Tanda Putera delay is censor board's decision, says Rais

The postponement of the screening of the Tanda Putera film is not the decision of the Information, Communications and Culture Ministry, said its minister Rais Yatim.

Instead, he said the postponement was decided by the Film Censorship Board, under the Home Ministry.

“It is now in the hands of the authorities, not the minister or other agencies. If the censors decide (on the postponement) we will abide by it,” said Rais during a press conference after a function in Kuala Lumpur today.

Asked if the postponement could be related to the general election, Rais replied: “I don’t know about that.”

The film, which portrays second prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein and his deputy Ismail Abdul Rahman, was originally scheduled for release in September.

After some outcry over the nature of the film based on its trailer, the National Film Development Board (Finas) decided to postpone the release, ostensibly to allow more time to intensify promotional activities.

However, as November approached, there were rumours that the film would be postponed a second time. This was confirmed by director Shuhaimi Baba, while Finas director Naguib Razak declined to explain why.

Finas is among the producers of the film.