Viu has pulled down ‘Mentega Terbang’, says MCMC

 

‘Mentega Terbang’, which touches on the differences and similarities of the major religions in Malaysia, has drawn criticism from the public as well as artistes.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) says streaming service platform Viu has pulled down the controversial movie “Mentega Terbang” on Feb 27.

MCMC said although it had no authority to censor movies and television dramas as they do not fall under its purview, it contacted Viu on the matter which confirmed the movie had been taken down on Feb 27.

“Section 3(3) of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998 states that the censorship of movies or dramas on streaming platforms does not fall under the jurisdiction of the MCMC,” it told FMT.

The commission said it was committed to working with the Islamic development department (Jakim) to monitor any content that contradicted the teachings of Islam.

“The MCMC will always cooperate and provide technical support to the state religious department to conduct investigation under the Shariah Criminal Offences Act,” it said.

“Mentega Terbang”, which touches on the differences and similarities of the major religions in Malaysia, has drawn criticism from the public as well as artistes following its release on Viu last month.

On Thursday, religious affairs minister Na’im Mokhtar said Jakim would meet the production team of “Mentega Terbang”.

Na’im said Jakim had reviewed the film’s content and found that it went against the Islamic creed.

Meanwhile, the Film Censorship Board (LPF) said it had no jurisdiction over the locally-produced independent film as it was only released online.

Earlier, a scene depicting the movie’s main character Aisyah wanting to eat pork went viral, along with a scene where the character’s father allows her to leave Islam and convert to a different religion.

The scenes courted anger on social media, with netizens questioning how the movie was allowed for public viewing.

The film stars Syumaila Salihin, Firdaus Karim, Nik Waheeda, Arjun Thanaraju, Khairunazwan Rodzy, Shyamala Kandapper and Jesebel Lee. - FMT