It has been a while since I criticised the censorship double standards of Anime shows and Western cartoons on Malaysian TV. To be honest, we are now living in an era where people are so easily offended over the most trivial things on TV shows, fearing that one particular thing can cause great disaster towards society and mankind. Today, with the easily accessible internet service and social media, now everyone can complain and become a self-appointed moral police.
Because of this, the censorship board, like a superhero, is always there to appease these group of annoying and overly sensitive people and make them happy; While at the same time, ruin any TV shows on Malaysian TV with aggressive (unless if it is really necessary) and sometimes ridiculous censorship. Ironically, these same group of overly sensitive people often turn a blind eye over bigger and nastier threats that cause even more harm and should have been dealt with.
And so, as per blog title says, I'm going to show what I (and possibly, other Malaysians) discovered: Censorship of P. Ramlee films on Astro.
INTRODUCTION
Ask most, if not all Malaysians about P. Ramlee, and they'll immediately talk about the films he acted in and/or directed. From Anak-ku Sazali to Laksamana Do Re Mi, P. Ramlee films have entertained many generations of Malaysians, and also inspired Malaysian actors and actresses.
However, as of late, I noticed some P. Ramlee films (not counting these five) getting censored on Astro, mostly in the form of mute censorship. There are also a few P. Ramlee films getting censorship cuts as well. Back then, there is no such censorship towards P. Ramlee films on Astro at all. And so, here's some of the P. Ramlee films that got censored on Astro. All images shown are taken from Astro GO, which is Astro's online streaming service, and all images are taken in January and February 2022:
TIGA ABDUL
This scene above shows Sadiq Segaraga (played by Ahmad Nisfu) getting angry when his two daughters Hamidah and Rafidah telling him about Ghasidah singing with Abdul Wahub at the stables. Here, the crude phrase 'Celaka Punya Anak' gets muted on satellite TV broadcast (occasionally), but not on Astro GO.
This scene above shows the outcome of it; Here, the crude phrase 'Anak Syaitan,' spoken by Sadiq Segaraga, was muted on satellite TV broadcast (occasionally), but not on Astro GO.
ALI BABA BUJANG LAPOK
To begin with, Ali Baba Bujang Lapok was redubbed due to the censorship board getting offended over the characters speaking Malay language with an Arabic slang (this was revealed in a documentary on History Channel here: https://youtu.be/f5EL1x4ABzk?t=2160). The one I'm going to show here, however, was something else:
This scene shows Marjina asking a stall owner for belacan. Here, the two words 'Ganja' and 'Candu' spoken by the stall owner are muted on satellite TV broadcast, but not on Astro GO.
SENIMAN BUJANG LAPOK
In this scene, the crude word 'Bangsat,' spoken by Aziz Sattar, was muted on satellite TV broadcast (occasionally), but not on Astro GO.
AHMAD ALBAB
This scene, where A.R. Tompel said the phrase 'Yahudi Mabuk,' was cut from Astro GO's streaming. On satellite TV broadcast, however (the last time I watched it), the phrase was muted instead.
As it turns out, I'm not the only one who noticed this; On this YouTube video here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJIOSxBE63A), there are a number of comments from YouTube users complaining about the censorship on Astro.
LABU DAN LABI
Of all the P. Ramlee films I currently listed here, Labu dan Labi gets the worst censorship of all; All because of the word 'Setan' (Devil). In fact, from what I've seen, any scene where the characters are saying the word 'Setan' ended up getting censorship cuts, both on satellite TV broadcast AND online streaming!
(UPDATE: 13/04/2022) By comparison, there are similar scenes in Seniman Bujang Lapok, but it got passed with no censorship cuts.
Back then, there's no such ridiculous and stupid censorship given to this film (Labu dan Labi), and I have watched the whole film with no censorship cuts whatsoever.
And so, here are the scenes that contained such censorship:
This scene, where Labi (played by P. Ramlee) said 'Macam Setan,' was cut from both satellite TV broadcast and online streaming.
In these three scenes above, there are some scenes where Haji Bakhil (Udo Umar), Labu (M. Zain), and Labi (P. Ramlee) saying the word 'Setan' ended up being cut by Astro's censorship board, both on satellite TV broadcast and online streaming.
To be honest, it was right up to these scenes that I stopped watching this film on live satellite TV broadcast (and stopped watching this film forever), as I was too annoyed and disgusted by the ridiculous and stupid censorship given by Astro, so all the scenes below are taken from Astro GO's online streaming:
In this scene above is the outcome of a censorship; Right after Bakhil (Udo Umar) said "Iblis Tonic mana ada, tuan," the scene where Labu (M. Zain) tried ordering 'Syaitan and Tonic' was cut from Astro GO's online streaming, so it ended up showing the 'Haji Bakhil and Tonic' scene above instead.
In these three scenes above, nearing the end of the film, the scenes where Haji Bakhil and M. Zain said the word 'Setan' ended up getting cut on Astro GO's online streaming.
So much for 'STREAM UNCENSORED' hypocrisy!
LAKSAMANA DO RE MI
Unlike the previous films I listed, this one, however, is an inversion of it:
As shown in these three scenes above, these two characters said the two crude and highly offensive phrases 'Haram Jadah' and 'Anak Haram' with NO CENSORSHIP WHATSOEVER, on both satellite TV broadcast and online streaming!
In case anyone was wondering, the phrases 'Haram Jadah' and 'Anak Haram' are often considered the most offensive Malay language phrases ever spoken. And yet, these two highly offensive phrases got away with no mute censorship or cuts at all!
Oh, the irony.
CONCLUSION
So, there you have it. The unusual censorship of P. Ramlee films by Astro. Need I to say more?
RemainUnknown522 Out.
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