Selfie with the Prime Minister (2017)Directors: Nor Arlene Tan, Grace Cho
At first I thought it was just a film to showcase the plight of the migrants and the hardship that they had to endure on a daily basis after being swindled by human traffickers and shunned by the Malaysian society at large. Well it is that and much more, but it tries putting it in a light hearted manner. It tells the tale of a selfie crazy migrant worker who goes around taking pictures of himself against the backdrop of the landscape around the country.
As he introduced himself, he made a blooper (or was it is on intention, I wondered!). He introduced himself as Ziaur Rahman from Bangla... er, Myanmar. What kind of person would forget his country of origin. Then it clicked. Ziaur is a Rohinya from Arakhine State whose people are is in great turmoil as we speak.
A bit of history on the origins of the Rohinyas. They occupy the Western part of Burma neighbouring Bengal and they were recruited by the British to fight the Japanese in World War 2. The rest of Burma, (as Myanmar was known then) were with the Japanese fighting the British-led Indian Army. This demarcation continued as their allegiance to their Motherland was always questioned due to their religious belief and their ignorance(?refusal) in Myanmarese language. With lack of economic opportunities, poverty and the religious insurgence as many jihadists flock that area to sacrifice in the name of religion, this rich area has become something akin to war zone. Humanity has died, Savagery is the order of the day as carnage and human sacrifice spreads like wild fire.
Refugees who manage to escape persecution land in the hands of human traffickers. Like commodities, they change hand and finally land in Malaysia. Also amongst these refugees are many who had borrowed from moneylenders hoping for a good life in Malaysia just to realise that they had been taken for a ride.Together, these economic migrants, play a cat-and-mouse game with the authorities and gets played out by errand employers of their hard-earned salaries. As Malaysia is not a signatory of UN convention on Refugees, the migrant workers cannot move freely as legal refugees, They all live under the radar, unseen, unheard but still play an important role to do the duties deemed too dirty, degrading and dangerous for an average Malaysian.
This documentary tells of Ziaur's struggles making ends meet, his quest to solicit donation for his cataract surgery, his activism work which involves writing to dignitaries the world over on the helpless state of Rohinyas in Myanmar and outside as well as indulging in his favourite pastime, taking selfie and being active in social media. The highlight of the film is when he attends PM Najib's Hari Raya open house in Putrajaya to take a selfie with him. To top the icing on his cake, he also took a selfie with the police officer on duty at that occasion. He thought it was ironic considering the number of times he and his friends were harassed by the them for bribes. In the spirit of festivities, everybody had their guard down and nobody was stressing anybody out!
Till date, Rohinyas remain unwanted. Their birth country is refusing them. Their neighbours do not want them. Countries and organisations like OIC who are vocal about their sufferings under the umbrella of the common religion look the other way when it comes to the crux of the matter.
The blurring of who is right and who is wrong cannot be overstated. Brutality from all involved parties is obvious. The disturbances have gone on for so long that none of combating sides (the Rohinyas, the Myanmarese military or the militant Buddhist monks) remember who drew first blood. Situation becomes worse when jihadists with the same ideologies as ISIS and Al-Queda rear their ugly heads in the mayhem.
