Thread by @AhmadIzhamOmar

I’m slumped on the floor, unable to take my eyes away from this poster.

Pulang is about a man who left his poor village life to work on merchant ships, traveling the world. His wife waits for his promised return. For 61 years.

Pulang is about my grandfather.

#PulangTheMovie

https://twitter.com/primeworksfilm/status/1006869615681495041

This is how this whole journey began. And how it is culminating in this amazing movie about to be released.

It all started with a with a story my dad told me...

Around 1946, my grandfather Othman from Serkam, Melaka, brought his wife and son (my father) to Singapore.
There he said he was going to work on a ship leaving that night.

He promised to return.

But he never did.

My father grew up without a father. But when he attended STAR boarding school he began receiving postcards from around the world. NYC, Sri Lanka, Japan, Hong Kong etc. And they all came from his father. He never could reply. No forwarding address.

In 1966 he got a scholarship to go to London. By that time he knew my grandfather was in Liverpool.

So in June 1966, a week after arriving in London, my father went to Liverpool and found his father after an absence of nearly 20’years.

They hugged.

My dad asked his father why he never returned. His answer: I don’t want to trouble anyone.

Like whut??? But my dad didn’t want to argue in that first meeting. So he didn’t pursue.

But when my father said “Mak masih tunggu Abah”, my grandad was visibly shocked.

I forgot. My father went with another friend to Liverpool Malay Sailors’ Club to find his father. The two of them walked right up and stood in front of my grandfather.

My grandfather looked up and straightaway knew. “Anak aku!”

And after nearly 20 years, they hugged.

I’m sorry I took some time to continue. Writing this was hard for me.

Anyway, after they met in 1966, something tragic happened.

And all these years, nobody really talked about it.

Then in 2008, I decided to find out the truth.

I went to Liverpool.

Even though I am a Liverpool fan and a self-professed Beatlelogist, in Liverpool my mind was only about finding out the truth.

And in my search I found incredible stories of Malay sailors especially in the writings of Zaharah Othman.

They were something else I tell you.

Malay sailors were on a lot of international ships. They travelled the world. They were favored seamen, good at their work.

Zaharah tells the story of one ‘Pakcik Hamid Carpenter’ whose ship was struck by a German U-Boat. As he was in hanging on to a plank in the sea...

...he was rescued by another ship. Who pulled him up? Another sailor from Melaka. These guys were everywhere!

One became a mayor. One became an actor. One bicycled to the UK.

As I searched some more I came across this amazing paper written by a Dr. Tim Bunnell...

It was called Post-Maritime Transnationalization: Malay seafarers in Liverpool.

Are. You. Kidding. Me.

I ignored the fact that I was on the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour bus and Paul’s house was right in front of me.

I emailed Dr. Bunnell. And I found the truth.

Now I can’t tell you what happened. And what I found. You have to watch the movie haha.

But after the whole adventure, I reflected on what a great story this is. Multi-generation. The mystery. The wait. The anguish. The love story between my grandparents.

I started writing.

After a few drafts I realised I was too close to the story. We brought in Mira Mustaffa. She turned my script into a masterpiece (at least to me lor).

Then we got in Kabir Bhatia. Who in turn turned those words on paper into a piece of art.

We had a great ensemble of actors.

Basecamp CGI, Tommy Mansur production design, Aubrey Suwito music, Imaginex audio. The Melaka connection was unplanned. Remy Ishak’s granduncle was also a sailor in Liverpool. Puteri Aishah is related to us we just found out. Aubrey is from Melaka. Lily Haslina the novelist too.

So yeah. You can say this has been a labour of love.

Thanks for listening. Hope you’ll go see the movie.

Layarlah Kembali by Dayang Nurfaizah. The theme song. Written by Aubrey Suwito/Ad Samad.

The theme of Pulang is this -

No matter what adventures life take you on, it all means nothing if you don’t have family to come home to.

The following are the three teasers for Pulang that have been released. Trailer out soon.

And here’s the novel adaptation. Available at all bookstores, karyaseni app and karyaseni.my and Lazada.

Here’s the lyric video to Layarlah Kembali by Dayang Nurfaizah. Written by Aubrey Suwito and Ad Samad. Theme song for Pulang

My latest article in NST. Enjoy. nst.com.my/opinion/column…

open.spotify.com/album/0VXtooyi…
The music score to #PulangTheMovie by @AubreySuwito . I put the entire soundtrack on as I was about to sleep the other night. Couldn’t sleep! Too moving. Too many memories. Well done Aubrey!

The official music video!

We are grateful. Alhamdulillah.

I love this Pulang trailer.