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Baling in a Time of BERSIH: Embodying Historical Transcripts as Enactments of Resistance

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Performing Southeast Asia

Part of the book series: Contemporary Performance InterActions ((CPI))

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Abstract

In Baling, director Mark Teh uses published transcripts from the historical Baling Talks of 1955 to create a documentary performance that questions hegemonic narratives and provides pluralist perspectives on a significant moment in history. This chapter examines how the work juxtaposes the utterances of historical leaders with personal expressions of contemporary performers, to imbricate multiple fragments of truth and reconfigure their meaning as interconnected. By drawing attention to critical gaps and silences, Baling contributes to a deepening political agency and calls for a just democracy, synergised by the BERSIH (Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections) movement for reform in a context of political uncertainty. It offers a space to think and feel differently, and thereby review and reconnect with the fractures and frustrations of citizenship and country.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The first iteration of Baling in 2015 had an ensemble of four performers, who also devised the text with the director. But in 2018 one performer was unable to continue, and, thus, the performance now consists of three performers and the text has been adjusted accordingly. This is discussed later in the chapter.

  2. 2.

    Mark Teh, email message to author, March 21, 2018.

  3. 3.

    The Baling Tour has included performances in festivals and arts events in Gwangju (South Korea, 2015), Kerala (India, 2016), Kyoto, Yokohama (Japan, 2016), Sharjah (United Arab Emirates, 2016), Braunschweig (Germany, 2016), Athens (Greece, 2018), Jakarta (Indonesia 2018) and Adelaide (Australia 2018).

  4. 4.

    Nick Choo, ‘Rewriting the Emergency,’ The Nut Graph, October 16, 2008, accessed October 12, 2018, http://www.thenutgraph.com/rewriting-the-emergency/.

  5. 5.

    This chapter is written based on a video recording of the performance of Baling in Yokohama (2016) with an ensemble of four performers; the performance in Jakarta (2018) with three performers, at which I was present, as well as unpublished scripts used in both versions.

  6. 6.

    Jacques Rancière, Dissensus: On Politics and Aesthetics, ed. and trans. Steven Corcoran (London and New York: Bloomsbury, 2015), 46.

  7. 7.

    Jacques Rancière, The Emancipated Spectator, trans. Gregory Elliot (London and New York: Verso, 2009), 13.

  8. 8.

    The terms ‘hero’ and ‘villain’ have been used to discuss Chin Peng, alluding to the contradictions he embodies. See The Editor, ‘Forum addresses if Chin Peng was hero or villain,’ The EDGE, October 9, 2013, accessed November 14, 2018, http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/forum-addresses-if-chin-peng-was-hero-or-villain.

  9. 9.

    Jacques Rancière, Aesthetics and Its Discontents, trans. Steven Corcoran (Cambridge and Malden: Polity Press, 2009), 25.

  10. 10.

    ‘Censorship Board: Ban on Amir Muhammad’s Lelaki Komunis Terakhir still on,’ The Star Online, October 6, 2018, accessed November 3, 2018. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/10/06/censorship-board-ban-on-amir-muhammads-lelaki-komunis-terakhir-still-on/.

  11. 11.

    Communism is a political ideology that is still unwelcome, if not outlawed, in parts of Southeast Asia such as Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Despite its role in activating nationalist struggles during the colonial period particularly post-World War II, it was perceived as a major national threat in the early days of independence, which intensified during the Cold War when the United States of America made concerted efforts to contain communism, in the 1960s and 1970s. In Malaysia and Singapore, several people were detained without trial for alleged communist activities.

  12. 12.

    Mark Teh, ‘Dispersing the Documents & Reading the Ashes: notes on Baling ,’ Programme Booklet for Baling performance in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2016. Produced by Five Arts Centre, Malaysia.

  13. 13.

    From 1957 till 1963, what is now known as Malaysia was called Malaya. Prior to independence from colonial rule in 1957, this was known as British Malaya, and then the Federation of Malaya. Malaya consisted of the peninsula at the southeastern tip of the Asian continent, and later united with the island of Singapore, and two states in North Borneo, Sabah and Sarawak, to form Malaysia. In 1965, Singapore became an independent nation.

  14. 14.

    Tunku is a royal title and not a given name. Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of Malaya, was a member of the royal family of Kedah, and most often referred to as ‘the Tunku.’

  15. 15.

    Rancière, Emancipated Spectator, 13.

  16. 16.

    Andy Lavender, ‘Viewing and Acting (and Points in Between): The Trouble with Spectating after Rancière,’ Contemporary Theatre Review 22, no. 3 (2012): 311.

  17. 17.

    Unpublished Baling Script (2016), 12–14.

  18. 18.

    See Francis Loh and Anil Netto, eds., Regime Change in Malaysia: GE14 and the End of UMNO-BN’s 60-Year Rule (Puchong: Strategic Information and Research Development Centre (SIRD) and Aliran Kesedaran Negara (Aliran), 2018).

  19. 19.

    Baling, 7.

  20. 20.

    Baling, 6.

  21. 21.

    Rancière, Dissensus, 46.

  22. 22.

    Rustom Bharucha, Terror and Performance (London and New York: Routledge, 2014), 10.

  23. 23.

    Bharucha, 17.

  24. 24.

    Bharucha, 10.

  25. 25.

    Bharucha, 22.

  26. 26.

    Khoo Gaik Cheng, ‘Bersih dan Ubah: citizenship rights, intergenerational togetherness, and multicultural unity in Malaysia,’ in Worlding Multiculturalisms: The politics of inter-Asian dwelling, ed. Daniel P.S. Goh (Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2015), 111.

  27. 27.

    Khoo, 113.

  28. 28.

    Khoo, 119–120.

  29. 29.

    This term translates as both citizen-hood and democracy.

  30. 30.

    Khoo, 120.

  31. 31.

    See Randeep Ramesh, ‘1MDB: The inside story of the world’s biggest financial scandal,’ The Guardian, July 28, 2016, accessed November 10, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/28/1mdb-inside-story-worlds-biggest-financial-scandal-malaysia.

  32. 32.

    This term ‘tsunami rakyat’ (citizen tsunami) was used in the campaign trail of the PH to motivate strong voter turnout and symbolise the potential of citizens uniting to create change. It also references an earlier term tsunami Cina (Chinese tsunami) that Najib used in 2008 to blame ethnic Chinese voters for BN losses in the general elections, repeating a racialised politics that was resisted by the PH in 2018. See Serina Rahman, ‘Commentary: Malaysia reborn? Does GE14 spell an end to racial politics?,’ Channel NewsAsia, May 10, 2018, accessed December 5, 2018, https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/malaysia-general-election-race-card-costs-of-living-concerns-10220262.

  33. 33.

    Teh , cited in Dinesh Kumar Maganathan, ‘More than a meeting: The 1955 Baling Talks gets the documentary treatment on stage,’ The Star, March 30, 2016, accessed November 3, 2018, https://www.pressreader.com/malaysia/the-star-malaysia-star2/20160330/281724088685946.

  34. 34.

    Teh, cited in Kyoko Iwaki, ‘Five Arts Centre: Emergence of a new generation of artists,’ Performing Arts Network Japan: The Japan Foundation, December 21, 2016, accessed November 5, 2018, http://www.performingarts.jp/E/pre_interview/1612/1.html.

  35. 35.

    Mark Teh, ‘Dispersing the Documents & Reading the Ashes: notes on Baling,’ in Baling programme booklet (Kuala Lumpur: Five Arts Centre, 2016).

  36. 36.

    Teh, in Iwaki, ‘Five Arts Centre,’ 8.

  37. 37.

    Teh, ‘Dispersing.’

  38. 38.

    Teh, in Iwaki, ‘Five Arts Centre,’ 9.

  39. 39.

    Teh, in Maganathan, ‘More than a meeting.’

  40. 40.

    Carmen Nge, ‘The Final Return of the Last Communist,’ Critics Republic, May 18, 2016, accessed November 2, 2018, https://www.criticsrepublic.com/2016/05/18/the-final-return-of-the-last-communist/.

  41. 41.

    Although there are four historical figures who feature in the transcripts, Sir Cheng Lock Tan made very few statements. Thus, his voice does not feature in Baling and the performers take turns to play the Tunku, David Marshall and Chin Peng.

  42. 42.

    The Baling Talks is available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP9VV2_Gxgo&t=2s, accessed October 13, 2018.

  43. 43.

    Rancière, Dissensus, 46.

  44. 44.

    Baling, 17.

  45. 45.

    Fahmi Fadzil is now a Member of Parliament and active politician, and no longer performs in Baling . In the performance adapted for three performers, Faiq relates the story of his own journey to a cemetery in Sitiawan, where Chin Peng’s parents are buried, and where Chin Peng hoped to be buried. Faiq also speaks of a friend who attended the funeral and gave him the funeral booklet.

  46. 46.

    Ibid.

  47. 47.

    ‘Malaysian activists arrested before banned political rally,’ The Guardian, June 27, 2011, accessed November 2, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/27/malaysia-activists-arrested-political-rally.

  48. 48.

    Choo, ‘Rewriting.’

  49. 49.

    Alison Forsyth and Chris Megson, ‘Introduction,’ in Get Real: Documentary Theatre Past and Present, ed. Alison Forsyth and Chris Megson (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), 2.

  50. 50.

    Carol Martin, Theatre of the Real (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), 2–12.

  51. 51.

    Janelle Reinelt, ‘The Promise of Documentary,’ in Get Real: Documentary Theatre Past and Present, ed. Alison Forsyth and Chris Megson (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), 7–11.

  52. 52.

    Andy Lavender, Performance in the Twenty-First Century: Theatres of Engagement (London and New York: Routledge, 2016), 26.

  53. 53.

    Mark Teh, Email correspondence with Charlene Rajendran, March 21, 2018.

  54. 54.

    ‘Turning History into a Performance,’ The Malaysian Reserve, April 3, 2017, accessed October 2, 2018, https://themalaysianreserve.com/2017/04/03/turning-history-into-a-performance/.

  55. 55.

    Nge, ‘The Final Return.’

  56. 56.

    Nge, ‘The Final Return.’

  57. 57.

    Nge, ‘The Final Return.’

  58. 58.

    Iwaki, ‘Five Arts Centre,’ 2.

  59. 59.

    Iwaki, ‘Five Arts Centre,’ 2.

  60. 60.

    Five Arts Centre is a collective of Malaysian artists and producers founded in 1984, of which Teh is a member. See http://www.fiveartscentre.org/, accessed December 8, 2018.

  61. 61.

    Mark Teh, ‘Zooming in and Zooming Out with Krishen Jit,’ in Excavations, Interrogations, Krishen Jit & Contemporary Malaysian Theatre, eds. Charlene Rajendran, Ken Takiguchi, Carmen Nge (Kuala Lumpur: Five Arts Centre and Epigram Books, 2018), 143.

  62. 62.

    Teh, ‘Zooming in and Zooming out with Krishen Jit,’ 143.

  63. 63.

    Nge, ‘The Final Return.’

  64. 64.

    Carmen Nge, ‘Baling Membaling 1955: Chin Peng meets Tunku,’ Small Acts, February 7, 2006, accessed December 3, 2018, http://smallacts.blogspot.com/2006/02/baling-membaling-1955-chin-peng-meets.html.

  65. 65.

    For details on BERSIH origins and activities, see BERSIH website: http://www.bersih.org/, accessed December 5, 2018.

  66. 66.

    Choo, ‘Rewriting.’

  67. 67.

    Sadayuki Higuchi, ‘An Artist Collective that Acutely Intervenes in the Contemporary Sociopolitical Reality of Malaysia—Mark Teh and June Tan Interview,’ Features: Asia Center Japan Foundation, 2014, accessed December 5, 2018, https://jfac.jp/en/culture/features/asiahundred05/.

  68. 68.

    See Global BERSIH website: https://www.globalbersih.org/about/, accessed December 4, 2018.

  69. 69.

    See Shannon Teoh, ‘A sea of yellow in Kuala Lumpur as protestors demand Najib’s resignation,’ The Straits Times, August 29, 2015, accessed December 5, 2018, https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/a-sea-of-yellow-in-kuala-lumpur-as-protesters-demand-najibs-resignation.

  70. 70.

    Nicholas Cheng, ‘Bersih organisers thank police for their restraint during rally,’ The Star Online, August 31, 2015, accessed December 4, 2018, https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2015/08/31/bersih-4-thanks-police/.

  71. 71.

    Khoo, ‘Bersih dan Ubah,’ 118–119.

  72. 72.

    Hannah Arendt cited in Khoo, ‘Bersih dan Ubah,’ 111.

  73. 73.

    Teh in Iwaki, ‘Five Arts Centre,’ 7–8

  74. 74.

    Teh in Iwaki, ‘Five Arts Centre,’ 7–8.

  75. 75.

    Baling, 28.

  76. 76.

    Baling, 28.

  77. 77.

    Baling, 28.

  78. 78.

    Baling, 18.

  79. 79.

    Baling, 18.

  80. 80.

    Baling, 18.

  81. 81.

    Teh, ‘Dispersing.’

  82. 82.

    Baling, 28.

  83. 83.

    Zygmunt Bauman, Liquid Modernity (Cambridge and Malden: Polity Press, 2012), vii–xix.

  84. 84.

    Dharm Navaratnam, ‘Day Two of Bersih 4—Oh what a feeling,’ malaysiakini, August 31, 2015, accessed December 7, 2018, https://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/310552.

  85. 85.

    Nge, ‘The Final Return.’

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Charlene Rajendran

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  1. Charlene Rajendran
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Correspondence to Charlene Rajendran .

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  1. National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Marcus Cheng Chye Tan

  2. National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Charlene Rajendran

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Rajendran, C. (2020). Baling in a Time of BERSIH: Embodying Historical Transcripts as Enactments of Resistance. In: Tan, M., Rajendran, C. (eds) Performing Southeast Asia. Contemporary Performance InterActions. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34686-7_4

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