Creativity under threat

The late Yasmin Ahmad's movies, such as 'Muallaf', waded through the dangerous terrains of racial relations in the country. Photo: Filepic

In one popular recent Indonesian film Tarung Sarung, Deni Ruso (Panji Zoni), a spoilt young man from Jakarta, questions his own faith. When he first meets Pak Khalid (played by the hugely popular silat proponent, Yayan Ruhiyan) in Makassar, he bluntly tells him how he feels about religion.

Pak Khalid does not chastise him, but in fact allows him to stay in his madrasah and teaches him the Bugis art of self-defence known as tarung sarung or sitobo lalang lipa.In one of their conversations about God, Pak Khalid tells him: “God doesn’t need you but you need God. Even if you don’t believe in His existence, He’s still the Almighty.”