Memories of RRF: P. Ramlee movies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3qBG0wSmJg (Madu Tiga)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4IYZ4psuSM&feature=related (Madu Tiga -song)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M38ZytgjzFc&feature=related (Dendang Pontianak)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4iQ1WsRW-I&feature=related (Anak Bapak -Chetty)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z84aQPIgwqc&feature=related (Nasib DoReMi)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyLbm79Y0oo (Gerimis)

My son Danny enjoys watching Malay dramas and movies on Astro Citra, a passion his other siblings cannot understand. It is probably due to his predominantly Malay male and female classmates. I believe that over time, he will realise that his comrades will get different treatment than himself, and he will start shunning his passion and go on with his different things in life. In another instance, my other kids could not understand why we (my wife and I) chose to sing Malay songs by Alleycats during a karaoke session. "Alley, who?" they asked.

They do not realise how things were in the good old days. In the 1960s and 1970s, with the euphoria of an independent nation, tolerance and acceptance was the norm. People of all strata would throng open houses (during festivities) with alcoholic beverages being served without batting an eyelid. The question of the halal chicken or halal utensils would not arise! The TV program options were limited; only terrestrial TV and the transmission hours were limited. Like it or not, you had TV1 or TV2 or bust. We were left with Hobson's choice of TV2 during the International Quran Competition!

With NEP, the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution and the proliferation of cable TV, it was a Renaissance. Indian, Chinese and Islamic consciousness started creeping into Malaysian society! Indians became more aware of events in Chennai and its Parliament; the bedroom escapades of Edison Chen fascinated the Chinese viewers rather than being mindful of the existence of Maya Karin as well as Allan Pereira and Indy Nadarajah!

I first noticed this change during the pre-Astro days when I was posted in Johor Bahru. Johoreans were glued to ethnic Singapore TV channels only, oblivious to current events in Malaysia. Moreover, their children studied across the causeway, and their yardstick for measuring the quality of life is the city-state! Don't even talk about the interracial mingling of fellow Malaysians. The same scenario spread nationwide, flamed by the leaders with vested interests. After more than half a century of independence, shouldn't we be more evolved towards national integration rather than segregation? Wasn't this the colonial technique deployed by the British via their 'divide and rule' policy?

History has taught us that social re-engineering will only hit us back on our faces. When Chairman Mao Se-Tung promised his nation that China would surpass Britain as a steel-producing nation via his Great Leap Forward movement, little did he realise that it would lead to a Great Famine, usurping 16.5 to 40 million as victims?

Talking about P. Ramlee's movies, every Malaysian child of the 70s will agree that it was a unifying tool. Most of us would have seen at least some of his films more than once! Some can even recite its dialogue. Of course, this is nowhere compared to the die-hard Tamil movie fans in Tamil Nadu who would torch themselves for the sake of their celluloid hero!

Let me try to remember some of his movies I remember watching on the black and white 14" TV in the living room of RRF. There was a time when Cikgu Zakaria (BM tuition teacher in Jln Thean Teik) used to tell us the movie due to be screened that (Friday) night and also gave a short running commentary. The few films that come to my mind are...

• Bujang Lapok series - another comedy;
• Anak-ku Sazali - an award-winning movie with P. Ramlee in a dual role;
• Labu dan Labi series - a full-length comedy with many sub-plots involving butlers Labu and Labi, their boss Haji Bakhil bin Kedukut and daughter Manisah;
• Gerimis - a bilingual Tamil-Malay movie about interracial love, starring P. Ramlee, Chandra Shanmugam, VI. Stanley et al.;
• Do Re Mi series - about 3 wandering vagabond and their antics;
• Tiga Abdul - serious drama, one of the many movies with pseudo-Arabic influence;
• Ali Baba & 40 thieves;
• Anak Bapak - poking fun at Malay way of living;
• Keluarga 69 - with A.R. Tompel, another comedy poking fun at modern life where the son marries a divorcee whose daughter marries his father!
• Masam-Masam Manis - a comedy where a teacher spends most of his time in a nightclub and sleeps in class;.
• Madu Tiga - about a polygamous man and his antics dodging from his wives;
• Ibu Mertuaku
• 6-Jahanam - a grieving husband avenges his wife's murder by 6 bandits;
• Many more... Hang Tuah, Semarah Padi, etc

I also remember watching many horror movies with Pontianak and Nenek Kebayan, gambar purba (set in olden times, e.g. Bawang Merah Bawang Puteh, Singapura dilanggar Tondak, Raja Bersiong) and Mat Sentol comedies.