The South China Morning Post, HK 13th March 2000

A row between the Malay and Chinese communities over whether Hong Kong and Taiwan movies should be curbed has intensified.

Racial ill-feeling also has been fuelled by a university's dispute with Chinese students who protested after they were not allowed to stage a cultural exhibition during the Lunar New Year.

An official of the Malaysian Chinese Association, the second largest party in the ruling National Front coalition after the dominant United Malays National Organisation (Umno), said there was no reason to punish leaders of the protest, as the university had proposed.

Chinese newspapers described the cancellation of the cultural exhibition as an act of intolerance and extremism.

But their main concern over the past two weeks has been a campaign conducted through a leading Malay-language newspaper to reduce the number of Hong Kong and Taiwan movies shown on a television network. The issue has provoked a heated debate, in which government officials from the different races have taken opposing sides.

Utusan Malaysia first published an article expressing concern over the "increasing number of foreign films" shown on the Astro television network, owned by tycoon T. Ananda Krishnan.

The people it quoted were all Malays and their criticism was directed only at Chinese and Indian films, which they said were having a negative effect on community unity and viewers' patriotism.

Utusan followed up the first article with further calls for action against Astro films and an editorial last week that said the content of the four Chinese channels was "not suitable to Malaysian culture and society" and could "adversely affect racial harmony". It said the unrestricted inflow of foreign programmes could be dangerous.

The Chinese media reported growing community anger over what readers saw as an attempt to prevent Chinese from watching programmes of their choice.

When the youth wing of Umno joined in the criticism of the Chinese films, the Guang Ming Daily accused it of "stirring up unhealthy sentiments".

But the anti-Astro elements appear determined to force the issue. Yesterday, the English-language New Sunday Times, part of the New Straits Times Group, which has close links to Umno, entered the fray.

A report similar to the Utusan article called for "more control" over foreign films. The people quoted, including a religious leader, were all Malays and there was not a single dissenting voice.

Analysts say that while the campaign seems to be aimed at reinforcing Malay cultural control, it is seriously harming the Government's efforts to create a Malaysian identity for all races.