AUG 23 — In March 2012, I was one of the actors on the set of “The New Village”. My role was a key cameo: Sir William, a British official in charge of a “new village”. As such, I have some insight into the nature of the film, though this is limited by the fact that I was never shown a full script, nor have I seen the finished film. Yet, I can speak, somewhat, of the way the British are portrayed in the film — and the film’s take on their role in the Malayan Emergency.

As most readers will know, “The New Village” film, directed by Wong Kew-Lit, has been suspended from screening, in Malaysia, owing to fears that it may promote communism. It had been due for release on August 22. What is not widely known, is that this is the second time the film has been postponed: it was originally due for release in January 2013. Now, I cannot speak on whether the film, as a whole, is pro-communist, but I can say this: the film portrays, quite clearly, the British efforts to stamp out communism in Malaya.

In my pivotal scene, in the film, Sir William is shown giving a speech to the Chinese inhabitants of a New Village. He is urging them to keep away from the communists and tries to communicate to them, the necessity of what the British have done, in interning Malaya’s Chinese population in these camps. As I played the scene, I felt the oppressiveness of what the British were doing. It was a strange experience, as an actor, because the dynamics of the scene informed me both of how the British must have felt — and of how the Chinese must have felt, too, in this troubled time. I stood on a truck, addressing the crowd gathered below. All stood helplessly looking up at me, their cooperation assured by the many armed guards around me. Sir William was the centre of both attention and power. They had no choice but to listen carefully to my words, for clues as to their fates. I could not but feel the oppression in what I was doing: the Chinese would have felt imprisoned, coerced, unable to be free to make their own decisions. Yet, I felt, too, something else: as the British leader, there, I felt that there was no choice in what we were doing. The ONLY way to control the spread of the communist ideology, was to separate the ideologues from the Chinese people, in general. Since the British could not capture the communists, the only logical step to take, was to “capture” the Chinese, in general and keep them apart from the communists. What the British were doing was not evil, it was necessary. There was no other practical way at their disposal, to snuff out the fires of communism, in Malaya. It is my hope, in seeing the film (should anyone ever see the film) that the audience will understand that what the British did at this critical juncture in history, was necessary, oppressive though it might seem, to a superficial viewer. The march of history gave them no choice but to try to suppress communism in this manner.

I do not know the full context of the work I did on the film. I do not know if the audience will be led to understand that the British did what they had to do, were they to have a chance of snuffing out the communist ideology, before it took hold. Yes, this involved oppressive actions towards the Chinese — but these were not badly intentioned. The British were as much prisoners of circumstance as the Chinese became actual prisoners, in the sense of being forced to relocate to places not of their choice.

As an actor, though, in that situation, I felt history in a way few people get to feel it. I felt the conflict between the wish to do good, and the necessity of doing what might seem not so. I felt both the oppression of my actions — but also their inevitability, if Malaya were to be freed of communism. In a way, I felt as the British leaders in my position must have felt. I know that they did what they thought best for the nation — even if it meant a time of restricted freedoms for the Chinese population.

It is my hope that audiences will see, too, that the British were not inherently bad. They were driven by pragmatic considerations: they did what they had to do. They, too, did not have enough freedom: they did not have the freedom to do other than they did, if they were to defeat communism, before it got a stranglehold on Malaya.

I have not seen the film, in toto. So I cannot comment on whether its overall sentiment is pro-communist. I can say this, however: a film, in itself, no matter how well made, does not have the power to resurrect communism in Malaysia. I think that is an impossible task. Communism has died out, long ago. “The New Village” would not, on its own, be able to bring it back from the dead — probably not even for a single viewer.

It is my hope, therefore, that Malaysians will get to see this film, and understand, for themselves, something of this time in history. I hope, too, that they will read between the lines and realise that the actions of the British were very much determined by the actions of the communists. It is the existence of communism, in Malaya, that led to the New Villages as the solution. Both sides were prisoners of history, at that time and so the British should not be seen as having done wrong, in implementing the New Villages. They did what was right, to ensure that communism would die out... and it did. I think most people living today, even Chinese people in Malaysia, can be grateful to them for the result of their actions, even if they didn’t like the means.

It is my belief that modern Malaysia, should not be frightened of its own history — or of artistic attempts to understand or comment on it. Malaysians should be mature enough, by now, to consider an historical film, without being overly influenced by it. They can learn what once was, without wishing to recreate it again.

It should not be forgotten that the protests against this film are based solely on the trailer. The Film Classification Board saw the whole film — and passed it. The view of the three member panel holds more weight, because unlike the critics, they have actually seen the film. I do hope Malaysia gets the chance to see the work of so many people in bringing to life a time in Malaysian history that is not as known as it should be. I also believe that no harm can come to Malaysians through seeing what is, after all, just a fictional film. A story is just a story: surely we are all grown up enough to understand that?

* Valentine Cawley acted in “The New Village”.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.