Tuesday Be My Friend

Film Maker
Christopher Chong Chan Fui
Year
2006
Country
Canada/Malaysia
Language
Format
Digital
Length
8
Genre
narrative
Category
Asian, body, Childhood, Politics + Policy, Race + Ethnicity, Sound Art + Music, Work about Women, Youth

Sweet SHIUAN, a non-Muslim Malaysian, secretly loves her tudungs (Muslim headscarves), but none of her friends and family know. She is looking for friends who understand and on this particular Tuesday, she finds them. ‘TUESDAY BE MY FRIEND’ tells the story of one Malaysian girl that decides to take her fate into her own hands just so she can be happy. Mandarin with English subtitles. “TUESDAY BE MY FRIEND” is set in modern-day Malaysia, a country with Islam as its official religion, and Bahasa Melayu (Malay language) as its national language. The tudung (hijab) is a Muslim headscarf normally worn only by Muslim women, who are predominantly Malay. According to the most Malaysian’s ‘interpretation’ of the Quran, Muslim women must wear the tudung. According to the Malaysian government, all Malays must be Muslim. The Chinese community rarely shows interest in the Malay community unless business is involved, and much antagonism and tension exists between the two races despite Malaysia’s tagline as a pluralistic society. Unless a Chinese woman is married to a Malay man and converted to Islam, Chinese women are never seen wearing a tudung. The tudung is a religious item used by Malay women for the purposes of covering their heads; a fabric of modesty.

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