With the government burying any hope of the 'Undilah' public service announcement (PSA) being aired over national television, its producer musician Pete Teo is leaving its fate to Netizens
"I don't think there is any purpose right now in pursuing an approval from the Film Censorship Board (LPF). The minister ( Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim) has come out to say that he will not allow it, the writing is on the wall," he said when contacted this afternoon.
He added that it is now unlikely that television stations would want to talk about airing the PSA as they would not want to "risk losing their broadcasting licences".
Rais had yesterday said that the 'Undilah' video was not suitablefor broadcast because it had contents which 'offended certain segments' in society.
A puzzled Teo said he had no idea what the minister meant by 'offensive content' but suspects that it had something to do with the claims made Kota Belud MP Abdul Rahman Dahlan, alleging the video had anti-establishment subliminal messages.
However, he pointed out that there were also iconic images in the video favourable to BN, especially the scene of Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong standing in front of the statue of Tunku Abdul Rahman, the country's first prime minister.
"I think they don't want both the government and opposition to be equally represented on television."
Baffled over the ban
Reiterating that the authorities had pre-emptively rejected his video, Teo shared that some 160 people who had volunteered in producing the PSA were also baffled by the move.
"I don't know why they would not allow it, especially with the prime minister recently talking about more media freedom," he said.
Despite the disappointment, he expressed confidence in netizens's ability to get out the message.
"By tonight, the videos (in three languages) will (collectively) hit 500,000 views."
The video, launched on video sharing site Youtube a day after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razakannounced a slew of civil liberties reforms, features prominent figures of the government, opposition and celebrities, encouraging citizens to vote.
Teo had planned the airing of the PSA over national television but the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had issued a directive not to use the videos to two major television networks before the makers could engage in negotiations with them to broadcast the clip.
"I don't think there is any purpose right now in pursuing an approval from the Film Censorship Board (LPF). The minister ( Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim) has come out to say that he will not allow it, the writing is on the wall," he said when contacted this afternoon.
He added that it is now unlikely that television stations would want to talk about airing the PSA as they would not want to "risk losing their broadcasting licences".
Rais had yesterday said that the 'Undilah' video was not suitablefor broadcast because it had contents which 'offended certain segments' in society.
A puzzled Teo said he had no idea what the minister meant by 'offensive content' but suspects that it had something to do with the claims made Kota Belud MP Abdul Rahman Dahlan, alleging the video had anti-establishment subliminal messages.However, he pointed out that there were also iconic images in the video favourable to BN, especially the scene of Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong standing in front of the statue of Tunku Abdul Rahman, the country's first prime minister.
"I think they don't want both the government and opposition to be equally represented on television."
Baffled over the ban
Reiterating that the authorities had pre-emptively rejected his video, Teo shared that some 160 people who had volunteered in producing the PSA were also baffled by the move.
"I don't know why they would not allow it, especially with the prime minister recently talking about more media freedom," he said.
Despite the disappointment, he expressed confidence in netizens's ability to get out the message. "By tonight, the videos (in three languages) will (collectively) hit 500,000 views."
The video, launched on video sharing site Youtube a day after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razakannounced a slew of civil liberties reforms, features prominent figures of the government, opposition and celebrities, encouraging citizens to vote.
Teo had planned the airing of the PSA over national television but the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had issued a directive not to use the videos to two major television networks before the makers could engage in negotiations with them to broadcast the clip.
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