Examining ideas on nation-building in P. Ramlee's films from 1955 to 1965

Abstract

The period between 1955 to 1965 was a turbulent period in political and nation-building of Malaya and Singapore. The decades were also intertwined with the gradual independence and the national consciousness of both nations. At the same time, this period also saw the rise of popularity of Malays films, in particular films by P. Ramlee. Could his films reflect the ideas of nation-building that was prevalent at the time? This study aims to explore the theme of nation-building in P. Ramlee’s films and identify various inherent political thoughts in the early days of Malaya and Singapore after the Second World War and independence from British. P. Ramlee’s films were chosen since they were produced in Singapore, a cosmopolitan city that was important to colonial British and Malay/Muslim political activists. The material for this study was collected through the analysis of the general idea of the film based on the synopsis and main themes of the film, as well as previous studies and writings done on the selected films. There were five films selected to be analyzed. The first film was Nujum Pak Belalang which contained ideas related to the changing values and political structure of Malaya and Singapore. The films of Ali Baba Bujang Lapok and Tiga Abdul featured the ideas of Muslim cosmopolitanism and the preservation of morality and family values, while the movie entitled Sarjan Hassan highlighted the effect of atrocities of war and multiracial relations in the building of new nation. In the film Semerah Padi, the role of Islam in the new nation and the challenges in implementing the Islamic law were found to be the main subjects of the film. This study revealed that film can become an important cultural document to be examined, studied, and preserved in order to understand the phenomenon and ideas of the society and the nation in the past. P. Ramlee’s films have helped us to understand the aspirations and concerns of the people at the onset of Malayan independence and the formation of Malaysia. More studies should be conducted on other filmmakers and industry players at the time of P. Ramlee to further understand the notion of nation-building.