The Pirate And The Emperor's Ship 海盗与王船
2009 | 65 mins | English subs | Documentary

Director: Khoo Eng Yow
Host: Lee Eng Kew

Distributed by Da Huang Pictures

Synopsis
The notorious ‘pirate king’ Tan Lian Lay once terrorised the waters of Perak Malaysia and Bagan Siapi-Api in Indonesia. His personal story and the history of his coastal bases are a mix of fact, fiction, legend, myth and religious beliefs.

Director Khoo Eng Yow and field researcher Lee Eng Kew (aka Ah Kew) retrace how a notorious criminal went from being a powerful gang leader to a hunted man, and later became revered as a deity. It is a story that encompasses the WWII Japanese occupation of South East Asia, the British colonial rule, and the power of the assimilation of myth into history, which still affects people today.

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