Why let a powerful few dictate what movies we can watch & what we can't - Tze Tzin

The recent uproar by Utusan Malaysia and UMNO to ban the movie “New Village” is uncalled for. The same goes to the not-so-recent decision by certain organisations to ban another movie, “Tanda Putra”.

As a principle, I object to the banning of all works of art, movies or books, as this is against freedom of speech and freedom of expression. I express regret that conservative views from both sides of the political divide have dominated this debate and turned it into partisan politics.

Hence, the Malaysian public is being sacrificed over political tit-for-tat. In my opinion, the Malaysian public is mature enough to judge for themselves. Neither the authorities nor the few people in power should decide which movies cannot be watched or which books cannot be read by Malaysians.

Therefore, I call for the immediate release of both movies and to let them be screened as scheduled. The Merdeka period is the best time to reflect on the history of Malaysia and both movies can be a source of such reflections.

Freedom can transform, shackles can only kill

The modern history of mankind proves that free speech, free press and freedom for intellectual pursuits can transform a society. During the Renaissance period, freedom in the pursuit of arts, culture and other intellectual pursuits, with the help of printing technology, moved society out of the dark ages into the modern era. The Renaissance period also experienced educational reform resulting in the uplifting of society into a matured modern society.

In Islamic history, the Islamic Golden Age was a time where Abbasid Caliph transformed Baghdad into the intellectual and cultural centre of the world. During that period, the Abbasids were influenced by the Al-Qur’an and Hadith injunctions where “the ink of a scholar is more holy than the blood of a martyr.” In respect of that, Malaysia needs more intellectual, arts and cultural pursuits like movies and books, instead of banning them.

In recent history of China, the New Culture Movement in the 1920s that pursued Freedom, Democracy, Science and Human Rights transformed traditional Confucius China into a modern Chinese society. Despite the results of the movement being mixed, the spirit of intellectual pursuits in that period laid the foundations for modern China.

The Malaysian society needs more enlightenment from intellectual and cultural pursuits in the form of movies and books. Movies like “New Village” and “Tanda Putra”, which I have not seen, may or may not be considered a form of intellectual pursuit. However, the intention to trace back the history of this country cannot be denied. After all, there is a vacuum of serious historical movie production in this country. Both the aforementioned movies may or may not have historical biasness and may or may not be one-sided. That should be best left to historians to comment and for the public to judge for themselves. I believe in the maturity of Malaysians.

Sim Tze Tzin is Member of Parliament for Bayan Baru