If you’re a writer, write. You just keep writing. And if you’re a filmmaker, you keep doing what you can to keep telling your stories; you don’t stay on the one. Keep moving forward and doing what you can to tell whatever story you can tell, be it via writing, be it via filming it.
– Dana Brunetti, American media executive, film producer, entrepreneur
In September 2016, I was thrilled to learn that American film producer Rob Allyn plans to make a feature film on the life of Sir James Brooke. A Hollywood blockbuster on the scale of Gandhi (1982) and The Last Emperor (1987) would have a huge impact on millions of people around the world.
It would be intriguing for foreigners to learn that Sarawak was probably the only place on earth where the local population accepted a white man as ruler or rajah for several generations.
Sir James Brooke was the first “White Rajah” from 1841. He was followed by five others in the Brooke family and the dynasty ended only after the Second World War in 1946.
I was a tour guide in the early 1970s and most of my tourists were from the United States and Australia. I recommended them to read “Queen of the Headhunters”, which was first published in 1970.
The author was the last Ranee of Sarawak, Sylvia Brooke, who wrote it when she was in her eighties. She passed away in 1971 at Barbados, an island about the size of Langkawi.
In those days, many English-speaking travellers have read books written by W. Somerset Maugham who visited Singapore three times from 1921 to 1925 and he wrote about the people there.
But not many people nowadays would bother to read books written by great writers and the most effective way to reach out to the masses would be through cinematography.
The story of White Rajah, touching on the untold saga of James Brooke falling in love with the beauty, wildlife, people and cultures of Sarawak, would draw millions of visitors looking for romance in a tropical paradise on earth.
James was born in Bengal and ran away from school when he was 12. He later joined the army and was badly injured and left for dead on the battlefield in Burma. He survived and was never successful at anything, but his destiny had been written in the stars.
In 1839, he sailed to Borneo and helped the Sultan of Brunei put down a pirate rebellion and insurgency among the indigenous people. In 1841, he was bequeathed the province of Sarawak Asal as his own private kingdom and the rest is history.
In 2010, Allyn came across a coffee table book called “The White Rajahs of Sarawak” in a Singaporean bookstore and was fascinated with its beautiful illustrations of Sarawak tribes and exotic locations, and stories of incredible romantic adventures. He quickly made a check with IMDB (Internet Movie Database) to make sure no movie has been made on Brooke.
Allyn initially planned to film the White Rajah in Indonesia where he has made several movies before and using Singapore or London’s Pinewood Studios. This changed after he accepted the invitation from Jason Brooke, the current heir of the Brooke family, to visit Sarawak and found the state has all the perfect settings and facilities to make a great movie.
During a signing ceremony three years ago, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said: “White Rajah is an initiative by the state government to promote Sarawak as a natural studio and a result of negotiations between the Brooke Heritage Trust, the film producers and the state government through the Sarawak Tourism Board.”
Shooting of White Rajah has been scheduled from September 24 until end October.
After that, all filming locations must be conserved and provided with facilities for tourists to experience the scenes in the movie. Visitors will be ecstatic if they can rent movie costumes for cosplay or watch a short film on the making of the movie.
Meanwhile, there can be reruns for “The Sleeping Dictionary”, a 2003 American romantic drama written by British film director Guy Jenkin and starring Englishman Hugh Dancy and American Jessica Alba, who played a convincing role as a half-English and half-Iban girl.
The movie was shot mostly around Batang Ai and the film crew stayed at the Hilton Batang Ai Longhouse Resort. With ideal breeding conditions, Batang Ai will soon become globally famous for tilapia, as the quality of the fish found in this lake is unsurpassed anywhere.
For investors who have held back before, it is time to step up investment in tourism infrastructure in Sarawak to cater to the influx of visitors.
The state is now poised to reap a golden harvest from all the good that has been happening in Sarawak.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
