Remembering the Hartal

Fahmi Fadzil, September 21, 2007

English, Fahmi, Columns |

By Fahmi Fadzil

Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka, a 32-minute documentary by graphic designer and first-time filmmaker Fahmi Reza, charts the 30 days leading up to 20th October 1947, ten years before Malaya gained her independence from the British Crown. What happened on that day? Why, a Malaya-wide hartal, of course, led by PUTERA-AMCJA (why does this name ring a bell? Oh ya, we saw it in our Form 5 Sejarah). For what? To challenge the Federation Constitution that was collaboratively created by the British, UMNO and the ruling monarchs, and to replace this with the more-democratically-crafted People’s Constitution.

But what is a hartal? It refers to a general strike and work stoppage, a legitimate form of civil disobedience commonly employed in the Gujarati region of India, and popularized by the political actions of the father of Indian independence, Mahatma Gandhi. As a form of social protest, the hartal was meant to cause complete economic lock down in civil society, thereby telling the State that the People wants its voice to be heard.

Sepuluh Tahun begins with visual flashbacks of empty streets, shuttered business premises, silent railroad tracks, and the explanation of what a hartal means. “Hartal ini membantah,” says an old, ketayap-wearing pakcik. We later learn that this man is Zainuddin Andika, octogenarian and one-time Partai Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM) and Angkatan Pemuda Insaf (API) member. Along with the other interviewees in this documentary, Zainuddin was at the epicenter of the Malaya-wide hartal of 1947, and this documentary is both a documentation of the struggles of these men as well as a memory-recall for those of us who have forgotten the trails blazed in the early years of Malaya’s political awakening from her colonial slumber. It is also a painful awareness of just how much we have forgotten about our past, just sixty years down the road.

Rather than easily being a vindication or didactic, accusatory propaganda, Sepuluh Tahun is really a concerted (or artistic, even) attempt at memory recall by a young filmmaker who is very aware of the important roles that marginalized voices and narratives, peoples and parties have in creating the Malaysia we have inherited today, warts and all. And this recall is not done without an appreciation of who will be asked to do this recall: The sharp editing process, reminiscent of pop TV fare, as well as the punk-heavy music selection, is a conscious effort of the filmmaker to make these narratives accessible to the young and restless.

At the same time, the interviews - treated with great respect without being overly precious about the men and what they say - provoke deep questions about the role of the progressive left in Malayan politics pre-Independence, sans communism (Why was it so important for the left to employ this non-violent form of public protest? What were they trying to say, both about what they were fighting for as well as how they were fighting? Who else was fighting at that same time, and how?).

The documentary is remarkable in capturing the lucidity with which the five interviewees recall the details of their efforts, and the near absence of vengeance and malice in these men, even after all these years and after all that they have gone through. Yet the most beautiful (and painfully poignant) point in the film is the clarity with which the quintet have accepted the past, knowing how irrevocable those days really are. So close, yet so very far. Yet their beliefs are still held fast.

By far, this is one of the most important documentary films about pre-Independence Malaya that has surfaced to date. Powerful and succinct in its story-telling, yet penetrating in its treatment of an almost forgotten time in our near past where the possibilities of what could be crackled in the air. This has raised the standards for independent (both politically and financially) documentaries to come.

If there’s anything we should watch right now to remind us of what is important about this country, it’s Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka. Let us not forget: The fight is not over yet.

(Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka was one of three documentaries that won awards at the 2007 Freedom Film Fest. For more info, please visit 10tahun.blogspot.com)

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