Seniman Bujang Lapok is a comedy film directed by P. Ramlee in the
year of 1961. The story is about three friends who named as Ramli, Aziz and
Sudin that are looking for jobs and becoming actors.
The film talks about the post war
effect due to the invasion by Japan. When the three main characters were
chatting at a coffee shop, Sudin was shocked by the burst of a lorry’s tyre. He
thought it was a bomb attack by Japanese and he hides under the table immediately.
His friends then told him that it’s just tyre burst and there was nothing to
worry about. The post war effect has given Sudin social psychological issue that
had scarcely recovered from the shock of the Japanese invasion.
Unemployment of the characters is the
economic issues. The three characters were trying to look for a decent job and
they accidentally get a job as an actor with a try. Since they were jobless at the beginning, they
can hardly pay for a cup of coffee nor took a ride to the film studio. Aziz
even bargain with the rickshaw driver about the fair payment for his uncomfortable
seat. In one scene when Salmah chats with Ramli and ask if he got money to go
to interview and Ramli said no, Salmah even pity on him and gave him a ringgit
for a ride. Same goes to the end of the story where Salmah has to pay for their
weddings because Ramli only got RM12.50 of savings. There is also a scene when
Shariff and his mother went to propose at Salmah’s house, her mother told her
to accept Shariff just because he is rich. The film shows how important it is
to have money in order to survive in the society.
Education is another highlight in the
film. Only Ramli was able to go to school although he doesn’t manage to
graduate. When they went to interview at the film studio, he told the manager that
he only studied until “grade 4 and a quarter” in the English school due to Japan
invasion after the school reopened for three months. The other two friends were
not educated but just took over their own fathers’ jobs. It’s hard for the
people to get a better job if they were not educated and get a certificate.
Language is an issue to the society.
Malay people have a proverb called “Bahasa
menunjukkan bangsa” with the meaning of “language
represents a nation”. As refer to Sudin who didn’t gave a proper respect to
the guard at the film studio. The guard scolded them back by saying that they didn’t
even know how to respect him as a human by just calling him “oi, oi,” while claiming
themselves as the Malays. The scene highlighted that the importance and the
beauty of language of the Malay society. When Ramli tried to pay more respect
to the guard by calling him “Tuan”
which is refers as “Sir”, the guard rejected the title and told him that he is
just a guard and “Tuan” is refers to
a higher level of address. It shows how importance the language can give an
impact to the society with a proper usage.
The religious issues are mentioned in
the film. As for Muslims, marrying 4 wives are allowed. There is a scene where
Ramli’s neighbour was caught by his wife that he is dancing with another woman.
The neighbour told his wife innocently that the woman wasn’t his mistress but
his second wife so she isn’t an outsider. The man was scolded by his first wife
because he tried to persuade her about their beliefs in Islam when he wanted to
marry another woman but not following the rules in Islam appropriately like
praying and fasting. In another scene when Shariff went to
propose, Salmah’s mother only shaken his mother’s hands as the religion teach
them women are not supposed to touch another man except their family members.
Around the end of the film, Sharrif was shocked to hear police when he was
gambling with friends. That scene delivered the message that gambling is
forbidden for the Muslims.
The Malay society promoted that
neighbours should be nice to each other, considerate and caring like brothers and
sisters. The scene when Aziz and Sudin were trying to memorize dialogues for
their movie, they had quarrels with the neighbour because the neighbour was
playing the music too loud. Other issues came later where a neighbour was
fixing his motorcycle’s exhaust pipe and after that the Indian neighbour had an
argument in the midnight and caused troubles to the neighbourhood. The scenes
were tried to show that everyone should give respects to their neighbours as they
are all staying together in the village, just like a big family.
In conclusion, Seniman Bujang Lapok is a joyful movie to be watched with everyone.
It is even better when you can understand the Malays’ language because the
dialogues would bring so much joy to the audiences. The performances by the
actors are so lively and funny that can bring great entertainment to everyone
that watches the film. The issues mentioned above are also some precious
lessons to be learned about the Malay society. Seniman Bujang Lapok is a classical movie that is well made and worth
to watch.
References
P.Ramlee (Director). 1961. Seniman Bujang Lapok [Motion picture]. Malay film Productions Ltd.
William Van der Heide 2002. Malaysian Cinema, Asian Film: Border Crossings and National Cultures.
Syed Muhd Khairudin
Aljunied. 2005. Films as Social History —
P. Ramlee’s “Seniman Bujang Lapok” and Malays in Singapore (1950s–60s).
Syed Hussein Alatas. 1972.
Modernization and Social Change: Studies
in Modernization, Religion, Social Change and
Development in South-East Asia.
Tania Li. 1989.Malays in Singapore: Culture, Economy, and
Ideology.
