Penang to ask cinemas not to screen 'Tanda Putera'

The Penang government said today it would ask cinema operators in the state not to screen the film, Tanda Putera, claiming that it has sensitive and defamatory elements unsuitable for public screening.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng told reporters the state government would ask all cinemas in the state not to show the film which is due for screening from tomorrow.

Tanda Putera is a film directed by Datin Paduka Shuhaimi Baba and stars Rusdi Ramli, Zizan Nin, Faezah Elai and Linda Hashim.

It is a historical biographical film about Malaysia's second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein and his then deputy Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman set around the time after the 1969 racial riots.

Meanwhile, Penang Local Government, Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said he would write to instruct cinema operators in the state not to screen the film.

Chow told reporters he hoped that the cinemas in the state would cooperate with the state government and not show the film.

Shuhaimi had been reported as asking the people to see Tanda Putera as a film that evokes a sense of affection for the country instead of one that promotes disharmony.