Lessons from Bujang Lapok

I just caught "Bujang Lapok" recently(yes.. again for the umpteenth time!) and still had a good laugh watching it. There's something magical about the late P.Ramlee's movies as it caters for both young and old. Ask any malays around and they will have their own favourite P.Ramlee movie. For some of his movies, we can never go bored even though we've watched them countless number of times.

When I was little, I laughed at the antics of "Ramlee", "Ajis" and "Sudin". As I grew older, I understood the movie better and realised that the jokes are intelligent and also sarcastic(loyar buruk?) which only made the movie even funnier than before. I also realised that the movie also educates people about life.

For example in "Bujang Lapok", aside from the comedy, on a more serious note, there are a number of scenes that we can learn from. Right from the beginning, it tells about the problem of gambling(horseracing). How the manager was so into gambling that it affects him even during work. He was upbeat before but becomes depressed after learning about his loss. Then there's the part where it potrays the life of the poor, that some had to resort to selling themselves and cheating others, just to survive. Therefore, it's imperative that the government ensures that the poor in the country is not neglected but acknowledged and assisted to help get them out of thier plight.

Then there's the part about the division between the rich and the poor. How being rich can make someone proud and arrogant looking down on others of different standing..in this case, makcik(mak Zaiton) and thier riches in terms of gold/precious diamond rings. Then there's a part about how being an alchoholic can get someone in debt that they would resort to anything to pay off thier debt just to satisfy thier addiction! It also shows how alchoholism affects a person and the people around them.

There's also a part about the cons of "hantaran" in marraige which is not part of Islam as we all know but most still practice it..??!! "Ini sumer, MAK BAPAK kao punya pasal!!" Remember that part? Before that, Ajis was sharing his views on hantaran after he learnt that Sudin's mother had agreed on a high hantaran for Zaiton. He said the hantaran is a waste of money..he cannot fathom why there's a need for high hantaran as it only leads people to debt and becomes a burden to the person in debt and may be detrimental to the marraige also in the long run.

Zaman P.Ramlee sendiri dah dicoba diperbaiki!? Its 2006 now..we are supposedly modern people but sadly, we still practice this tradition which doesn't benefit us in any way but instead, sours and may even destroy people's lives and relationships.

Anyway..yeaa.. all this from one movie. Isn't that wonderful? However, while there are many good points about the movie, we should still remind ourselves that the movie is weak in Islamic values. So let's take pointers from what is good that matches Islamic values and leave what is bad.