PETALING JAYA, July 28 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi suspended today the release of "The New Village", a local film based on true life events surrounding the country's checquered history on communism after a furious storm on the Internet.
The Chinese-language film directed by award-winning documentary maker Wong Kew-Lit had been scheduled to open in cinemas nationwide on August 22, ahead of another historical nationalist movie, Tanda Putera.
"We have to postpone the premiere date pending another thorough look into the movie's plot,” the minister was quoted by The Malaysian Insider news portal as telling reporters in Sungai Buloh, near here.
"The board will review the plot and the hidden messages in the movie," he added, referring to the Censorship Board, which comes under the home ministry.
“The New Village” depicts the large-scale resettlement of roughly 500,000 Chinese during the emergency years in the country then called Malaya as part of the colonial British government's security efforts to curb the spread of communism post World War Two.
The film came under fire today from right-wing Malay paper Mingguan Malaysia ahead of its release during a month-long celebration to mark Malaya's independence on August 31.
The weekend edition of Umno-owned daily, Utusan Malaysia, heavily criticised the Chinese-language film in an opinion piece written by Awang Selamat — the nom-de-plume for the paper’s collective editorial voice — which accused its makers of using it as a medium to glorify communism.
Awang claimed the film presented a “skewed perspective” of history in an attempt to revive a campaign to bring back exiled former communist guerilla leader, Chin Peng, to the country, and contrasted it to “Tanda Putera”, which the columnist argued to be a historically-accurate retelling of events during the May 13, 1969 race riots, focusing on Malaysia’s second Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein and his deputy Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman.
"Tanda Putera" had similarly sparked controversy after snippets were leaked online last year.
Ahmad Zahid said he was prompted to temporarily shelve "The New Village" in the wake of controversy that had several hardline Malay and Muslim groups and individuals calling for its boycott for what they viewed as racially provocative content.
The minister observed that the heated comments flaming the movie was only based on its trailer that had been uploaded onto the Internet.
"The new release date will be decided once the second review is completed," he said.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also Umno vice-president, said the government would cancel its previous approval for the film if the censorship board found it contained elements of hero worship of the Malayan Communist Party (PKM).
He said the board had received a review application from the film's producers last September 6 and approved it for general screening without making any cuts although it gave it a PG13 rating.
"It was viewed and censored by a three-men panel from the board and approved three days later," he said.
A Certificate of Admittance A, needed for a screening in public, was issued on November 9, 2012.
"The censors felt that the scenes in the movie contained action shots which were not overdone to maintain its story flow," the minister said, and added that government censors were impressed with the battle scenes in "The New Village".
“The New Village” is produced by Yellow Pictures and directed by Wong Kew-Lit, a prolific filmmaker whose works have been broadcast on both terrestrial and satellite television networks.
The 42-year-old Malaysian has also scooped up a number of awards including for best documentary director at the 6th Malaysian Oskar Award for a series called “My Roots”, and best TV documentary for “Malaysia My Home — Story of Sabah & Sarawak” at the Anugerah Seri Angkasa 2010.
The trailer for “The New Village”, which has spawned 38,336 views since it was uploaded on YouTube last month, drew 1,247 thumbs down compared to the 137 likes, as at the time of publication.
The trailer has been playing at cinemas in the Klang Valley since a year ago but drew heated response from Malaysians, a large number who took to Facebook, Twitter and Youtube to flame the show for its purportedly racist and —many allege — "glorification" of communist guerilla fighters during the emergency years leading to the emancipation of the country, then called Malaya, from colonial British rule.
The cyberstorm over the film appeared to have been raging since a 2.20-minute clip was posted onto video-sharing site Youtube last June 5, but an op-ed piece in yesterday's Mingguan Malaysia rebuking the movie's makers may have inflamed passions further.
Twitter user Azmil Bahrin called for the boycott of "The New Village" film, echoing the allegation that it portrays communists as heroes.
"filem new village mengangkat komunis sebagai hero...hmm boikot ( The New Village film raises up the communists as heroes...hmm boycott)," the user wrote using @pawaka19.
Other Malaysians painted the film, which is set during the emergency years between 1948 and 1989, in racial tones, with some saying the film allegedly has an all-Chinese cast.
Facebook user Mamluk Qalawun went further by warning that cinemas nationwide may be set ablaze if the authorities allowed the film to open locally.
"Saya janji nnt ada KEBAKARAN PANGGUNG jika filem New Village ditayang. Sila buat report polis kalau Dato Seri terkejut. Melayu dah lama sabaq dalam negara sendiri. Jgn sampai kami bekas2 pejuang bangkit sebab Tanda Putera siap kena tangguh makan bertahun tp filem ni sgn sekali saja application terus tayang..." Mamluk wrote on Shabery's Facebook page today.
[Translation: "I promise later there will be fire in the cinemas if the New Village film is screened. Please make a police report if Dato Seri is suprised. The Malays have long been patient in their own country. Don't (wait) until we veteran soldiers rise up because Tanda Putera has to be delayed for years but this film is screened after applying only once..."]
But Twitter user Fatin Nadia sought to cool down the storm by pointing out that "Tanda Putera" and "New Village" are merely films which represent different viewpoints.
"New Village ni apa pulak? Here's how it's fair. Just show both Tanda Putera and New Village and just accept that those two are just films.
"The views of Tanda Putera was right, and the views on The New Village was also right. Why? Because it's their side of the story," she wrote using @kinkywildcat today.
Her views appeared to be mirrored by Emperor Saladina's comments, who wrote today below the trailer of "The New Village" on Youtube that the movie could be merely a depiction of the new village settlers' point of view.
"Guys, please, this movie isn't out yet, are we to judge when we don't even know what it exactly says? Another thing, this movie is probably done from the perspective of the new villagers, can we not accept what other people view on the whole event?
"Kita ada perspektif yang berbeza, tak boleh ke seseorang melihat komunisme pada masa itu sebagai penyelamat negara? Ini bukan menukar sejarah kita, hanyalah melihat daripada mata penduduk kampung baru.
[Translation: "We have different perspectives, can't someone see communism at that time as the country's saviour? This is not changing history, it is only looking through the eyes of the new villagers)," the Youtube user said.
