Around 15 officers from the Ministry of Home Affairs turned up at the Freedom FilmFest in Georgetown, Penang yesterday requesting that the organisers stop the screening of the film ‘To Singapore With Love’.
Created on Sunday, 26 October 2014 14:20 : Published Date
Written by Cogito Ergo Sum
Around 15 officers from the Ministry of Home Affairs turned up at the Freedom FilmFest in Georgetown, Penang yesterday requesting that the organisers stop the screening of the film ‘To Singapore With Love’.
The officers cited as their reason the film’s not having been vetted and approved by the Malaysian film censor board.
Anna Har, Executive Director of Komas, said in a press statement that after about half an hour of negotiation with organisers Penang state assembly persons Ng Aik Wei and Cheah Kah Peng, the officers allowed the screening to proceed.
Permission was said to be granted on the basis that it was a state- sponsored event, the organisers were streaming the films online and so this was beyond the jurisdiction of the film censorship act.
“We are thankful that the officers were co-operative and understood the context of our event and allowed us to continue the screening uninterrupted this time,” said Jerald Joseph, a board director of Komas.
“Nevertheless, the continued efforts by the authorities to pre-censor the films we screen is regrettable. Ideally, the government should work together with us in our efforts to increase awareness and discourse on human rights which contribute to the process of nation-building.”
‘Films open minds’
On the role of Komas, the statement said, “Pusat Komas, a human rights NGO established in 1993 is proud to be part of an ASEAN community that encourages people’s involvement in nation-building processes through films that educate and open minds.
“FreedomFilmFestival (FFF) has been doing just that for the past 12 years. It is one of Malaysia’s most established annual human rights film festivals.
“We salute the Malaysians who have been joining us for years in opening critical discourse spaces on various human rights issues in Malaysia and elsewhere.
“What is meant to be a celebration of arts and human rights space has been severely attacked and intimidated by strong-arm government tactics.
“We speak specifically about the film ‘To Singapore, With Love’ by Singaporean filmmaker Tan Pin Pin (left) which, according to our standards, meets the criteria of a film that speaks of human rights issues, be they present or past.”