Reformasi 1998

The Reformasi is a protest movement throughout Malaysia by young Malaysian (mostly Malay) and initiated by Anwar Ibrahim after he was sacked as Deputy Prime Minister by our forth Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir. A novel titled 'SHIT' by Shahnon Ahmad was released in 1999, which is about the dirty politic in Malaysia regarding to this issue and it was banned by the government.

'SHIT' by Shahnon Ahmad.

Ahmad Fuad Osman, a Malaysian artist from Kedah, has created a series of paintings that reflect the political situation in Malaysia after the Reformasi.

Syhhh..! Dok Diam Diam. Jangan Bantah. Mulut Hang

Hanya Boleh Guna Untuk Cakap Yaaaa Saja, Baghu Hang

Boleh Join Depa.. Senang La Jadi Kaya.

The titles of his artworks are so special that the told the viewers what his paintings are about that usually artists will not do. The titles are in Malay but as you can see it is not in proper Malay, it is more on his hometown dialect, 'Kedahan Malay'. The painting above is telling us to just sit down and stay quite, our mouths are used just to say 'Yes', which reflect to the situation in our country even until today it still exist. We must agree what the ruler says if we do not want any problem. Malaysia have no freedom of speech at all.

Issshhh..Busuknya!!! Hangpa Bawak Masuk (S)Apa Ni?!!

His second painting is telling us the politic in our country is stink, which means the politicians are using dirty tactic to rule the country.

Hoi Hoi...Apa Ni?! Dia Kata Hang Salah, Hang Kata Dia

Yang Tak Betoi..Sapa Yang Salah, Sapa Yang Betoi Ni?!!

Hangpa Ni Sebenaqnya Nak Apaaa???

The third painting is referring to the confusion that made by the politicians. Every issue has 2 sides of stories which confuse the people and we do not know who is right and who is wrong, most importantly, who to support?

Wong Hoy Cheong also created two artworks to respond to this issue. The first one is Tapestry of Justice, which is a collection of thumbprints of people who disagree with the ISA.

'Tapestry of Justice' by Wong Hoy Cheong.

The second artwork is Vitrines of Contemporary Events. He crafted judge's wigs and police batons out of cow dung and displayed in a glass box. This is obviously showing that our legal system is just 'bullsh_t'!

Judge's wigs in 'Vitrines of Contemporary Events'.