Who’s that man?
Jul 7th, 2007 by Tian
A week after my post “French dinner for 3â€, the debate is still as intense as ever.
It is a pity that at this stage there are still many comments centered on the authenticity of the photograph. I apologize to you all that I cannot answer all your queries and criticisms.
Nonetheless, I think I might have to get into the unfortunate exercise of having to decipher a bit more.
Many viewers’ eyes overlooked the painting on the wall in the restaurant. It was a coincident I found this background with such setting. To my delight, it fitted very well into what I am trying to express.
The painting is associated with a very “French” style known as Impressionism. The school was a departure from Realism, and it attempts to be more real than what camera can capture. In a nutshell, impressionist representation is the image as seen by the eyes and mind together.
The artwork on the wall known as “Dance at Bougival” was done by the famous painter Renoir. The picture mimics the narrative outside the frame.
The painting shows a young woman joyously dancing with a man. We can see her cheerful face indulging in the music, but who’s the man under the hat?
Life exists because of choice, beautiful phrase, didn’t you think so, Chua? Our life eixst because we choose to, we can live with dignity if we choose to, now life have made you come to a choice, to spread lies or to stop it. It is your life, Chua, so choose it wisely…
From your explanation, it seems that you are still proud of your ‘fake’ work and the response it generated.
Well..i enjoyed your article here, you asked a very critical question , ‘who is the man under the hat?’, surprisingly, Chua, I have the answer and that is ‘Who cares?’
Dude,
Stop intellectualising your stupidity. What you did was very stupid and played right into the hands of people who are in power - but clearly DO NOT have the values to lead this country.
You talk about satire - do you even know what the word means !
Look it up in the dictionary asshole !
Now you try to dig yourself out of a hole in a most pathetic manner by trying analogies between an Impressionist master and your bastardized photoshoped picture. What sort of argument is this !
Najib is am established womanizer - your efforts don’t do anything to out this ass who might one day be PM.
A lot of people out there are disappointed with you . And none of them voted for BN in the last election.
who cares if Najib profited from government contracts? Who care if Khairy profited from his position as the infamous son-in-law of Badawi? Who cares if Taib Mahmud, as Sarawak’s and Malaysia’s and possible the world’s longest serving Chief Minister enrich his families through his official position? Who cares if the three accused in the Mongolian murder trial? Who cares if the IGP is under the payroll of Malaysian Godfather? Who cares if officials abuse their public positions? Who care if Looicy is afraid of the truth? You may not, Looicy, but plenty others DO and they DO proudly, openly, courageously, unashamedly, consistently and unselfishly, whether due to duties or otherwise.
Ypu are still confused.
We admire and appreciate original artistic artwork.
We abhor and condemn distasteful malicious artwork.
Image a picture of your riding on naked Paris Hilton and entilted ” Keadilan Riding High ” , what do you think ?
Do try to justify the injustifiable !
Your action not only ruin Keadilan but help to restore the image of Najib as to date he maintains his silence.
In another way, he does not sink to your level
yeah, nobody cares about anything that they all do. but if it something done against them, then comes ALL the bloody nonsense talk which will never exist for the right reasons. grow up, malaysians.
Anak Sarawak, I do care, and hope that those corrupted people be brought behind bars, but our claims must based on solid evidence. My friend, can you derived truth from some flimsy, doctored photo?
[...] Zunar ini dikhuatiri akan menggalakkan pelajar-pelajar di sekolah terpengaruh lantas meniru idea seni imaginasi dan gaya impressionisme (impressionism) yang berjaya dipopularkan Tian Chua di Parlimen Malaysia baru-baru [...]
looicy, “choose it wisely” but at the end you never make a choice — not making a choice mean your life is never exist before. If there’s lot of people make choise wisely, then not making a choise to riskyourself is the most clever choice.
You never go in the playground to play the real game. You are not making a choice.
TC,
Noting from your postings after “French Dinner for 3″ you now seem to use art to justify or digress (or both) your use of doctored image?
If you stand for election in my constituency, rest assured you will not get my vote as my contempt for you is the same I have for any BN candidates.
Please….be a man by apologising to all in particular the deceased and her family. Stop using art to digress or try to justify your action.
everyone, remember Zunar’s Mahathir with Khinzir cartoon? Zunar also draw a nice cartoon of “French Dinner for 3″.
during my school day, we call it photo collage.
the different: we used pictures (also letter & words) cut from newspaper to be put together, and TC in this one used to cut then put together some digital images
my friend used Mahathir’s (his idol) picture and creatively put a picture of hand-showing-the-index-finger (fuck u! sign) on his collage. my teacher didn’t and never get angry, but she told us what does it means, the art. thank you Cikgu Mar, we enjoy that moment & now i really understand what u means
any other perspectives?
TC, Just shut up and apologise. You’ve crossed the line. The more you write and try to justify that picture, they more of an idiot you’re making yourself out to be. No, I don’t support the BN, and am pinning hopes for a stronger opposition. But this attempt to justify what is obviously an misconduct for a person of political weight just dissapoints and I’d rather throw away my vote.
Imagine trying to teach Impressionism! There would’ve been nothing wrong in the original photograph if you made it obviously fake by applying the Impression filter in Photoshop, or exaggerated the proportions of the subjects. Since the original photo tried hard to look real, and the fact you didn’t state that it is not real is just wrong. If this go to court, you will lose.
We need a credible opposition, not one that people view as a bunch of barking basement-dwellers. Bite the bullet and apologise - its tough, but that’s what responsible people have to do if they’ve done wrong. Otherwise what separates you from the likes of Samy Vellu?
… Might I add also that we don’t need your case being used to justify censorship of the Internet and continual muffling of the press, as reported in the Star:
“[..] Deputy Internal Security Fu Ah Kiow [..] said this was a glaring example of how freedom of the media had been abused. “
You are witnessing how bloging in the Internet is a double edged sword. On the one hand, with the press of the ‘Enter’ key, you can publish things that may save lives and destroy politicians careers.
In this case, you too are a politician and ironically is being destroyed by your own blog. Like they say, ‘a picture says a thousand words’ more than whatever else you care to write in order to spin things round to your favour.
And are you forgetting you are a politician - and a democratic one at that. You are suppose to listen to the people. Have you forgotten that?! What are the people saying?
That’s the power of the Internet - you now have instantaneous access to the feedback from the people. What are they saying? Count the number of negative posts to your blog regarding this. What are they saying?
The real question is, “ARE YOU LISTENING?” or do you need me to translate that to, “Écoutez-vous?” since you seem to be into things French?! Comprenez-vous, mon ami savant?
I think you are known as a democratic politician - not an artist!! Artists can say, “Fuck you all like sunbathing frogs!” - and people may say, “Wow! That’s fucking awesome! You’re a fucking genius!”. Politicians who say that can kiss their careers goodbye. (BTW, you cannot censor this because this is my fucking best artistic prose.)
Like your motto, ‘La vie existe grace aux choix’ - that your non- French speaking audience and supporters don’t understand, you are locked up in that high brow literati world that is out of touch with the laymen of your supporters. You have become disconnect from what being real politics is about.
Sure, there may be ‘art’ or ‘humour’ in that infamous picture, but I don’t get it, and I can say most people didn’t either. Just read the responses.
That infamous picture shows that you may have lost the human side of being a politician. You saw it nothing more than an ammunition to bring down your rival. You couldn’t see the horrible circumstances of the murder. You couldn’t see what was decent. Most people just don’t get black humour.
Most of all, you cannot remember why you became a politician. That is evident in the 3 follow-up posts to try spinning things around to explain what you did, and those posts were even damaging. You tried to teach people how to appreciate your ‘art’ - thereby further elevating yourself from the ordinary folks whom you deem too dense to understand the ‘depth and beauty’ of your so-called art.
I sorry it hurts and you (hopefully) feel besiege on all sides - but please listen to the people. Else, I fear what you will really be when and if you do go into a seat of power.
I am sure you’ve good intentions to be an opposition politician and it is evident in your past posts. It would be a waste that those best qualities of yours go to waste because of this one incident. Go on … justifiably or not in your mind, apologise. It sucks. People make mistakes.
So you want to be a politician or an artist?
TC,
‘Who cares?’- Mean the peole really don love their country
‘Who cares?’-means the people that just passing their life like a robot
‘Who cares?’ -means selfish,person always thinks about himself.
‘Who cares?’-means shortsighted.
So WTF of looicy
T C, Just shut up. Not only, you are such an embarrassment to PKR but also Malaysian Chinese. If you had any character at all, you should resign immediately and offer a true apology, not the lukewarm and self-serving type. Be a man
So many self-righteous people all talking about being politically correct.
Where, just where were these self-righteous people when the resources of the country were being raped and pillaged?
Or were they part of the rape and pillage?
Come on, let us just move on.
The fact is that the montage of the Dinner hit the collective Malaysian psyche like nothing ever did.
The entire world is watching the trial of the Mongolian girl who was allegedly blown to smithereens, and these self-righteous souls are taking umbrage over a montage.
Leadership is not about ability, its about responsibility! You wanna be a leader, then take up the responsibility and apologize. Be a role model if you want to. Short and simple. Like everyone else, I do care… care about the truth! Not some nonsense made up story (or picture).
Mangodurian and durian,
Spot on! I agree with the contents of your post. It seems to me there is no difference between TC and BN. He seems to turn a deaf ear and to makle matter worse, giving those flimsy justification. A piece of Art??? That is an insult in the highest degree!!! A doctored iamge cannot be considered an art by any stretch of imagination! I have yet to seen any artists take a strong objection to that!
Kuntakinte,
It is not about being policitically correct. I am aware that there are other important issues such as “the resources of the country were being raped and pillaged”. But the issue here is a politician who has preached democracy, transparency, integrity seems to be doing the opposite to what he preaches. Exactly like the BN!.
Najib is smart. He refuses to comment. TC refuses to comment save and except alluding it to art and his personal imagination! (If it is indeed his personal imagination, then don’t post it in the blog thereby becoming public!) So there is no difference between BN and TC.
Whenver some ministers screw up they offer excuses and justifications which is an insult to our intellegience! TC is the same. He called it art!!!! Put some french word in the explanation!!! I have never been so disgusted with any opposition member. I have and still hold in high esteem the likes of Lim Guan Eng, Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Teng Chang Khim but as far TC…gosh!
Now, I would never want such person to be in in the seat of power!
Kelvin Ng
Your esteem, for whatever it is worth, has been misplaced in at least a few instances.
Let me suggest that we just leave the chips where they fall.
Once out, the truth will be stranger than fiction.
So you and mangodurian, durian can just reserve your comments for the truth, if it ever sees the light of day. In your Malaysia, will the truth come out?
TC,
You need to conquer fear by voicing out the truth. If you have the photo, show it to the public and let the man behind the murder be prosecuted the crime he intentionally/accidentally commit!
Doctoring image on the other hand is not professional and Malaysian political business as an institution still lacks the world class standard in terms of intellectual and administration.
I have never vote in my life and I will vote any opposition who could offer the most effective and efficient check and balance in our current politico-economical system.
Any majority party who becomes the rulling government for too long is prone to defect, especially in the case distribution of wealth.
For example, just look at our Taxi in major cities in Malaysia. Who owns these licenses? As I am a frequent traveller in this region, I would rate our Taxi service is way behind Thailand and Indonesia (Silverbird). Why they can do better? Because there’s competition and unlike our case, the business is intentionally given to a few who doesn’t care about the basic service standard.
In order to change, we all must stand up and voice it out. Therefore, no matter what others think of you and your party or your coalition with DAP or PAS will not matter as long as the ethics of undertaking the polical business is properly executed.
I also want you to know this, we do not lack of capable and high calibre political leaders in this country but we lack of quality voters to maintain and defend our national interests.
The key issues you need to address is how to maintain Malaysia as a competitive oursourced nation in the global market. In less than 10 years from now, Vietnam and Indonesia will attract more foreign investors as their policy is more welcome than ours in many ways.
If we keep on fighting on the race issue and maintening the NEP policy, I sincerely worry that your children and mine will hit hard in the near future as good job will become scare and business opportunity will remain at the disposal of the rulling party-people.
Hey Kunta,
Let’s see, we want the truth from one who now has problems with integrity. That’s really gonna be credible!
“Once out, the truth will be stranger than fiction.” - Watching too many X-Files?
You know what’s a fanboy? Go look it up. You fit the description.
Because of this sorry episode, BN has the perfect political weapon against a scandal — distract. The more TC drags this on, the more your desired truth will be nicely buried.
Dear Tian Chua,
Don’t be discouraged by those who criticised you. They are probably BN people. Oh, yeah, some may even claim that they are PKR and they are disgusted with your actions. Doesn’t this sound familiar? Those BN fellas was saying this in the press.
Anyways, congrats on your works of art. You are now more popular than the PM
Even BBC has an article on your creative works of art.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6283056.stm
“looicy, “choose it wisely†but at the end you never make a choice — not making a choice mean your life is never exist before.”, I agree, ever see a dead making choices?
‘You never go in the playground to play the real game. You are not making a choice.’ No, dear SK, I used to play ‘police catch thief’ in the playground near my house when i was a kid. Well, i did make my choice at that time, I always prefered to play as a cop.
Low KS wrote’ who cares’ equal to a lot of stuffs. You must be one of TC’s impressionists,eventhough ‘who cares’ only referred to the paintings. Dear Low KS, would you care if I say the man under the hat in the painting is looicy? If you don’t care, you know the meaning…
Durian
BN will use any and every issue to put the Opposition in a bad light.
That has been how consistent BN and its predecessor have been with the Opposition since Merdeka nearly 50 years ago.
If they do not have an issue, they will create one. Remember the time when Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was photographed with a cross on his songkok. The time was exquisite since it left no time for the Opposition to deny, let alone rebut the cross on the songkok.
What I am saying is that Islam has been politicised and instrumentalised to a degree that it was never done before.
If Malaysians continue to vote for the National Front, then they truly deserve the government they get.
Right now, the signs are already there that Malaysia is a failing state. If you do not know what it is, please check this up.
The basic institutions of the state no longer functions in the way the average Malaysian legitimately expects it to.
So quo vadis, Durian? Or do you want to turn into a Langsat …
Kunta,
FYI, I don’t vote for BN. It is all the more reason that the underdogs - the opposition - keep themselves clean and with integrity. But neither would I vote blindly for the opposition just to ‘deny them the 2/3rd majority’.
Behaviours like TC’s just makes me throw away my vote. It was salvageable when the first picture came out. But it is the 3 subsequent posts to try an spin this in TC’s favour that disgusts me. He tried patronisingly to teach art to us, implying we don’t know how to appreciate art.
Casting rival political parties and personalities in bad light is part and parcel of politics. But surely you too agree that there’s such a thing called, ‘bad taste’. Maybe you didn’t find what TC did as bad taste, as you are a fanboy of TC or PKR.
But for me, and thankfully a lot of other less emotionally detached decent ordinary folks - it was done in bad taste.
Which is precisely the problem like I said - this need to defend bad taste is DISTRACTING the real issue, and that my friend is the failing of what TC did.
By the way, I don’t speak Latin … mind translating what you said my literati friend? I sure hell don’t know where PKR or TC is going with this!
Firstly, get the facts right!
In the “french dinner for three”, Najib TR was clearly identified, BUT NOT THE OTHER TWO companions. If the readers have rich imagination and want to reach the conclusion, the two “must be” Altantuya and Razak bagina, whose fault is it? The artist’s? No, he’s just letting ytou — an audience with individual minds — interpre his artwork, The artist cannot be faulted if people like Kelvin and lloicy wished to see the images of Altantuya and Razak Baginda in the “FDFT” picture.
Yes, Kunta Kunte, I agree with you about BN”s worse offences — do readers like Kelvin and looicy take umbrage and outrage when Hishamuddin Hussein and Kahiry Jamaludin as UMNO Yoth leaders graced the PWTC Stage at its party assembly waving the keris? Prancy doing a “martial dance” act? Please-lah, that compared with Tian Chua’s montage … it’s like the Devil doing his dervish and my nephew performing Big Bad Wolf flightening off Li’l Led Liding Hood.
TC,
Betul ke “French dinner for 3†adalah “art”?
Kenapa saya tidak jumpa bila saya cari melalui “Categories” - “Art” atau “Art and Culture” - tiada/tidak jumpa.
Tapi saya jumpa di “Current Issues”!!
Mungkin betul apa yang diperkatakan sebahagian di atas, pada mulanya bukan “Art’ tapi bila dah banyak komen/bantahan, TC kata itu “Art” tapi kategori masih kekal yang lama. Andai saya saja. Mungkin betul, mungkin juga salah.
TK
Hey TC,
You done the right thing. Good show. BBC got a link to your site too.
If Najib is half the man he is, he should have done the right thing. I dunno about all those `negative` posters here, but lots of people out there are having a good laugh at the jib on najib. He tried to stifle it in the BN media, now it bites his rear.
Cheers!.
dear friends that are against tc artwork…..well, its a free country….if you are not happy, or the man under the hat is not happy….sue him.
anwar ibrahim was done worst than that….remember…..and yet no one apologise. he was the dpm at that time and was even fired afterthat.
Durian
With respect, it is partly uncommitted people like you who are ever ready to throw away your ballot who creates the National Front Government until today it has grown into a Frankenstein.
Whatever happens, keep the faith!
Don’t throw away your ballot in a moment and then live a life of regret for the next five years. Moaning, groaning and grumbling will not do.
I talked about a failing state. Look around you and see for yourself. I am not joking. We are at a point where we can hardly reproduce ourselves as a nation-state.
The use and abuse of the Internal Security Act has weakened our nation. We now have Ministers who just go latar - repeating the same words. They cannot even debate properly in Parliament. Why? The best in the Opposition will be incarcerated under the ISA. So does it strengthen or weaken the nation?
The signal abuse of the ISA in 1987 was the limit. Itturned this nation of fearless people - biar puteh tulang jangan puteh mata and petera peteri - into very fearful people.
The services delivery system is going to the dogs. Check all government departments. Maybe, out of 10, two will be delivering. The rest are going through the motions of delivering services!
And you want to throw away your vote because of just a Dinner for 3? That was a question.
Dear All,
Whatever we do in this world, no matter what race, beliefs, colours or sizes… just do THE TRUTH!! First be truthful to yourself, then to your spouse, to your kids, to your friends, to your parents, to your boss, to your neighbours, to your people..etc etc.. Some people are just simple paranoia in their genes that they dont realized it.. some are just simply schizophrenics that are good talker and people didint noticed it.. only on certain issues that THE TRUTH will prevailed…
semuaok, I am proud of TC and I don’t see why he should offer any sort of apology.
semuaok, remember that, you DO NOT represent the Malaysian Chinese.
Those who speak here irrelevant to Chua must be those losers, but im surprised they knew how to keep their statements reserved as to not entirely against Chua. They think they can outsmart readers. KEADILAN!! who doesnt know the truths here, DP Mongolian