Stranded without a car the other day, I had to turn to Grab for a ride home. Mr Chan, my Grab driver was quite a chatty man. All the way from Angkasapuri RTM to PJ, he had lots of stories to share. Discovering we shared a similar background in the entertainment industry, I found his stories rather interesting.

According to Mr Chan, he worked in a production house producing Chinese dramas and advertisements for almost 20 years before leaving reluctantly. You see, as the cost of producing dramas increased compared to the cost of purchasing foreign dramas, many stations began to favour the latter. Viewers’ preference in watching Hong Kong dramas over locally-produced ones, did not quite help either.

“Imagine the TV station giving us only RM15,000 to produce one drama, accompanied by a list of requirements – name of preferred stars among others. And knowing we are under obligation to cast them, these actors begin demanding big money. How to survive?” he asked.

The lukewarm response from audiences and the inability to sustain the rising cost of production, resulted in Mr Chan’s former production company retrenching staff. Before long, he too found himself having to look for other means of survival.

After numerous administration jobs, he found himself jobless once again, and resorted to becoming an insurance agent – which also did not quite work out.

“Did you hear about the uproar in social media regarding FFM’s Best Picture category? All these people sharing, commenting and making all this noise condemning Finas for mistreating non-Bahasa films, are not supporting local films. They just like to criticise. Most likely, they don’t even watch local productions,” Mr Chan said.

You sound very upset, Mr Chan,” I said as I observed his ears turn a bright red.

“Of course I am upset. Our local authorities do not support us and neither do our people. They are only good at making noise.”

I smiled as I concurred with his opinion.

“During the late Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat’s time as the Minister of Information, he may have made many drastic moves such as introducing lots of censorship, but at least he supported local productions. He made sure all advertisements were locally made using local artistes whose features fit the Malaysian identity but look at our advertisements now!”

I instantly remembered watching a facial cream advertisement with Kareena Kapoor and a shampoo advertisement featuring Cristiano Ronaldo. I cannot recall watching any like these back in the 80s.

“How about you, how’s the theatre industry?” Mr Chan asked.

“Not much different than your story. When foreigners come over to stage plays, it’s always easier to get a full house. But when it is a local production, things move real slow – well, except when you have big names in the cast lah. Even in interviews, I have often been asked if I have any well-known names attached to the production. It’s so sad really – homegrown new talents always end up struggling,” I said, my mind thinking about a theatre show I watched recently featuring famous actors and famous directors, fully sponsored by a political party yet tremendously lacking in quality.

“How do we grow if we are not supported, right?” Mr Chan asked.

“Unless we are like Shanjhey Kumar Perumal who is gutsy enough to carve his own way,” I added as I remembered my chat with Shanjhey about his difficult journey in producing Jagat.

“But we don’t have many Shanjheys around. What we do have, are producers who try to make a quick buck producing low quality films about ghosts, rowdies and cheap romance. Combined with a pretty-faced actresses or a celebrity actor, the film is bound to be a box-office hit. How to improve on quality?”

Mr Chan was right. Our industry lacks quality because we are turning down new talent who may turn out to be great assets to our industry. And because we lack quality, our audience refuses to give us the light of day. It’s a vicious cycle. No matter how you look at it, we are doomed.

“Most new talents are not given support if they do not know the right people in the industry. And even old timers like myself cannot survive in an industry that supports foreign commercials and dramas more than ones locally produced. No thanks to our government and their lack of support, people like me with years of experience end-up driving taxis for a living!”

As I reached my destination, I paid Mr Chan what was due. He turned around with a smile and thanked me for our chat. “Even as I drive a Grab car now, I still miss the entertainment business. Talking to people like you who are from the same industry makes me feel so happy.”

I bid Mr Chan goodbye and I began thinking of all the people like him who have to sacrifice their passion, and are now struggling to make a living. And I wonder how many are like Shanjhey who refuse to give up and continue to fight the system. Clearly, our local entertainment industry and our local talents need support.

But will any support be forthcoming? I suppose only time will tell.

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