IN KUALA LUMPUR

LOVE him, or hate him; it doesn't matter. Malaysians are terribly curious about him.

When a short film starring Khairy Jamaluddin was released two days ago, the website it was on crashed within minutes from the sudden onslaught of hordes of people logging on to watch it.

Khairy, the Umno Youth chief and controversial son-in-law of former premier Abdullah Badawi, has a starring role in the 7-minute film titled Meter.

Click here to see Meter

He plays a taxi driver who spouts alarmingly vicious opinions, to the bemusement of his passengers. Malaysians will recognise the 'passengers', and a rival cabbie played by model Amber Chia.

Meter is a story of Malaysians who say one thing, and do another. Armchair critics, lah.

Khairy, 33, is liked and disliked in equal measure. As a politician, the verdict is mixed. As an actor, he's pretty good!

Meter is among the 15 short films, each four to seven minutes long, released to celebrate Malaysia’s 52nd independence.

These films are soul-searching, and are as far from feel-good propaganda as can be.

Some poke fun at Malaysians (like Meter), others are reflective or dark. There is one made by the late famed director Yasmin Ahmad (Chocolate), and another one in which she has a cameo (House).

You can watch them all on 15malaysia.com.