ANNOUNCEMENT
Dear Friends and Visitors,
Today (March 16) is my last day as Production Editor with The Malay Mail. I shall be turning 55 tomorrow and mandatorily retiring from the New Straits Times Sdn Bhd for which I have worked for 31 years.
It is sad for me to leave my friends and colleagues at The Malay Mail whom I regard as a part of my extended family -- and the office as my second home.
My At The Movies Column will be discontinued at the end of next month when the new Malay Mail hit the streets in May. However, I intend to continue to post Movie Reviews on this blog and I would dearly like your views, comments and support.
I will keep you guys posted on what's happening in this blog as I am still not sure what will happen in the next few months. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all my faithful readers who have been following the column and taking part in the Malay Mail Top 10 Movies Poll each year.
Please continue to click on to this blog when you are free. Thank you and cheers!
posted by Lim Chang Moh @ 10:00 pm
3 comments
3 Comments:
Dear Mr. Lim,
I hope you can continue on contract basis. I have been reading your column since 1990. I was then 17, now, 33. I am a movie fan and honestly, no other editors in Malaysia can give a better view/insight/detail for a particular movie except you.
Whatever your decision is, I wish you all the best and happy retirement.
CP, KL
Dear Mr. Lim,
Below is the contents of a letter I have sent to the Malay Mail in support of keeping your column.
21st March 2006
The Editor,
Malay Mail
Re: Discontinuation of Lim Chang Moh’s Column
To The Editor,
I was very saddened in hearing the news that the superb movie review column of Lim Chang Moh was going to be discontinued. Mr. Lim’s review column has long been, in my opinion, one of the most forthright and well-written sections when it comes to discussing those amazing tales from the silver screen.
I am aware that a lot of this has to do with sales and demographics and the Malay Mail’s new endeavour to transform itself into a paper for youth and sport. I however think the Malay Mail would be making a big mistake when it comes to letting this column go.
If anything, I believe Mr. Lim had a lot more to say about the movies then most reviewers. As a young writer/director myself, I have often relied on his reviews and polls to get a sense of what works with a Malaysian audience and what really connects with the regular viewer and not the arty-farty, self-obsessed movie anorak.
Lest we forget, it was Lim Chang Moh who organised the superb youth review column, which was the only avenue for young people to express their views in regards to current cinema.
I guess in the end, what I am trying to say is that in letting this column go, one is letting go of the very thing that makes good movie reviews; pieces that connect with the average guy in the street. Lim Chang Moh knew precisely what Grandma Tan, Pak Cik Yeusuff and your buddy Selva wanted to see, and he knew what movies they would connect emotionally with.
And guess what… in the end that is what young people really want. Movie reviews that are genuine, and not just about the meaning of this close up, and what damned metaphors were inserted into the narrative.
And as a writer/director with a movie coming out in August, I know I feel a great sadness in knowing that Mr. Lim Chang Moh will not be there to review my film.
Keep the column. It is an asset to the great art of movie reviews.
Sincerely,
Arivind Abraham
Thank you, CP and Arivind, for your kind wishes and comments. I have also received a number of similar emails from readers young and old and this makes me feel really humbled.
It is an honour to have faithful readers like you out there and I am grateful for your sopport.
I have been told to restart the Young Reviewers Column for the New Malay Mail - and that should keep me occupied for a while.
And to all of you, I wish you the best in all your undertakings. And to Arivind, break a leg in your premiere of S'kali. Saw the trailer but can't wait to see the whole movie though.
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