the constant gardener

Sunday, August 27, 2006 T: 13 43

I watched movies to pass my free time, very recently, added Syriana and The Constant Gardener to my experience. Both are brilliantly directed, giving a brief sense of social realism in this world. I think it is movies like this that I truly appreciate and remember. Chick flicks after all so forgettable, at the same cost of my meals.

The Constant Gardener is about how a widow continued the work of his deceased wife which is to expose the horror deeds of pharmacy companies to test drugs on the Africans. And when they know that the drug is not perfect i.e. produces side effects, they cover up these isolated cases entirely. The wife, Tessa, a determined activist, died in the process. The husband took over, seemingly succeeded to do do, but joined his wife at the end of the movie.

Syriana, another movie, portrays the power struggle for oil, showing how America do not care the development of infrastructure and governance in the Middle East as long as they got what they wanted – oil. People are willing to kill for it. Terrorism can be born of it, because the foreign investors do not care about the workers and that employment, all motivated to the destination that promises the greatest profits.

Here we are, people of the developed nations, seated comfortably in front of the movie screens, and if we are human, ashamed and anguished at the loss of innocent lives at our gain. We are entertained by it nonetheless, leaving then our seats with that feeling of loss, gripped by the horror that Man could inflict suffering on another on his own kind. A while late, life continues as per normal. We are after all part of the developed world, able to ease our guilt by donating a few coins to the next round of flag day. We thrive on the presence of the poor. Like what an article in the Straits Times have suggested, Singapore need foreign workers to clean up her streets and dispose her rubbish. We need our sources of maids and ‘domestic workers’. If standards of living of these countries were to increase, then where are we going to get them? Further, in face of globalization, economical advantage and power becomes a priority. We want the jobs that pay well. We want people of our own country to get prosperous. One has to wonder how much the developed world actually wants to help the other nations, when thoughts revolve around oil and monetary profits.

All the same, every government is entitled to its own selfishness, and ‘to do what is best for its country.’ International cooperation and aid can become nothing more than a mere gesture, especially if there’s nothing to gain from it. This can be seen from the many unmet pledges of financial aid that has be promised. Who knows how much Aceh will actually get in the end? The Middle East is a treasure mind for the most precious resource of all, while the Africans can become possible guinea pigs for new drugs. After all, they would die of the sickness or starvation anyway, that is if they managed to survive the many internal conflicts, not to mention that prevalence of corruption that will never allow the country to escape from the vicious cycles, if not sinking deeper and deeper into debt. How many really cares?


I don’t deny I may be too bias. I won’t deny that there are people of course who really want to do good, and have done so, and that perhaps refer to the many doctors and nurses to see it as their duty to serve with their abilities. On a more macro skill, I question though the motivation of the developed nations, not excluding mine (though I think it prefers not be a first world nation).



Movies like these, they aim to touch the human compassion of viewers, or whatever that is left of it, cry out to that bit of humanity left in us. It can never promise a happily after all ending, because that is not how the world is. It will never be like the Hong Kong movie – 9 girls and a ghost – which functions only to enhance our fantasy world. No, they wants to provoke, ignite our sympathy and condolences for our own kind. But beyond this, will such feelings be transformed into actions, or just stay in our minds for an hour or two, dissolving gradually as one of the least important concerns, cast aside until the next such genre of movie arrives…