Nasi Lemak 2.0

I have a confession to make: I never approached Nasi Lemak 2.0 with a warm greeting. Chinese films, regardless of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong or Singapore production, as much as I hate to say it, always failed to impress me. Films like Kungfu Mahjongs and The Banquet aren't my cup of tea. Money No Enough is great, but it fails to lighten me up either. Hence, Chinese films aren't on the top of my lists.

After hearing the overwhelming positive reception about Nasi Lemak 2.0, I pled my mother to watch the movie with me, and so she agreed.

Well the movie starts with a boy seeing a woman being badgered for money by 4 samsengs, and the boy, on his own volition, acts on a whim to throw an aluminium can to them, causing them to divert their attention to the boy. It definitely saves that poor lady, but the boy becomes the pray then.

This is an important part of the story because it tells you how he becomes successful. Upon running he is saved by a cook (walau eh song ar song ar!!!) and the cook inspires him to become successful by motivating him. He then looks upon him as a hero, and motivates himself to be a rewarding cook.

But then he stumbles upon difficulties after he graduated from "Institute of Cook" in China. His restaurant is poorly received. 

On another case, a restaurant (whose name escapes me) is hiring a new CEO and there was a feud going on. A decision is made and the new CEO will be elected based on the results of a cooking competition. And yes, Namewee's one of the competitor.

Hence, Namewee begins his trip to learn to cook an awesome dish of nasi lemak. He has to go to 3 places to master the recipe. He needs to learn to prepare the sambal from a Baba and a Nyonya, then he has to proceed to learn to cook curry from an Indian, and lastly he has to search a Malay to master the final recipe.

The film is itself entertaining. I've been watching movies for years and no movies, including Pirates of the Caribbean, successfully make me laugh till my tears pour out. There are many elements in the movies that you can only understand it if you understand Chinese, for example, the name of Namewee's rival - Lan Qiao (in Hokkien it sounds almost identical as lan jiao) and the name of the three judges.

There are things too you can only understand if you're living in a multicultural society and that you're exposed to different races and cultures. For example, the Indian song and the language. 

While Namewee did make a song that spawn fury, this film shows an entirely different story. This unaccounted for movie depicts the true 1 Malaysia, where all Malaysians, regardless of races, live in harmony and help each other to bring about a satisfying result. The Baba and Nyonya definitely tell the story of their culture, the Indian and Malays show how three races in Malaysia live in peace and harmony. They joke around, have fun, help each other, and more importantly, show no disgust towards each other.

But there are few things that he has made fun about, but there's no need to make a big deal about it. He makes fun about Cheng Ho and others, but since it's a fiction, none of us should really make a big deal about it. We don't need to make a fuss about something so trivial it doesn't even deserve to be given attentions on.

Anyway, my ratings for the movie is 10/10. The best movie for the year: definitely recommended.

Just for further information: you cannot see any racial issues in this movies. Even Malays who have watched the movie eulogised it and welcomed it. Forget Namewee's past, accept his present and future. He is certainly a talented director and one day, I believe he can unite the country through his future productions, if there's any.