S Thayaparan
“A work of art is a declaration of freedom. There has never been anything so difficult for mankind to bear as freedom.”
COMMENT | The banning of Cheeming Boey's “When I Was A Kid 3” comic book is the kind of news that slips under the radar but is precisely the kind of state intrusion into our public spaces that rational Malaysians should be defending.
To be honest, I was hoping that there would be more local creative types defending Boey instead of the sampling of virtue signalling that has been highlighted by the press.
To be clear, I have never heard of this author but every time I read about a piece of art that has been banned by the state, it gets my hackles up.
Keep in mind that I am not a free speech absolutist. I have called for the censoring of speech in my decades of writing of only one person and the reason for this is that I believe his speech is the equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theatre.
I am not even going to get into the specifics of Boey’s case. Why? Because the details are not important. What is important is the reaction of the people in power.
“A work of art is a declaration of freedom. There has never been anything so difficult for mankind to bear as freedom.”
- Oskar Schlemmer,
The Letters and Diaries of Oskar Schlemmer
COMMENT | The banning of Cheeming Boey's “When I Was A Kid 3” comic book is the kind of news that slips under the radar but is precisely the kind of state intrusion into our public spaces that rational Malaysians should be defending.
To be honest, I was hoping that there would be more local creative types defending Boey instead of the sampling of virtue signalling that has been highlighted by the press.
To be clear, I have never heard of this author but every time I read about a piece of art that has been banned by the state, it gets my hackles up.
Keep in mind that I am not a free speech absolutist. I have called for the censoring of speech in my decades of writing of only one person and the reason for this is that I believe his speech is the equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theatre.
I am not even going to get into the specifics of Boey’s case. Why? Because the details are not important. What is important is the reaction of the people in power.
What is also not important is who was offended by his work, only the reaction of the people in power. Why? Because crowd size does not matter. If the people in power want to constrain something, any crowd size is an excuse for them to do it.
However, a persistent canard needs to be debunked whenever the state intrudes into our public and private spaces. This idea is that with freedom comes responsibility. When it comes to freedom of speech, for instance, which includes artistic freedom, this is complete horse manure.
Freedom by definition means that people very often act irresponsibly. This is why freedom is such a potent fundamental human right. This is why people, especially those in power who want subservience, fear freedom.
Why do you think the state is so afraid of someone like Fahmi Reza for instance?
This is the power of art. The state can overlook and probably even withstand long cogent arguments about its corruption and failings but what it cannot stand are folks sniggering at drawings of their antics and these kinds of artistic provocations have throughout history been a bane to governments who are attempting to solemnise their failings through various propaganda channels.
Artist Fahmi Reza
With social media, these viral drawings spread with ease and it doesn't take much time or effort to digest before a conclusion can be made. And it brings laughter, so there is that.
With social media, these viral drawings spread with ease and it doesn't take much time or effort to digest before a conclusion can be made. And it brings laughter, so there is that.
Social awareness
Local comic book artist Ronasina said something really chilling.
“This case is a lesson that we have to be more socially aware when creating art. We must be wiser in looking for ways to create art so as to not inadvertently hurt some parties.”
Okay, I’m going to give you an example of how I was hurt by the work of an artist. The late Yasmin Ahmad’s work is lauded as the height of inclusivity and sensitivity when it came to the Malaysian experience.
Personally, every time I saw one of her seasonal advertisements, for example, I was offended. I disliked her crude stereotypes of the Indian community but more importantly, the rapturous reception those advertisements got when they debuted.
I am not going to go into my issues with her film work. You could make the argument (and her proponents always did) that her art was socially aware and while some of her critics were downright spiteful, I would never claim that even if her work offended every single member of the Indian community in Malaysia, that she should be censored or banned.
How can anyone create art which is socially aware without offending some parties, whether intentional or not? Social issues are flash points in any society.
How does art genuinely deal with social issues without offending some party? Constraining your art because it would offend some party is the biggest social issue there is, don’t you think?
No place for censorship
Art is, by definition, an exercise in offending somebody, somewhere. If your art does not provoke any kind of reaction – good or bad – then you have failed right from the start.
This is not to say that great art comes from an intention to provoke, merely that art of any kind should not come from a place of censorship or fear of censorship.
And the dominant polity gets it worse. Why do you think this is? Well because art which deviates, art which offends, art which genuinely tackles social issues go against the political and religious narratives of the state.
The idea that it would resonate and the art would translate to action, is what the state fears the most. This is why art needs to be controlled. This is why artists need to make art from a place of fear. This is why artists need to understand that they may offend certain groups. And I truly believe that most Malaysian artists have sublimated this.
Malaysians should be concerned about this. Why? Because we live in a country where certain words are reserved for certain communities. Our speech is constrained by who it would offend.
Our media is constrained by the state in ways both subtle and overt. We as a people are not in a position to have a blasé attitude about how art is constrained in this country, because it points to a deeper systemic dysfunction.
Remember folk, if Malaysian artists don’t offend, all this will do is confirm Woody Allen’s quote, “Life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad television” which maybe hits too close to home.
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
Local comic book artist Ronasina said something really chilling.
“This case is a lesson that we have to be more socially aware when creating art. We must be wiser in looking for ways to create art so as to not inadvertently hurt some parties.”
Okay, I’m going to give you an example of how I was hurt by the work of an artist. The late Yasmin Ahmad’s work is lauded as the height of inclusivity and sensitivity when it came to the Malaysian experience.
Personally, every time I saw one of her seasonal advertisements, for example, I was offended. I disliked her crude stereotypes of the Indian community but more importantly, the rapturous reception those advertisements got when they debuted.
I am not going to go into my issues with her film work. You could make the argument (and her proponents always did) that her art was socially aware and while some of her critics were downright spiteful, I would never claim that even if her work offended every single member of the Indian community in Malaysia, that she should be censored or banned.
How can anyone create art which is socially aware without offending some parties, whether intentional or not? Social issues are flash points in any society.
How does art genuinely deal with social issues without offending some party? Constraining your art because it would offend some party is the biggest social issue there is, don’t you think?
No place for censorship
Art is, by definition, an exercise in offending somebody, somewhere. If your art does not provoke any kind of reaction – good or bad – then you have failed right from the start.
This is not to say that great art comes from an intention to provoke, merely that art of any kind should not come from a place of censorship or fear of censorship.
And the dominant polity gets it worse. Why do you think this is? Well because art which deviates, art which offends, art which genuinely tackles social issues go against the political and religious narratives of the state.
The idea that it would resonate and the art would translate to action, is what the state fears the most. This is why art needs to be controlled. This is why artists need to make art from a place of fear. This is why artists need to understand that they may offend certain groups. And I truly believe that most Malaysian artists have sublimated this.
Malaysians should be concerned about this. Why? Because we live in a country where certain words are reserved for certain communities. Our speech is constrained by who it would offend.
Our media is constrained by the state in ways both subtle and overt. We as a people are not in a position to have a blasé attitude about how art is constrained in this country, because it points to a deeper systemic dysfunction.
Remember folk, if Malaysian artists don’t offend, all this will do is confirm Woody Allen’s quote, “Life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad television” which maybe hits too close to home.
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
Indeed, western definition of freedom has overly twisting the core logic of behaviorism where classical conditioning & operant conditioning influence humanity.
ReplyDeleteThus the increasing populist of the multitudes of LGBTQ+ exhibition of the queer intend!