Good morning.
Sometimes the things that are supposed to help us, or give us joy, turn deadly. The series Undercover Asia delves into two such cautionary tales.
When 300 children died in 2022 and 2023 after consuming cough syrups, the trail led to India and Indonesia.
Filming began amid the controversial claim that Indian cough syrups contained killer toxic solvents. “So it was extremely difficult to convince a manufacturer to give an insight into the workings of the industry,” said director/writer Reshma Ghosh.
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Moreover, “the Indian government stone-walled any attempt at an interview”, Reshma added. But further research revealed a story “that really made us question the safety of the medicines we take, and become more aware of the things we need to watch out for as consumers”.
In another tragedy in October last year, 135 people were killed at a football game at Indonesia’s Kanjuruhan stadium. It cast the spotlight on the country’s ultra football fan clubs – the most extreme in Asia.
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What struck director Dwi Sujanti Nugraheni about the Ultras they met was how they “were like lions in the stadium” but at home, where they were interviewed, “they became shy like sheep”.
The Kanjuruhan tragedy had changed the way many Ultras viewed violence. “Many didn’t want to glorify it like they might have done before.”
And making the documentary changed the production team’s views. “We thought Ultras were all about the violence. But after meeting some of them, we realised there were so many things that triggered the violence”, from corruption to the police’s role.
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