I remembered hearing random remarks and comments from the general Malay public in Singapore when they heard about the on-going production of this film. The typical response gathered goes like this
FILMmaker: "kita nak buat filem" (we are doing a film feature)
Malay Public: "oh nak buat telemovie eh"? (oh, so it's a telemovie production?)
FILMmaker: "bukan" (no, it's not)
Malay Public: "berapa episode" (how many episodes), "jadi, bukan untuk Suria lah ni"? (so, it's not for the Suria channel, then?)
FILMmaker: "bukan untuk television" (no, it's not for television)
Malay Public: "kalau bukan untuk Suria, mana station yang nak siar"? (if it's not or Suria channel, which station will it be aired)
[.....!!!]
Cute. To these Malay "heartlanders", the concept of film production in Malay were buried since late 60s when the film lot belonging to the Shaw Brothers along Jalan Ampas off Balestier Road was closed. This era was endearingly considered by many Malays (both in Singapore and Malaysia) as the "Golden Age" of Malay filmmaking. Memorable films by luminaries like P Ramlee, Hussin Hanif and M Amin were produced during this era.
Fast forward to the late 1990s. I remembered about 13 years ago when the television channel Prime 12 (now Suria Channel) just started, many independent production houses doing television had a hard time communicating the idea of television production among private business (for sponsorship) and homeowners (for their residence). To seek permission to shoot in their respective premises, one had to go through endless scrutiny and skepticism just to impress upon them that our endeavour was legitimate. Back then, all television production was produced by TCS (pre MediaCorp), and to have a "production house" shoot for television was unheard of. I understand from my non-Malay peers in television that they faced similar situations among their "heartlander" community as well.
I think Malay filmmaking (especially Singapore) is undergoing a renaissance. The Singapore Malay Film Society on Facebook is blossoming. I see this "re-birth" in Singapore as a new opportunity to re-introduce the filmmaking concept to the community. I'm excited at the prospect that The Missing Ingredient would potentially be the film to re-introduce filmmaking to my endearing Malay community in the heartlands :)
But to do this, The Missing Ingredient will need all possible support firstly from the community itself. The world is our audience and they are ready to hear our unique stories. In the Cinemas.
Insya-Allah.
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