exile, through the lens of the director and his search for his missing grandfather—one of many Malayans who fought a guerrilla war against the British colonial government in the rainforests of Malaya during the Malayan Emergency (1948–1960). In this excerpt, Lau describes his motivations for making the film, and how it fits in the wider historical and filmic context of Malaysia. The accompanying stills are from the film. Watch the trailer for Absent Without Leave below.
–Min Ke / 民客
緊急狀態與健忘
1948年，其實公共關係部門（Department of Public Relations）、MFU和馬來亞電臺（Radio Malaya）才整合起來，成為一個很強大的官方宣傳機構。其實，MFU在5、60年代，它是亞州最大的紀錄片機構。它有最先進的器材，以及各方面對於官方宣傳打心理戰的經驗，其實是非常老道的。我們要知道後來的越戰，它對於war psychology這件事情，很多的經驗是取自馬來亞的。馬來亞怎麼掌控（handle）緊急法令這個時期。
然後，那時候比較要宣傳的是馬來亞化。這時候，我們就可以看到國家敘事的暴力慢慢地產生跟出現。當時，MFU就開始拍很多官方宣傳的電影，當中有馬共的出現。但總體來講，馬共在這些影片裡面，它的形象就是面目模糊的黃種人。他們沒有個別性的，它看起來都是長得一樣的。他們都不是發聲的主體。就算說話，也是很木訥的、語言不精通的。然後，他們都是匪徒，很不講理的匪徒。
這些電影對於後來在那個時代看這些電影下長大的人，其實是有造成一些影響的。像Shirley Geok-Lin Lim在她的Among the White Moon Faces裡面就有提到，她小時候看這些官宣電影（propaganda films）的時候，她就深深感覺到，她好像被教導要恨這些華人共產黨。可是，它又跟自己作為一個華人的認同感，有一點衝突。然後，這樣的一個矛盾：如何認同這個好像是被官方所營造的華文沙文主義者？其實，一直到今天為止，我常常覺得像 Shirley Lim的個體經驗，我們都沒有很成功的把它呈現在現在的影像。個體的經驗都被否定了。很多國家的敘事壓制了個體的經驗。
回到作為一個創作者，我會遇到什麼困難呢？我們一開始從一個被想像的客體、殖民的凝視，然後來到冷戰的反共，有點像是反華。然後，到後面的种族霸權國族敘事，我們就看到所有不符合這些內容的電影，都成為冷戰的勝場下的幽靈。那我們要知道我們的世代，包括我這個世代，好像好友前面的很多的世代，我們是在這樣的環境下長大的。所以，我們會養成一個習慣，是我們習慣這些事情就是禁忌，而且我們對這個政治或社會，其實是有一種不信任感。就像直接的，像我在拍不即不離以前，我的父母就告訴我，遠離政治多一點，遠離社會關心多一點。
它有一種人人自危的一種環境氣氛，然後我們也養成健忘。我們覺得這些缺席的這些東西不存在，本來就應該缺席，我們不會要求自己去問，為什麼這些東西是缺席？然後，這樣的健忘會造成什麼直接影響呢？
第一點，電影審查其實對於創作者最大影響是，很多創作者會自我審查。他會自我審查說，我應該拍哪些東西、不應該拍哪些東西。因為馬來西亞的這樣的一個社會環境，其實我們很多時候是生長在一個緊張的身份證之下長大：華人代表什麼、馬來人代表什麼、印度人代表什麼？所以，我看見很多影像的作品，有些人在拍的時候一開始就會迴避政治，覺得碰觸這些東西是不好的、是敏感的。
我們總是會有一個先決條件，是會想象所有的故事應該要走向種族和諧，必定要走向種族和諧。然後，這個種族和諧，因為要走向這個種族和諧，所以很多的敏感地帶我們不要去碰觸它。我不是說，我反對種族和諧。可是，有些時候，我們在討論一些社會問題的時候，我們需要尖銳的去討論、提出東西，我們才能夠真的討論出各個種族之間的關係。不然，這個和諧很容易是建立在一個很空泛的基礎上。
第二，比較直接的影響包括是電影審查，因為審查的關係，所以你片子的市場，就是他怎麼能夠銷售，然後回來再資助你的下一部片的拍攝，會成為創作者一個很大的問題。因為這樣子的限制的關係，其實我覺得，作為一個馬來西亞出生的創作者，那你很早就注定，他要是一個獨立的工作者。就是你要能夠在低限度的支援下工作。也就是為什麼，其實我最早開始是先拍紀錄片。
最後一點，創作的時候會有的問題就是，其實馬來西亞不只是因為電影審查很多片子被禁，那我們對於過去的影像的整理，不管是新聞畫面、歷史畫面的資料庫的整理，其實是很不周全。所以，在我拍攝很多紀錄片的時候，很多的歷史畫面我要從澳洲和日本，或從英國拿來。這些東西其實這些國家或者說這些機構，其實他可以決定要不要讓你使用，因為你必須要徵求他們的同意。
我在拍《不即不離》的時候，我一直在問家到底是一個怎麼樣的地方。這是一個網路上的朋友在我的臉書上留言，討論說：我在海外發展，我到底離家多遠？我到底還是不是馬來西亞人？那我的回答是，其實我覺得我自己因為開始問了這些問題，所以我才離馬來西亞更近的。所以，家不一定是只是把它想成是一個你勢必回去固定的一個地方；家可以是一個抵達。你要問在什麼地方，你才可以真的抵達馬來亞，或者抵達馬來西亞？
On Forgetfulness, Censorship, and the Emergency
In 1948, the Department of Public Relations, Malayan Film Unit (MFU), and Radio Malaya merged. Together, they formed the MFU, a governmental propaganda agency with a commanding presence. In fact, MFU was the biggest documentary film institution in Asia during the 1950s and 1960s. Not only did it possess state-of-the-art filming equipment, it was also well-versed in warfare psychology given its experience in depicting the Malayan Emergency. The Vietnam War that later transpired took many pages out of MFU’s book of tactics.
The MFU’s main goal was to Malayanize the people, and this is where we witness the production of violence through nation-state narratives. The MFU set out to make many propaganda films, and the Malayan Communist Party members featured in these films are all blurry, homogenous, East Asian faces that lack individuality. They are not subjects who own a voice. Even if they do speak, they are clumsy and lacking in language proficiency. These are bandits, and they are not open to reason.
In her book Among the White Moon Faces, Malaysian-born Asian American writer Shirley Geok-Lin Lim recounts being taught to detest the Malayan Chinese communists when watching these propaganda films, which conflicts with her identity as Chinese. How could she ever identify herself with these seemingly state-constructed Chinese chauvinists? Up until today, I always felt that individual experiences such as Shirley Lim’s have never been successfully portrayed through visuals. These individual experiences have been negated and suppressed by the nation-state narrative. Most films that do not serve the nation-state narrative always end up cut or censored.
We (ethnic Chinese) first had to deal with being the imagined objects under the gaze of the British colonizers, and then with anti-Chinese sentiments that came with the Cold War British anti-communist policies. Later, we had to deal with a racialized national narrative that excluded the Chinese. Films that do not fit into such narratives become Cold War specters (and are censored). Thus, my generation of ethnic Chinese, and also the many generations before us, grew up in such an environment. We got accustomed to national issues being taboo, and we distrust our society and also politics. I have a straightforward example: when I was making Absent Without Leave, my parents would tell me to stay away from politics and to stop caring so much about society.
In such an environment filled with fear and insecurity, we become forgetful. We think that maybe such issues have never existed or should be rightfully absent. We would not even ask for the reason for their absences. So, what are the repercussions of our forgetfulness?
First of all, filmmakers self-censor their works and limit themselves to the kinds of films that they make. The societal atmosphere in Malaysia caused us to grow up being highly anxious about our identity: What does it mean to be Chinese? Malay? Indian? I have observed many films where filmmakers avoid politics from the start, for they feel that it is too sensitive or inappropriate to touch on these issues.
There is an implicit expectation that all stories should strive towards achieving racial harmony or end with it as a resolution, which is why we should tread carefully around or avoid sensitive issues. I am not at all against working towards racial harmony, but on the discussion of social issues, we need to raise questions and exchange views critically to draw out the connections between all ethnicities. Otherwise, our so-called racial harmony can only stand on shaky ground.
Censorship affects the market of your film. Selling your film to get sufficient monetary returns to fund your next film remains a problem for us. Under these limitations, Malaysian filmmakers are predestined to go independent. One must be able to work under limited support and resources, which is why I started making documentaries instead.
Apart from the films being banned in Malaysia due to censorship, another problem that we face when making films is the insufficient database collection of Malaysian film archives in terms of news footage, audio-visual recordings, and historical information. When making documentaries, I had to get most of my visuals from the archives of Australia, Japan, or Britain. These countries and their institutions have control over your access and use of these materials, since you will need their permission first and foremost.
That is why, in Absent Without Leave, I constantly ask: What is this place like, this place called home? A netizen left a comment on my Facebook post, asking: If I am rooted overseas, how far am I from home? Am I still a Malaysian? My answer to this is: It is because I started asking these questions that I finally got closer to Malaysia. You don’t have to imagine home as some place that you will definitely return to and settle down. Home is a form of arrival. The question really is: how would you be able to reach Malaysia or Malaya, in its truest sense?
This excerpt was transcribed by Yap Hock Yam, who advised on this piece.
All images are film stills from Absent Without Leave, used with permission from 蜂鳥影像有限公司 Hummingbird Production Co Ltd.
