[Funeral]
When I was asked to watch the latest MCYS by a friend in advertising I was expecting something artistic since I had seen their first commercial on TV sometime back. A mentor in MCYS had asked for my thoughts and I told him that I loved it for its artistic integrity. I hadn't knew that it was directed by Yasmin Ahmad until I watched Muallaf.

The TV commercial made me think of Kuo Pao Kun's play The Coffin Is Too Big For the Hole. Both have links to the theme of death. In Kuo's play, the protagonist's death causes a huge commotion at the cemetery where the coffin is to be buried. The hole for burial, is too small and hence the coffin cannot fit.

Why do I bring this up? Because, in Kuo's play, death was a grand affair. What do you want to happen at your funeral? Would it be something grand like what happened in The Coffin Is Too Big For the Hole or something ordinary where people say good things about you?

I think death is a great time to reflect about life. In the latest MCYS TV titled Funeral, death is a simple affair. It is not a reflection of the grand things the protagonist did in his life. Rather, it is the uninteresting and little things that would not longer exist when he is not around.



There are several observations, one of which is the multi-ethnic make up of the family. Yasmin's last film Muallaf was a controversy in Malaysia, but this multi-cultural dimension can be embraced by most Singaporeans for we live in a racially tolerant society. And I accept the diversity.

Ultimately, I think the message is not about how you die, but how you live and be remembered by people close to your heart. What impact did you make in the life of others?



Deep down beyond the analysis, the real message is about the family and getting married. How would you react to that?