The Big Durian

1. What scene in "The Big Durian" made an impression on you, and why?

When Ng Ngai Yuen was interviewed as a sales person. The interview was speaking from a Chinese, Malaysian's point of view. Not many people in Malaysia are willing to share their thought openly. She mentioned that she did not enjoy recess time when she was in school because she was not comfortable eating pork with her non-Chinese friend. As Chinese, Malaysian I find it very true and this scene speaks for all the Chinese in Malaysia.

2. What was rumored to be Private Adam’s grouse/ reason which lead him to running amuck?

Private Adam got to know that his brother was killed by a king while the king was playing golf. Private Adam know that there is no other way to make a police report, as the king is a royalty in Malaysia and they can get away with it easily.

3. A character from Sabah ends her narrative by noting the look on Private Adam’s face. What was it that she saw and how does it contrast with her feelings?

The charactersaw Peace on Private Adam’s face. She felt like K.L is actually like a cage, not as what others said that K.L is a free city. After seeing Private Adam’s peaceful expression, she wants to be like him.

4. From what historical point is the director viewing the events of 1987? What is the “present” of the documentary and what’s it’s mood?

The director mentioned many past events in the film. During the 90’s it was also the reformation for our nation. The direction is trying to create awareness to the public because all the news is sugar-coated and through the public know the truth and details of the story.

Liew Kung Yu

The visit to Petronas Gallery was really an eye opener for me. As is was my first visit, I was very excited the day before. I must say that after reading all the materials from Mr.sharaad, i really don't know what to expect from this exhibition.

the title for this series of works is 'Cadangan-cadangan untuk NegaraKu' that was inspired by the public sculptures, monuments and decorations he photographed while traveling through Malaysia.

Bandar Sri tiang kolom

Konkrit Jungle & Metropolis warisan

After speding more than 30mins in the gallery, I was truely amazed by the large-scale photo collages. Every detail and expect of these collages are perfectly presented. the collages consist of monument parks, twin tower, the super highway in Malaysia, Proton cars, the national flower, Kl hop on hop off bus and many small little faces of Malaysian. Liew Kung Yu also put the pictures into different layers in order to create at 3D effect.

I personally like the Bandar Sri tiang Kolom as it show how Malaysian obsess over pillars. From an old fashion Kampung house to big banglows, each of these houses like to use at lease TWO big pillars in front of their house. the contrast of colors used in this collage really catch my attention for a long while... there were many faces of different nationality surrounding the frame of this piece.

the metropolis Warisan shows how Malaysia has change over the years...Malaysia had gone through the reformstion period, merdeka, 13May inccident, economy downturn during the late 90s...and yet we are still working very hard to develop our country. Indeed Malaysia really made its place in the map of the world. The Petronas twin tower is now known by many foreigners and it has became a tourist spot for all who visited Malaysia.

The Proton cars has also make up Malaysian proud. Although we always heard complaints about the condition of Proton cars after using it for a year and everything goes wrong. But we did not appreciate the effort that the government has made in order to let it’s citizen to have to privilege to drive an affordable car with a reasonable fuel price too.

In my opinion, The KL Hop on hop off bus is a way to ‘cheat’ the public’s money. With a high bus fare of RM38 for 24hours or RM65 for 48 hours traveling period, it will not encourage Malaysians to spend a day or teo in the heart of the city traveling by this bus.

After the visit at the gallery, I actually took time to observe the things around me while I’m driving from one place to another. Be it during the off peak hours or during the jam. There are actually many things that we neglected around us that we never even realized. This visit makes me think about how Malaysia can approve for the better. There is always a question mark in my heart – how come there are so many NGOs in the country but yet there are still so many baggers in this city, especially at night markets. Why the government never took action against those syndicate that use baggers to earn money for them?????