In my previous entry, I did mention about watching 'The Untouchables'. That movie carries more than just the story says. I actually waited 24 years to watch it. The first time I attempted to view was in Kota Bharu on a Friday afternoon in 1988 during the final 2 years of undergraduate studies in Kelantan.
Kelantanese, the self-appointed stepchild of Malaysia, have many ancestral and cultural links with Siam (Thailand). During the local radio programmes, it is the norm to have callers dedicating songs and greetings to their close relatives across the border. They have their own peculiar ways of doing their rituals (besides the slang). Friday was and still is the weekend ( + half day work on Thursday).
To celebrate the end of term examinations, the students' entourage made its weekly trip to town to get some non-halal food. We used to term it as 'hypo-porkemia fix'. After the sumptuous Chinese meal of economy rice and the accompaniments, TFLG and I decided to watch a movie.
In honouring the Friday prayers, most business outlets there were temporarily closed between noon and 3pm. So, we had to hang around looking at the wheels go by whilst the ticket booths open. As the posters at the cinema advertised 'Untouchables', we excitedly got ourselves tickets. Usually, English movies only survived screening a solitary day in Kelantan, and we thought it was our lucky day.
Now, in Kelantan, there are some cinema etiquettes that one must be accustomed to before enjoying their day at the cinema. There is an understanding that different sexes are expected to be seated in different rows. The lights do not go dim when the film starts. The show begins with the mandatory screening of the portrait of the state monarch and the playing of state anthem to which audience is expected to be upstanding at attention. There is a short intermission but do not be surprised if you are rudely interrupted by flashing torchlight on your face in the midst of the screening. You see, they are not the ushers but moral police of the Anti-Vice Unit (Pencegah Maksiat, affectionately known as PM by Kelantanese) out doing what they do best.
Now that we got the formalities were out of the way, we thought we should be viewing Sean Connery, and his team do their job. There, in Kelantan, they do not waste much time with trailers and advertisements - they do not have any anyway!
So, on that fateful day, the screening started with er... what we thought was a trailer - one B-grade maybe C-grade butchered Italian R-rated flick with lousy dubbing and bad acting named 'Blue Island', not even 'Blue Lagoon'. And it went on and on until the whole show ended and the doors opened, that is it!
When we came out, the posters had all been changed to 'Blue Island'. Upon enquiry, we were told that 'Untouchable' had ended the day previously, but the workers had not replaced the posters!
To celebrate the end of term examinations, the students' entourage made its weekly trip to town to get some non-halal food. We used to term it as 'hypo-porkemia fix'. After the sumptuous Chinese meal of economy rice and the accompaniments, TFLG and I decided to watch a movie.
In honouring the Friday prayers, most business outlets there were temporarily closed between noon and 3pm. So, we had to hang around looking at the wheels go by whilst the ticket booths open. As the posters at the cinema advertised 'Untouchables', we excitedly got ourselves tickets. Usually, English movies only survived screening a solitary day in Kelantan, and we thought it was our lucky day.
Now, in Kelantan, there are some cinema etiquettes that one must be accustomed to before enjoying their day at the cinema. There is an understanding that different sexes are expected to be seated in different rows. The lights do not go dim when the film starts. The show begins with the mandatory screening of the portrait of the state monarch and the playing of state anthem to which audience is expected to be upstanding at attention. There is a short intermission but do not be surprised if you are rudely interrupted by flashing torchlight on your face in the midst of the screening. You see, they are not the ushers but moral police of the Anti-Vice Unit (Pencegah Maksiat, affectionately known as PM by Kelantanese) out doing what they do best.
Now that we got the formalities were out of the way, we thought we should be viewing Sean Connery, and his team do their job. There, in Kelantan, they do not waste much time with trailers and advertisements - they do not have any anyway!
So, on that fateful day, the screening started with er... what we thought was a trailer - one B-grade maybe C-grade butchered Italian R-rated flick with lousy dubbing and bad acting named 'Blue Island', not even 'Blue Lagoon'. And it went on and on until the whole show ended and the doors opened, that is it!
When we came out, the posters had all been changed to 'Blue Island'. Upon enquiry, we were told that 'Untouchable' had ended the day previously, but the workers had not replaced the posters!
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The annual Kelantan regatta - Floods during the monsoon. One can see the joy on the faces of average Kelantanese during this time of the year - legal holidays, time to meet partners, indulgence in water sports and temporary eradication of the infamous Kota Bharu rats which is reputed to cow cats to submission, especially the fat rats around the General Hospital. (? after thriving on antibiotics and hospital supply?) [http://ummi-iman.blogspot.com]
Note: The poster showing '077 Espionage in Tangiers' -not even 007! Googled it and found that it is a spoof of James Bond, no mention of 077, though, that is Kelantan's addition!
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