The Big Durian

The Big Durian
1. In the first place, I find the Big Durian to be very interesting, funny and educative among other things. The scene that made an impression on me is the scene where a former employee to successive Sultans made testimonies about the way each Sultan he served behaved. The casual way he spoke and conducted himself during the interview was what fascinated me: he smoked cigarettes while he spoke and his clothes look unfit for a former employee of the royal palace. Furthermore, I find his revelations about some of these Sultans very shocking. For instance, his testimony that most of the ones he served never fasted during the fasting month, rather, they would consume alcoholic drinks, which is not only forbidden in Islam (the religion of all the Sultans) but also during the fasting month. If these revelations are true...Then what a tragedy. I thought the Sultans are the custodians of the holy religion?

2. According to the documentary, the strongest rumor that is out there is the one which says that Private Adam’s reason for running amok is because a Sultan murdered his brother. He made a police report but no action was taken against the Sultan. There was no investigation and he felt that his brother died in vain because the Sultan is a powerful member of the society. Thus his reason and pain for running amok. Although, he was not quite happy with the indecency of Jalan Chow kit, the actual location of the incident. However, in my opinion that alone could not be motive enough!


3. The character from Sabah stays with her uncle. According to her, what she saw on Private Adams face was “freedom”. He was free and calm as if he has been set free from captivity. She wished to be like him. Free!

4. The perspective of the director in viewing the events of 1987 was mostly political in the sense that whatever made him run amok was political. The historical vintage point is the post reformasi period, after a cultural-political shift has begun in Malaysian politics, in the early 2005.