COMMENT | Mat Kilau: How important are films in shaping a society?

COMMENT | Malaysia has always been almost like a powder keg ready to explode when it comes to racial and religious tension. The way systematic racial politics work in the country has caused us so much detriment and every ethnic and religious group is just so apprehensive of each other.

One statement by a politician that is deemed racially or religiously insensitive and it sets off a whole chain reaction of anger, frustration and disappointment. The same goes when a social media posting that is similarly insensitive (or even just a valid social critique but offends someone) goes viral.

So, even though I believe that there should be total freedom of speech, I also believe that the people who are making the speech need to have a strong sense of responsibility and an awareness of the environment where it is being made. Context and situation are very important considerations.

Then there is the recent film that has been getting so much attention in the media and currently looks set to break the box office record, ‘Mat Kilau: Kebangkitan Pahlawan’. It is directed by...