Ex-minister blasts The Star for touting low numbers for ‘Tanda Putera’

 

(MMO) – “However, it must be remembered that those who watched the film are society’s selected, viewers who are of quality regardless of how small, people who care to understand and judge out nation’s history. Among them will be our leaders, small and large, of the future,” said the former Utusan Malaysia journalist.

Former information minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin today slammed The Star newspaper for reporting poor turnouts for controversial film “Tanda Putera,” alluding it to be a larger trend of alleged “self isolation” by the Chinese community.

Zainuddin also questioned the MCA-owned daily’s motives in publishing a report yesterday that claimed there were not many moviegoers who went to watch the film, which is director Datin Paduka Shuhaimi Baba’s take on Malaysia’s turbulent history surrounding the May 13 riots in 1969.

“It is common for serious films based on true historical fact, that are not based on fantasy, to find it hard to get a response.

“However, it must be remembered that those who watched the film are society’s selected, viewers who are of quality regardless of how small, people who care to understand and judge out nation’s history. Among them will be our leaders, small and large, of the future,” said the former Utusan Malaysia journalist.

Zainuddin, who maintains a blog called “Zamkata”, further criticised The Star for allegedly taking a materialistic perspective on the government-funded film that cost nearly RM5 million, claiming that the daily would not have attempted to put down “Tanda Putera” had it not “embodied DAP’s spirit and doctrine”.

“We should not be concerned over the large production cost and make it a big issue. The value of ‘Tanda Putera’ in planting the seeds of understanding our national history, of the betrayal and racial development and to instil patriotism, is greater than the value of money,” he claimed.

“Tanda Putera” was originally slated to be released on September 13 last year, but its showing was shelved after it sparked controversy over how it allegedly portrayed the Chinese community as antagonists in relation to the deadly May 13 racial riots.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz had categorised the film as “well-researched” and reflects the “reality” of the situation then.

But Shuhaimi has previously clarified that it was a work of fiction despite earlier vouching for its “historical accuracy”.

Zainuddin also questioned the patriotism at The Star, saying that while other mainstream newspapers carried front-page splashes on the Merdeka Day celebrations on Sunday, the English daily instead opted to focus on plans to continue with construction of the second Penang Bridge in their Penang edition.

“However, I hope the public do not take seriously the efforts by some parties to isolate themselves from the nation’s mainstream especially in the field of education,” he said, in an apparent swipe at the Chinese community’s fierce defence of the vernacular system.

“Let the Chinese continue to strive through the media and other avenues for self isolation. Leave them with their own identity, but what is important is for the government to strengthen the national mainstream especially in giving a high quality in education,” he said.