Beheaded on the Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Part I

Robert Raymer and actors,  Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed 

  

Last year I was in a French documentary discussing Somerset Maugham in Sarawak, but this year I found myself getting beheaded in the Malaysian documentary Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Re­claimed.  The documentary, a Rack Focus Films production, is the Third Season in the highly suc­cess­­ful Road to Nationhood series, and originally scheduled to be aired 16 September 2018—on Malay­sia National Day—on the National Geographic channel, Astro.  Because of some unexpected delays, it would more likely be aired sometime in October.

Malaysia was formed when Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and the Sarawak Crown Colonies joined the Federation of Malaya on 16 September, 1963; however, two years later,  Singapore separated to become an independent republic.

Thirty years later, I was an extra in several notable Hollywood films, such an Anna and the King, Paradise Road, Beyond Rangoon, and the French film Indo­chine.  It was on the set of Indochine—Oscar winner in 1993 for Best Foreign Lang­uage Film plus an Oscar nomination for Catherine Deneuve for Best Act­ress—where I met Rob Nevis

Christmas Party scene, Indochine 

Catherine Deneuve and Linh Dan Pham, Indochine 

Rob Nevis, center, on the set of Paradise Road

Back then, Rob worked with Film Lo­ca­tion Services, but now he was a pro­ducer with Rack Focus Films.  A few months ago, Rob and I met in Kuching where he told me about the project and asked if I would be interested to take on a role, possibly Charles Brooke, the second of three White Rajahs—who ruled Sara­wak for one hundred years from 1841 to 1946.

Charles Brooke and author

James Brooke

The first White Rajah was an Englishman James Brooke.  After help­ing the Sultanate of Brunei fight piracy and an insurgency among the Dayaks, he was rewarded the city of Kuch­ing.  The third and last White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke, was mostly an absentee ruler.  Following the Japanese Oc­cu­pation, he con­troversially ceded Sarawak to Great Britain at a time when they were shedding their British Empire.

Giovanni and Ivan at center

Giovanni as James Brooke

After finding Ivan, a Hungarian friend who is more muscular and younger, to play Charles Brooke, and Giovanni, an Italian who is taller and younger to play James Brooke, I was asked to portray various colonial officers and officials.  My first role would be Alan Lee, a colonial officer, who unfortun­ate­ly was killed during a battle with Rentap’s Iban warriors.

Alan Lee’s beheading proved to be a turning point in the Rajah Brooke’s deter­mination to cap­ture or kill Rentap (which he never did—his famous translated quote was “still alive, still fighting”) and defeat the Saribas and Skrang Ibans, notorious head­hunt­ers who routinely attacked Bidayuh settlements throughout Sarawak including Quop, where my wife is from—deci­mating the population.

Several days before filming began the cast were called to Kayu Malam Productions, opposite of Crown Square, for wardrobe fitting and briefing by the director, Fendi, and Rob, our executive producer.  This was the first time that the Kuching group would be meet­ing the Kuala Lumpur group (Rack Focus Production) and those they brought in from KL to assist them, like Johnny Goh, Prop Master.

Bani making adjustments

Johnny Goh and Rob Nevis

Bani, Wardrobe

Bani, in charge of Wardrobe, separated us by groups:  Iban warriors, Chinese miners, Istana people, Malay extras, and a handful of Caucasians portraying Colonial Officers, Captains and Fort Guards.  We took photos of one another in various costumes.  The heavy wool coat that I tried on looked good; however, it was a little long in the sleeve and rather im­practical for the tropical Sarawak climate.

Robert and Giovanni

During the briefing we were told that, unlike feature films, the budget for documentaries was minuscule, so compromises had to be made—there wouldn’t be endless takes from all angles.  Also Season Three of the series would be the most difficult to film.  Road to Nation­hood: Journey to Independence  Part I (1945-1957) and Part II (1957-1965) in Season One were largely made from historical archives, but since there were very little archives for early Sarawak, scenes had to be re-enacted, hence the need for actors and extras.  I was told we would not be speaking (only perceived to be speaking or having a dis­cuss­ion) while a narrator pointed out the historical significance of what was being viewed.

Filming was originally scheduled to begin near the end of July but had to be pushed back a month because the produc­tion permits for filming in Sarawak were held up.  The French crew had the same problem.  For this project, it would be a big problem, which meant the time for post-production was being compressed.  The moment all of the footage was shot for a par­ticu­lar scene, it had to be sent, without delay, to post production to work on and be pieced into the docu­men­tary.  Unfortunately, films or documentaries were rarely, if ever, shot se­quentially.

Jimmy, one of the extras, set up a WhatsApp Group so we would all be in the loop, which made it easier for Prisca, Unit Production Manager, to find someone, or for Mark, Transport Manager, to clarify who needed transportation to Sarawak Cultural Village, where most of the shooting would take place.

Jimmy

Prisca and escorts

Al­though shooting began on 28 August 2018, I wasn’t called in until two days later on Thurs­day, 30 August, for my first scene.  Thanks to all of the photos from the shooting posted on the Whats­App Group by Jimmy, Prisca and others, I could keep up with the filming.  Since it was a re­latively small cast, about 30 of us, with everyone play­ing mul­ti­­ple roles, I recognized many of the faces from our pre­­vious meeting.

We were told to be at Kayu Malam Productions by 7 am, so I was up at 5 am to avoid all of the school traffic.  En route to Damai, three otters ran across the road in front of our van, which I took as a good sign.  Not long after we arrived at the Iban Longhouse in the Sarawak Cultural Village, our base of opera­tions, Bani and Sheila from Wardrobe outfitted the Iban Warriors and then the makeup crew and the tattoo specialist led by Dedek, got to work, creating some elaborate Borneo tattoo pat­terns all over their bodies including the exposed parts on their upper thighs and buttocks.  Others tried on wigs.

As we sat there waiting for our turn, extras in their respective native outfits would walk by carrying shields and spears and swords or rifles.  All of the Chinese characters, I noticed from the photos taken on the first two days, had the front half of their heads shaved and a long queue added to their hair, fitting the Manchu style back in the 1840’s.  Some of the Ibans had their hair cut as if someone had used a bowl; more likely they were wearing wigs.

Johnny showed me my head that he made and asked, “Does this look familiar?”

At the briefing we were told to expect a lot of wait­ing, something I had experienced on pre­vious productions.  I had brought a book; however, I mostly talked with others in the cast and the crew, getting to know them.  We were also free to roam around the set and watch other scenes being shot, which I gladly did.

Ivan Evetovics as Charles Brooke

“Can you see the camera?” the director called out to Ivan, who was portraying Charles Brooke, surrounded by extras.  “If you can see the camera, then the camera can see you.”

During the previous meeting, I met the actor who would portray Rentap, the leader of the Skrang Ibans, who was quite large like the real Rentap, but then he was replaced by Ernesto Kalum, a world-renown tattoo specialist with a London law degree, who looked a whole lot more fierce….Later, when I was intro­duced to Ernesto on the set, I was told, “This is the man who is going to behead you.”

Ernesto Kalum as Rentap

I was unaware that my scene was a night shoot, so I could’ve come a lot later.  Several others like me had to wait all day long, not that we minded….Twelve hours would pass before I was finally asked to get into my costume—white shirt, blue trousers, gray cap.  I was asked to bring my own black leather shoes, which I did.  Giovanni forgot, so they had to cut a new pair of shoes in back for his size 13 feet.

Although we were supposed to finish the day at 9:00 pm we didn’t finish shooting un­til 10:30 pm.  While waiting for the other scenes to finish, I posed for a few shots with Rentap and his Iban war party before they had a chance to behead me.

I could see the fort area where I would be killed.

Then I heard Fendi, our director, call out, “Bring the dying man.”

He was referring to me, but it sounded like I had some incurable disease….In position, we watched the Iban war party approach the makeshift fort.  One of the Fort Guards, Alex appeared, but then he went one way while the war party, who had been hiding, went the other.  Be­fore I was called in to be killed, they gave one of the warriors, Watt, a real Iban sword, and they had him swing down hard on what appeared to be a coconut, as if he were chopping off my head.  Once that segment was completed, they switched out the real sword for one made of plastic.

Watt and wife (real)

When it was my turn to come on, I removed my glasses, which made it difficult to see.  Pre­viously, I wore contacts.  The director told me to ditch my hat, so I tossed it aside.  Mean­while someone marked my position in front of the camera with an upturned leaf that I could not see without my glasses.  All the leaves seemed to blend in together, plus it was dark out­side.  An assistant and the cameraman kept telling me to stop “here” at a particular leaf for a close up shot of my being killed.  Without my glasses I couldn’t quite see which parti­cu­lar leaf they were pointing to.  For a close-up shot, an inch here or there made a huge difference.

“What seems to be the problem?” asked the director, and someone explained that I couldn’t see the leaf without my glasses. 

Finally someone set down a white folder just out of camera range and told me to stop just be­fore the folder.  No problem, I could see that.  The director then asked me to breathe heavily as if I feared for my life.  I was to stop at my spot, pivot, look right and then left….We ran through the se­quence several times.  When I turned to look right, and then left, the Iban warrior would come up from behind me and bring down his sword.

Before the actual filming began, I approached Watt and felt the sword to make sure he did in fact switch them, prompting laughs from everyone watching, about twenty-five people includ­ing the extras and technicians.  I de­finitely didn’t want any unto­ward mis­haps involving my head.

The first run through, Watt clipped my ear with his sword and it stung a little.  He duly apo­lo­gized.

Fendi asked me to fall to the ground the moment I got hit, which I did.  I thought I was pretty convincing.  Maybe too convincing because it suddenly hurt around the ribs; I must’ve landed on my elbow while trying to protect my glasses secured in a pouch inside my shirt, not want­ing to crush it.  We did two or three more takes and the last one, Watt got me pretty good on the side of the head.  It sounded really loud.  There was this startled hush when I collapsed as if I real­ly had been killed.  I stayed down a long time for dramatic effect, thinking perhaps Watt was a little too realistic on that last one, hoping there would be no more takes, not sure how many more blows my head could take.

This is not me, but you get the idea.

When the director called, “Cut!” everyone, no doubt, thought I really did get cut by that sword.  They all heard the im­pact on my head and saw me drop dead, again rather convincing if I don’t say so myself.  Watt kept apolo­giz­ing profusely.  He told me he couldn’t stop the mo­men­tum of his swing in time.  Luckily he was not using a real sword or I would not be writing this.

Several people rushed over to make sure I was in fact okay.  I kept assuring them I was fine.

“See, no blood,” I said.

The blood would come next.  Not mine, but the blood mixture meant for my substitute head.   The director took a closer look at that head.  Although the face did look like me, they got the hair wrong.  I tried to point it out earlier to Johnny before they attached the hair, but he as­sured me that the thick black hair didn’t matter because it would soon be covered with blood.  Still, I thought, it looked way too thick—blood or no blood.

The director didn’t like the way-too-thick black hair either and asked if it could be cut from the head.  Then they decided not to use the head in that scene, since it was pretty ob­vi­ous when Watt got me the last time, he had severed my head.  Not wanting to waste the head and the blood that they were applying, someone suggested it could be used for a scene with a crocodile at a nearby swamp.  So they carried away my former head and covered it with more blood and filmed it by the swamp.

In a later scene, Iban warriors were seen carrying away their heads in makeshift rattan holders.

As for me, as I walked off the set, I carried my own head exactly where it belonged—on top of my shoulders.

          —Borneo Expat Writer
                                                                            #  #  #

Beheaded on Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Part II 

         Joseph Conrad and Me 

         Somerset Maugham and Me—Part I-V 

See the trailers:  https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/10/road-to-nationhood-sarawak.html

Road to Nation­hood: Journey to Independence part I(1945-1957)

Road to Nation­hood: Journey to Independence part II (1957-1965)

  

My Interview with Ivy Ngeow is in Blue Lotus 13

My interview with Ivy Ngeow, author of Cry of the Flying Rhino, winner of Proverse Prize and Heart of Glass, has been published in Blue Lotus 13, pages 8-17.

Also appearing in the issue:  

My interview with Preeta Samarasan, author of Evening is the Whole Day, was published in Blue Lotus 12, pages 8-21.

Five part Maugham and Me series

—Borneo Expat Writer

My other interviews with First Novelists

Golda Mowe author of Iban Dream and Iban Journey

Chuah Guat Eng, author of Echoes of Silence and Days of Change. 

Also, Malachi Edwin Vethamani, author of Complicated Lives and Life Happens.

Faulkner-Wisdom Novel Awards—2018 Finalist for Novel: The Lonely Affair (and the Resurrection) of Jonathan Brady

The Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society recently announced the short list finalist; although I missed out, The Lonely Affair (and the Resurrection) of Jonathan Brady was named a finalist and three other novels semi-finalist.  This year they had 438 novels, 98% from the US.

The Lonely Affair (and the Resurrection) of Jonathan Brady had been a finalist in their 2014 and 2012 contest, a Quarter-finalist in 2012 Amazon Breakthrough, and won fourth place in 2008 National Writers Association novel contest), though under a different title.  Over the years, while rewriting the novel, I went back and forth over the title.

Originally it was The Lonely Death of Jonathan Brady.  Although his death was the culmination of the novel, at that point, the novel was more about his “affair”, so I changed the title to The Lonely Affair of Jonathan Brady.  After rewriting the novel, overhauling it completely, I changed the title to The Resurrection of Jonathan Brady.  Although the novel opened with his death, I resurrected his life by examining it, the year-long events that led up to his death, followed by his spiritual “resurrection” after his funeral.  Then I switched the title again and simply called it The Lonely Affair.  Nice and simple I thought, but then I rethought that the following year because the novel was not just about the affair, so I went back and forth between The Lonely Affair of Jonathan Brady and The Resurrection of Jonathan Brady.  Finally I hit on a perfect compro­mise, which fully encapsulates the novel since it’s about both:  The Lonely Affair (and the Resurrection) of Jonathan Brady.

Here is the synopsis:

          During Cabrina Chaval’s debut in The Magic Flute, Jonathan Brady was only sixteen years old, too young to understand the implica­tions of that look — the way she poured out her heart, her soul to him.  Twenty-two years later, she bumps into him and invites him to paint her house.  Yet Jonathan knows her true intentions.  She wants him to rescue her from her failing marriage so they can be together.

          Through a series of coinci­dences, Jonathan is convinced that Cabrina Chaval is not only pursuing him but also deeply in love.  Because of her prominent position in society and the fact that she’s married, Jonathan accepts that their love, for now, must be kept secret.

Recap­turing the innocent love between two sixteen year olds and coming to terms with the loss of a domineering mother, Jonathan Brady’s delusion takes him through five distinct stages of love — Heightened Aware­ness, Playful Pursuit, Courtship and Romance, Jealousy and Sus­picion, Reconci­liation and Acceptance — all unbeknown to Cabrina Chaval.

After some soul-searching about the state of her marriage, Cabrina Chaval resurrects Jonathan Brady’s life and, in the process, elevates his love for her to its penultimate stage — Eternal Love.

              —Borneo Expat Writer

Payah Books by Margaret Lim Will Soon to be Available as eBooks!

Margaret Lim, seated second from right, next to Sharnaz Saberi, host of Kuppa Kopi

Good news for fans of Margaret Lim, the author of Sarawak-set children stories about Payah that I blogged about last year.   Her four Payah books and other stories are being made available as e-Books.  The books will be released on her birthday, 23 June 2018; however, pre-orders are available now. 

The Borneo Post called Payah, “A uniquely Sarawakian children’s book that will fire a child’s imagination. A must read for all!”

Payah

Payah is about a fearless Kayan girl called Payah, who has a soft heart for small helpless crea­tures. Deep in the rainforest of Sarawak, Payah rescues a hornbill and a mouse deer, while still taking care of a baby orangutan.

Four Eyes

Payah makes a surprising discovery, and takes on a responsibility that becomes almost too much for her to bear when she befriends a run-away.

Precious Jade and Turnip Head

Payah celebrates Chinese New Year with her classmate, Precious Jade, and her little brother Turnip Head, who keeps getting himself and Payah’s friend into trouble.

Nonah, or The Ghost of Gunung Mulu

Payah befriends Nonah, after she joins her parents who teach in the rainforest.  They win a trip to Mulu Caves, where they help to unravel a plot to steal rare orchids.

Here is the Amazon link to the currently available books.  Printed versions might be available on Amazon in the future, as well.

The children of Margaret Lim have also prepared a beautiful new website, Sarawak Stories, to honor her and her writing:   There, you can still read the Payah books for free until they have to be removed and replaced with the Amazon link by 23 June 2018.

Other stories by Margaret will remain free on that website.

            —BorneoExpatWriter

Interview with Golda Mowe, author of Iban Dreams and Iban Journey, another Sarawakian writer who has also written a book for children.

My Being Interviewed on Short Stories by Terence Toh

Here is the full interview on crafting, writing and selling short stories that I recently did for Terence Toh for his article “The Long and Short of it” in The Star.  Some of the best stuff was left out since it featured several other writers and readers. 

1. Why do you enjoy writing short stories?

When I first began to write, I would spend 15 minutes every day randomly describing something by carefully observing my surroundings, whether I was at home, eating outside, waiting at a bus stop or inside a bank.  Most of the short stories that I wrote for my Popular Readers Choice Award winning collection Lovers and Strangers Revisited began that way.  I didn’t set out to write a short story, yet by merely observing my surroundings, an idea would take hold and I would stay with it for as long as it took to rough out a first draft.  What an unexpected joy — turning an exer­cise into a short story in a couple of hours.  Now that you have a new story, you got something to work with…which is a whole lot more enjoyable than staring at a blank page.

2.  How is the process of writing and editing a short story different from other forms of writing, eg. novels?

A short story, like a good poem, has a singular effect, a singular voice.  Novels can by rangy and loose.  Short stories are taut, no wasted words are allowed, no digressions.  Being short, about 8-25 pages, it can be roughed out and polished in a matter of days, weeks, whereas a novel takes months, years.  It takes a lot of patience.  Sometimes it feels like you’re digging a ditch, day after day, week after week, month after month, but you just got to keep on digging until you reach the end of that novel, then you got to revise and edit it, draft after draft.  Far too many writers give up after the initial inspiration dries up.  God, this is taking forever!

3. In your opinion, what elements should a great short story have?

A well-crafted short story has it all:  tight writing, great imagery, apt descrip­tions, resonating mood, controlling theme, memorable characters, plus a logical, well-thought out, plausible story even if its fantasy or science fiction.  It has a singular effect driven to an inevitable conclusion even if we never saw it coming, leaving the reader feeling utterly satisfied.

4. What is the greatest challenge of creating a memorable short story?

The biggest challenge is creating an effective story with a unified theme that holds it all together, something that resonates deeply with the reader.  We have to show this (as if we’re watching a play or a movie unfold), not tell, and the reader doesn’t often see this over-arching theme until the final resolution, something else they didn’t see coming, despite it being a logical cul­min­­a­tion based on what came before….Too many begin­ning writers try to trick the reader to show how “clever” they are; but in fact they’ve cheated the reader by creating an im­plausible ending that leaves the reader scratching his head and thinking, “Huh?”  Whereas, a memorable short story is based on logic, even if the ending is unexpected, yet the clues, the inner workings of the story, the cause and effects of the characters’ actions, were all in place.  We’re left thinking, “Wow, great story!”

5. How is the reception like for short stories in Malaysia? (compared to other parts of the world, if you are familiar with them?)

I think it’s wonderful what Amir Muhammad is doing with Fixi Novo, creating outlets for local writers.  It’s one thing to be published online, another to hold a book with your story in it.  On-line publishers, however, often have a greater reach….Markets in Malaysia (and around the world) have always come and gone.  Back in the late 80’s/early 90’s many of my short stories were published in Her World and Female and other local magazines here and in Singapore that published short stories every month; but then they dried up.  Others would appear and disappear.  Recently Esquire Malaysia published fiction, but then stopped.  I used to go to newsstands and scour local magazines to see if any new markets have appeared; now writers can do that by Googling….It was great when Raman Krish­nan came out with his Silverfish anthologies and then began publishing short story collections by Malaysian writers.  MPH has also been very successful.  The markets and publish­ers are there; they may come and go, but the writer has to look for them, just like writers do all over the world.  Malay­sian writers can even submit their stories overseas online.  I’ve had Malaysian-set short stories published in twelve countries. 

            —Borneo Expat Writer

My interviews with other writers on their first novels:

Ivy Ngeow author of Cry of the Flying Rhino, winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize. 

Golda Mowe author of Iban Dream and Iban Journey

Preeta Samarasan, author of Evening is the Whole Day, finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2009. 

Chuah Guat Eng, author of Echoes of Silence and Days of Change. 

Five part Maugham and Me series

Trust the Novel Writing (and rewriting) Process.