Erna Mahyuni
The Malay Mail Online
September 11, 2013

SEPT 11 — You would think I set fire to the flag and declared my allegiance to North Korea, judging from the vitriol I got for my “Tanda Putera” review.

Someone even said that I shouldn’t have been so hard on the film since it was “a local film.”

So if it is a local film, I shouldn’t expect it to have a coherent script?

So if it is a local film, I shouldn’t hope the actors are more than decorative furnishings that speak?

So if it is a local film, I should fully expect it to be bad and be pleasantly surprised if it does not suck

If a film is about any of our historical leaders, painting them in a beatific light then I have to like it before even watching it?

I swear we live in a nation populated by brainwashed sheep. Where when you point out the wolves, the sheep will bite you in retaliation.

My hate for “Tanda Putera” was also, supposedly, a sign of my “not getting laid enough.” It is bad enough that is a hateful, sexist remark but the person who said it was a woman.

I may not agree with what many people say about many things (or even about me) but opinions are what they are, opinions.

But it is not an “opinion” to say that a person’s opinion of something is directly correlated to what goes on in the bedroom.

So are you saying that the decisions of noted celibates like the Pope, the Dalai Lama and other religious figures are motivated by their lacking a sex life?

Dear Malaysians: you can have 20 orgasms a day and still find “Tanda Putera” lacking.

There is nothing wrong with having high standards or at least aspiring to such.

Why must we always set the bar 100 per cent lower whenever we critique Malaysian productions or anything from Malaysia for that matter?

I refuse to like or dislike anything purely on the basis that it is Malaysian. My taste for it will entirely depend on whether I really like it or whether it really is good.

And for the people who are giving me crap for my “Tanda Putera” review?

Here is my opinion: you don’t watch good films enough. And that really has nothing to do with your sex life.