'The New Village' should not be screened if it glorifies communist terrorists - Khairy

The screening of the local Chinese movie, "The New Village", should not be allowed if it is found to glorify communism and communist terrorists, said Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin. He said based on the movie's trailer, it appeared to be doing that, which was unacceptable altogether. "This is an attempt to rewrite our history by glorififying the communist insurgents who we know had committed a lot of atrocities against the people. "Although it it true that the communists had fought against the British (colonial rule), their violence cannot be forgiven," he said after officiating at an Ihya Ramadan programme at Al-Mukmin Mosque, Batu Tiga, here, last night. "If there are people who ask why I've said this while I haven't seen the whole movie, I can refer the case of another local movie, "Tanda Putra", where many protested against it despite not having seen the movie, resulting in its screening to be put on hold for a year. On the ease with which "The New Village" received approval for screening from the relevant authority compared to "Tanda Putera", Khairy said the double standards should not occur. "That is why this has raised questions. I will bring up this matter to the cabinet because I see a clear case of double standards here. "From the trailer (of The New Village) alone, we can see that the communist terrorists are hero-worshipped, and the movie could get away with it (approved for screening) just like that, while "Tanda Putra" had to wait for a year for screening (at the cinemas). To me, something is wrong here." It was reported yesterday that the Home Ministry had suspended the screening of "The New Village", due to open on Aug 22, pending another review by the Film Censorship Board, following the furore created by social media bloggers and non-governmental organisations over the film's content. One of the blogs commented that the movie appeared to be hero-worshipping the Communist Party of Malaya and questioned how it could be allowed to be screened during the 'Merdeka Month', while the screening of "Tanda Putera" which tells the story of a national leader's struggle in dealing with the May 13 incident was put on hold several times. Meanwhile, Astro Shaw has issued a statement saying that the movie is undergoing a second LPF review. "The New Village is a Chinese period feature film in Mandarin that depicts a forbidden love story. This Chinese movie is set against the backdrop of the struggles of the Chinese communities in the resettlement into New Villages by the British. "The movie has undergone all due processes including LPF screening, and was given a P13 classification with no cuts, in Sept 2012. Currently, The New Village is going through a second review with LPF." reads the statement.