Ola Bola ... Talking Points

I watched it the first day it came out. How much was hype? I will say more later. Social media is abuzz with talking points. I was there, though very very young... so I can relate a bit better. My views in blue.

Below were excerpts of online comments:

> “It should be Eric Yong (James Wong,) the pride of Sabah, to score the historical goal, never understand why Ali is the scorer.... Why change the proud history of Malaysian football.... a very poor presentation of Malaysia football history...OlaBola....u can never cheat history.

Strictly speaking, IT IS NOT A DOCUMENTARY ... why don't you hit out on how good looking Keong was, supposedly to be Soh Chin Aun (tauke), I respect Chin Aun a lot as possibly the best defender Malaysia has ever produced but he is no looker. BUT if its not a documentary, it was BASED on real life events... it was, and they actually went as far as going to Sabah taking the train to talk to a supposedly ex-Sabah national player ... so obviously Eric in the movie was James Wong's "character somewhat" .. I know its not supposed to be accurate but you go all the way to try and replicate the FEELING OF MUHIBBAH, the Malaysia Boleh spirit, the fight for nation spirit ... why tamper with the scores and the scorer??? If it does not matter, why tamper??? Obviously its to make a deliberate attempt to balance out the racial focus of the movie - the tauke had a large portion of it, followed by Muthu's (Arumugam) family ... and in trying not to leave out the Malays, ...Ali became the scorer?? When do we have to be politically correct in creative arts, I guess thats why its called creative. I supposed the film maker would have wanted to stay true BUT look at the humungous number of advertisers and sponsors behind the film - I am sure THEY HAD A FUCKED UP say in it. The director/writer gets the brunt of it but somehow I think its NOT HIS FAULT. 

> Don’t waste your money and time to watch the movie, OlaBola! I was going to watch it few days ago in KL due to rave reviews but my bro-in-law and friends confirmed that not Eric but Ali who scored.

Again, to boycott the movie because of that one fact is just silly. It is not a historical documentary, in as much as Titanic was based on real events but you know there was no fucking Jack shouting "I am KING OF THE WORLD" in reality. But most of us enjoyed it. I can see the stupidity in having Ali scoring the goal - the biggest discredit is to have a whole new generation NOT knowing that it was James Wong who scored. But thanks to the uproar in social media - like it or not, now EVERYBODY KNOWS King James Wong scored the fucking goal!!! 

Imagine a film based on real events about Malaysia's independence, BUT NOT A DOCUMENTARY and you have Sinnapiah Samy shouting "Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka"...  at the stadium - you can do that but people will cringe at how far you went beyond real life events. 

Its a reprehensible fault but not big enough to detract from the overall good movie and execution.

> The younger n future generations MUST know the TRUE facts of Malaysia football.

> All of us here have a very strong feeling about being a Sabahan and the way we have been treated by our West Malaysian counterparts.

OK, don't be overly sensitive my beloved East Malaysians. The film actually shot a lot of scenes in Sabah, its beautiful. We get too sensitive about that ONE THING that distracts from the overall. Yes, I believe East Malaysians have been "mis-treated" in many ways. Look at Malaysia Day, when did it actually became a holiday? But we are still a young country and these things evolve and we learn. Our parents who live in West Malaysia rarely got the chance to visit East Malaysia during their heydays - but I think it would be fair to assume the majority of us below 40 have done so nowadays. Some things are NOT TAUGHT at school, we learn as we go along. Of course its largely the government's fault.

> The movie is not a documentary or biography. Names and storyline can be changed and also altered for the big screen. The movie’s main theme is about the true spirit of 1Malaysia. That’s the main message of the movie if we look at it from bigger picture.

Overall, the movie is a 7/10 ... not a 9 or a 10. The storyline is mushy and predictable. The acting was pretty good though I must say. The best thing about the film, the cinematography, the lensing and framing of scenic shots were superb. Who knew Malaysia was so pretty. The other good thing was how the team stayed true to the 70s in terms of the dressing, artefacts, ... the 70s fun-fair was exactly the way it was. Plus the theme song was fantastic.

I wondered why didn't the team stick to the truth and obtain permission from players to get at as close to the truth in the movie. 

Another thing is that the movie will gross a lot of money, as of last week its passing RM12m, a lot for a local film. BUT look at the power of advertising and commercials. Can someone tabulate how much would it cost to have that many advertisements on Astro??? Maybe RM12m also. I can safely say, without the powerful sponsors, Ola Bola would just be a middling success in box office locally. I am sure there are many struggling local film makers who would have balked and vomitted at the incessant deluge of commercials and song plays on Ola Bola. Imagine the brilliant local movie JAGAT, who only had a few days at the local cinemas before being pulled - how they could do with just 1/10th of the commercials Ola Bola had. Fair/Unfair ... pls vote now!!!

While it is all good to remember the team that got the second Olympic qualification, I am quite sure that they HAD ALL THEIR AMBITIONS, TENACITY and INSPIRATION from the earlier team who ACTUALLY got to go to the Olympics. The 1970s team ... did not get their deserved accolades as well. In fact the 80s team, I am sure would say their heroes were the following 1970s superstars (I may have left out a few):

SYED AHMAD

WONG CHOON WAH

ALI BAKAR

ISA BAKAR

SALLEH IBRAHIM

M CHANDRAN

MOKHTAR DAHARI
LIM FUNG KEE

SHAHARUDDIN ABDULLAH

M BAKAR

HARUN JUSOH

UMAPARAN

REDUAN ABDULLAH
WONG KOU FOU

BAKRI IBNI

SHUKOR SALLEH

These are the players that paved the way... that allowed the younger Malaysians to dream of the possible.

Life is not fair. As corporations with a heart, as a government who may start to have a heart ... do what is right, support good efforts fairly, as equitably as you can. Political correctness has no place in a true blue Malaysia.

The "Kong Luoi" Debate

This phenomena not only dominates HK social scene but seems to be just as pervasive in Malaysia and Singapore.

A few years back,  there have been a huge backlash and debate on the Internet and even mainstream media on the unacceptable attitudes of some HK girls. Girls who fit the description are called "Kong Luoi" (short for HK girls but with a derogatory sideswipe at them). Its a generalisation and not all girls will have all the attributes, but you will recognise them immediately.

"Kong Luoi" (KLs) phenomenon was started as the 63.8 incident. What started as a first date went horribly wrong when the couple went into a store, and the girl bought some stuff and it came to HK$63.80. The girl expected the guy to pay but he did not and she ended up paying HK$63.80. That was not the end of it. The girl recorded a video and uploaded it on You Tube ranting and bitching what an asshole and cheap the guy was for not offering to pay HK$63.80. Her berating video pissed a lot of guys off and started the HK guys compiling things that they find unattractive in certain HK girls.

Some of the common traits:
1) "ying fun" - girls who think that they are doing guys a favour by allowing the guys to date them, hence the guys should appreciate the opportunity, thus do not expect them to go dutch or pay for anything during the date. "ying fun" = deserved to be treated well. Did you know that the trend is for girls to never even bringing their wallets with them when they go on dates.

2) "ying koi" - girls who think that it is manners and politeness for the guys to foot everything on a date just because they are girls. Very close in meaning to "ying fun" but has an element of "should have" - i.e. guys should do those things without having the need to be even discussed.

3) "tiu tik" the girls are great critics on what the guys have, what he does not have, how he carries himself, whether he is a good conversationalist, not good looking enough if they don't like anywhere close to Andy Lau, making a summation of his prospects as a future boyfriend and provider by just looking at appearance, making a minor thing into a big character flaw, etc... thus relegating all guys as also-rans.

4) "hau but thoui sum" what she says never ties in with what she really wants. Ask her what she wants to have for dinner, she will say "Mow sor wai, see tharn le" (I don't mind, anything will do), but when you suggest Japanese, she will say too much raw stuff, you suggest Indian, she will claim its too spicy, you suggest Cantonese, she will say its too oily.. and still say "kei sart, ngor mow sor wai ke, mutt yeah thou tak" (Actually, I am quite easy, whatever is OK)... you suggests steamboat, she will say it is heaty and make her have pimples ... naturally for these kind of girls, I will tell them, "lei sick chee kei le" (Go eat yourself bitch!).

5) control - she always want to be in control of the relationship, once you move from dating to a steady relationship, one of the first question she will ask is if you would mind to give her all your pay for her to manage the finances when they get married. I think its only ok in Korea and Japan, but to even entertain such a question to me shows a complete wanting of control and to see how "far they can manipulate the guy to her liking". "Kong Luoi" justifies the line of questioning as that would allow them to see how much the guy sees them as a partnership and how much he trusts her. In my words, Bullshit Baby!!! Its a control issue.

6) KLs have a very strong penchant for branded goods and wouldn't want to be caught dead with last year's bags or shoes. They are never slim enough, even though guys keep telling them they are skinny enough. Its not enough for the guys to say so, its their fellow girlfriends that have to say that they are skinny enough, and baby, girlfriends will never ever say their fellow girlfriends are skinny enough. You are in a dead end cycle.

7) KLs are hard to court even though they do not come with great credentials. The usual 5Cs (car, cash, career, credit card, condo) as so basic that many girls would never ever consider going out with someone without at least 3Cs.

8) places too much importance on outward appearances. Ever wondered why there are so many slimming clinics in HK, and also skin whitening, tummy firming, breast firming, blemish reduction laser therapy, cellulite therapy, cosmetic plastic surgery to have double eyelids, botox... The girls will claim that a large part of why they are doing this is for the guys. Eeerrr, bullshit again, maybe so if the guy is very shallow, all these things to make up for outward inadequacies stem from a dire lack of self confidence and self belief, and that is one big character flaw in KLs. It has a lot to do with the culture and upbringing values instilled, either deliberately or unconsciously.

9) expect presents and celebrations with presents on these following days: her birthday, anniversary of the mundane kind, Christmas, Valentine's Day, some even chocolates during Easter, even New Year... and

In my view, its not just in HK but in many places as well. Its an equality issue whereby many females now can earn a good living and can dictate their own lives better. Before, girls grow up to be married off and thats that. However, with the desired equality status, in relationships, many still hang onto traditional roles of males and females. But the demands on those roles are so very different now. Everyone must come into a relationship knowing full well what each other's expectations are, if not they will never be met.

In HK, there is this quite silly phrase which sums up why girls in HK are generally very spoiled ("chung whai saei"). The phrase is "low pour hai lor farn lei sack" ( the reason to have a wife is to make sure she is well taken care of and loved). There does not seem to be much wrong with that phrase except when you think about it, its a passive thing for women, and it appears to be their divine right. My quibble is if I get married, am I marrying a loving partner or a passive piece of art for me to dust and vacuum and wipe. To take care as in taking up responsibility as a man of the house, yes, that I totally agree. Hope the nuances there is cleared up.

There is a limit to what is due care and concern by the guy, and what is absolutely reprehensible behaviour. Go to HK and you will see many guys carrying ladies purses and hand bags walking with their girlfriends on dates. I am ok, in fact I think its proper to carry the purses and hand bags if they have to go to toilets or have to go and try out some clothes when out shopping. But to have the guy carrying the stuff walking all over town, is demeaning. If a guy wants to carry a handbag, he should go and buy one himself. Its not a show of how much love and concern a guy shows the girl, its for the girl to show to everyone how much control she has of him. Why not make him wear a dress as well? Thats the crux, to the KLs, its always "if you love me, you will do it" mantra, always having to prove and reprove their affections.. "if you love me, you will buy it for me"... worse "if you love me, you will buy it for me without me having to tell you"... GAWD!!!

At the end, they morph into what I like to call "high maintenance" (HM) women. HM women are not just those who require a certain monetary sum to maintain their lifestyle. To me, HM women are HM because of how their minds torture you and in turn torture themselves. I will give you a classic HM woman, the wife will ask the husband just before they go to sleep "why did you give your 2nd uncle 3 boxes of mooncakes, but you gave my brother only 2 boxes"... that my friend, is HM!!!


p/s photos: Mandy Lieu & Elanne Kong