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Show Tanda Putera or risk cancellation of licences, Penang cinema operators warned
If cinema operators in Penang do not screen controversial movie Tanda Putera tomorrow, they risk having their licences revoked, director Datin Paduka Shuhaimi Baba warned tonight.She was reacting to a call by the Penang state government to cinemas not to screen the movie on the May 13 riots.
“As far as we are concerned the screening should go on as scheduled by FINAS Wajib Tayang Committee.
"If the cinema operators do not screen the film as scheduled, their licences can be revoked by FINAS," she said tonight.
The DAP has railed against the controversial film with the MCA joining in to express concerns with the scenes and dialogue that are said to be racially sensitive.
The DAP, especially, has been highly critical of the movie, pointing out that it can stoke racial tension by pinning the 1969 racial riots on the Chinese.
The party has been particularly irked by a purported scene in the movie, which has been linked to a young Lim Kit Siang urinating at a flagpole outside the house of former Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Harun Idris.
Kit Siang, who is DAP adviser, denied that such an incident had taken place.
Shuhaimi had earlier insisted that the film is an interpretation of historical events derived from multiple opinions. She also said it is a fictional account of events surrounding the racial riots on May 13, 1969.
She said Guan Eng had erred in issuing the advisory, urging cinema operators not to screen the movie, pointing out that she is a “filmmaker and not his political opponent”.
"If indeed, this instruction came from the chief minister, I find this latest development irrational and incomprehensible as he has not even seen the movie.
"He (Guan Eng) should pick on someone his own size."
Meanwhile, Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek had called Guan Eng's move “narrow-minded”, noting that only the Censorship Board could ban films in the country and the state government should know better.
Tanda Putera was supposed to have been aired last year but was postponed three times following protests against several scenes.
The cost of the movie is about RM4.8 million. It is a joint effort of Persona Pictures, Finas and Multimedia Development Corporation. – August 28, 2013.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/show-tanda-putera-or-risk-cancellation-of-licences-penang-cinema-operators
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