Sunday June 3, 2007

How to see the whole truth

By MAS ZETTI ATAN

To get the entire story, one has to learn to read between the lines as what is implied can be another interesting tale on its own.

JOURNALISTS have a code of conduct that makes it their duty to tell the public the truth. Many artists subscribe to a similar code, insisting that they have to paint the truth as it needs to be told. 

And yet, what is the “truth”?  

The political and historical event that took place in 1875 in Pasir Salak, Perak, is, to me, a perfect illustration of how there can be many different versions of truth.  

My father told me the story of the murder of Perak’s first Resident J.W.W. Birch and the opposition to British rule which caused the Pasir Salak event. He was born during the colonial rule and lived through the Japanese Occupation and the Emergency. He was one of many Malay school teachers who were bastions of the Merdeka movement, and marched alongside others to protest against the proposed Malayan Union.  

Amok di Pasir Salakby Zulkifli Yusof.
His version of the event at Pasir Salak was that of the oppressed, fighting to reclaim their dignity and rightful sovereignty.  

The death of Birch, in retrospect, only received a tiny mention in the history books when I was in school. He was murdered and his murderers duly punished. The story was a straight statement of fact. (Just like routine news reporting in the media.) 

Except that there was a mention somewhere of someone being banished to the Seychelles. That little iota of information stayed in my mind all through my university years, coming firmly to the surface in the most unlikely of places – New Delhi. I had met a woman who was a native of the Seychelles and her colouring and features reminded me that a group of Malaysians had been sent to live in exile on the islands more than 100 years before as a result of the Pasir Salak incident. 

What happened in the Seychelles and how come there was no mention of what became of these people?  

In the intervening years, I would occasionally come across articles and books with references to that incident. Different authors, different aspects of the story. Only the name of the dead man was the one constant in these different accounts! 

This week, at a preview of the Filtered exhibition at the Wei-Ling Gallery in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, I came face to face with a painting by artist Zulkifli Yusof on the Pasir Salak incident. And yes, it was yet another perspective of the incident. And just like clever news reporting, there was the lead story (in the form of Birch himself) and the secondary story – several in fact - which made up fodder stories for the more inquisitive. Like they say, there is always another side to a story.  

An artist does just as much as a journalist in recording, interpreting, translating and commenting on events of importance. Like members of the Fourth Estate with their pens (or computers), artists use their brushes and colours to convey to the viewing public the “true’’ story as they see it.  

Part of the Challenger series by Noor Azizan Rahman Paiman.
In the process of conveying these  

stories, they make decisions on what to highlight and what to leave unreported, unrecorded or unsaid. Column inches and availability of air time are two key factors that decide what gets reported and what get slashed from a news item. Artists too, have to decide what can be adequately captured on their canvas and what has to be left out.Hence there is “filtering” that takes place as a matter of course, whether or not the writer or the artist is conscious of doing so. 

In the case of the Filtered exhibition, the coming together of a group of Malaysian artists, both established and emerging, to interpret the work of their “colleagues” in the business of documenting events, and to evaluate the “truth” as presented by them, was intriguing to me. 

Many years ago, my creative writing lecturer advised me (and others in that class) that what is implied can be just as intriguing and mesmerising as what is described outright. What is hinted at can be just as effective. A clever piece of writing, whether fiction or news reporting, may tell a story but at the same time include several other “unwritten” stories.  

Filtered is an affirmation of this advice through and through.  

Artist Noor Azizan Rahman Paiman, in his Challenger series, chose to recap some of the straight reporting of his media colleagues and painted images to accompany the statements made by some of the country’s top newsmakers of recent times as reported by the media.  

Straight reporting of the event by the media? You bet. A simple story in each case they are not! Paiman is stunning in the simplicity of the “truth” he projected on to his canvases. What harm can a simple report in the media cause? Absolutely nothing, possibly.  

However, a long look at Paiman’s seven Challenger paintings may well justify the existence of spin doctors, in the mind of some people at least. These works may seem laconic, but each speaks volume of the events and incidents surrounding it. Each invites question, encourages viewers to probe for more and discover their own “truth”. 

Time and again, this theme of encouraging the search for your own “truth” is emphasised in this exhibition. From J Anu and his focus on the plight of Malaysian Indians, to the cynical observation of Ivan Lam of the opportunists amidst us, to Marvin Chan’s rendering of the many “public faces” that are the source of these “truths’’ reported in the media. 

The simple message is that each may be the truth but it is not necessarily the whole truth. 

A point eloquently supported by Sabri Idrus in his painting Tapis. What has been filtered is not necessarily less important, less of a “truth”. In the act of filtering, truth may be discarded, or lost. It need not be a permanent loss, though. What is rubbish or debris today, may be a goldmine of important stories, important truths in the years to come. The discarded could well emerge the victor one day. 

I have had many friends and acquaintances, both from other countries and also fellow Malaysians, who have lamented the lack of interest and courage amongst Malaysian artists (and journalists) when making social or political commentary. 

I do not think so.  

Malaysian artists, just like their media colleagues, courageously comment on issues and events around them. It’s all there, in the simple truth they choose to paint on to their canvases. Filtered is a testimony of this. 

They have done their duty in bringing the story to us. It is our choice how to respond to it.