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Zhu Bajie on right - persona non grata in Malaysia so was removed from billboards and posters advertising movie |
The missing pig character Zhu Bajie from a billboard and posters on the Hong Kong fantasy film 'Journey to the West - The Monkey King 2' is because the actor, Xiao Shen Yang, is less known in Malaysia, the film distributor has said.
Chinese daily Oriental Daily News quotes GSC Movies distribution manager Hou Xiu Chang as saying that the decision was made based on the business model and actor prominence.
“In Malaysia, many people know Aaron Kwok and Him Law. Initially, we planned to put the characters of the Monkey King or White-Bone Demon on the posters.
“But the film distributor from China could not make it on time to give us the poster,” Hou was quoted as saying, while also admitting that GSC removed Zhu Bajie from the local billboards and posters.
Chinese daily Oriental Daily News quotes GSC Movies distribution manager Hou Xiu Chang as saying that the decision was made based on the business model and actor prominence.
“In Malaysia, many people know Aaron Kwok and Him Law. Initially, we planned to put the characters of the Monkey King or White-Bone Demon on the posters.
“But the film distributor from China could not make it on time to give us the poster,” Hou was quoted as saying, while also admitting that GSC removed Zhu Bajie from the local billboards and posters.
So Zhu Bajie (Too Pak Kwai in Penang Hokkien) has been removed from the movie poster because the actor playing that character (adapted from the book 'Journey to the West') is not well known in Malaysia?
WTF! What utter bullshit!
As a Malaysiakini reader, Awang Top, put it rather cleverly: "We don't even know the name of the horse. So delete the horse." Wakakaka.
The movie is in Chinese and its posters and billboards unlikely to be noticed by Malays, so what's the problem?
The movie is in Chinese and its posters and billboards unlikely to be noticed by Malays, so what's the problem?
In Chinese literature 'Journey to the West' is one of the four great Chinese classical novels (masterpieces), the other three being Romance of the 3 Kingdoms, Water Margin, and Dreams of the Red Chamber.
There is a recognized fifth though, but as yet to be officially acknowledged. I'll be blogging on this in my other blog, KTemoc Kongsamkok.
And in 'Journey to the West' the character of Zhu Bajie is an intrinsic part of the group travelling to India to obtain the Buddhist holy scripts.
What sheer utter preposterous bullshit is it to say Zhu Bajie has been omitted from the billboard because the actor playing Zhu Bajie (Piggy) was not well-known. That's double bullshit because comedian Xiao Shen Yang, who played Piggy has been very well-known, especially in China
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Illegal workers tolerated/accepted but not this movie character |
In some ways I don't grudge the local distributor for the bullshit because obviously they are ber-carma-ing with the Home Ministry.
As I have written in my previous post Greedy Malaysians 'selling away' our local businesses?, I've seen hijab-ed sweeties in Australia working at supermarket and Costco handling pork meat (wrapped), and that I suppose the real Islam only instructs Muslims not to partake of the non-halal stuff and not to treat them as radioactive or toxic material.
My visitor Rocketman has also commented in that post: "... The Wantan mee stall at the nearby market is operated by an Indonesian woman. She's hardworking, and speaks basic Cantonese, Hokkien, even a bit of Hakka. I'm told the stall is still licensed to the previous local proprietor, but she's nowhere to be seen these days."
"The non-Halal Wantan mee doesn't seem to bother her, I'm sure she's a good Muslim who doesn't eat pork. Its just a job to her, unlike the local Jihadis who go feral upon finding molecular-amount traces of porcine DNA in chocolate."
What f* ridiculous extreme antic will our Malaysian authorities think of next? But remember, two pigs were on board Noah's Ark, in accordance with god's wish.
It is the law of the land.
ReplyDeleteThe law says Advertisements distributed to or visible to the public must not contain elements which may cause public anxiety or disturbance.
An In-Your-Face advertisement showing a creature that Muslims consider Unclean is Very likely to cause agitation and anxiety.
a pig may cause public anxiety or disturbance to Malays? wakakaka, I didn't know Malays are that fragile, well, certainly not the Malays I know and have been friends with for eons
Deletetanah melayu.. 2019 according to the chinese zodiac is the year of the pig. so how? can advertise or not?
Deletehttp://www.shutterstock.com/s/kung-hei-fat-choi/search.html?page=1&inline=215197855
DeleteKtemoc, I believe you may have left Malaysia a long, time ago, and rarely been back since.
DeleteAttitudes among many truly are fragile ,right now, and have been getting more and more so for more than a decade now. A lot of it has official sanction and encouragement.
KT, you mentioned above you understand why the distributor is doing this.
ReplyDeleteJust for discussion sake, knowing the way the authorities operate, what would you do if you were in the shoes of GSC Movies distribution manager (other than what he has done) :
a) display the billboard as in the original, the consequences be damned, or
b) photoshop the character to show no pig features, or obstruct him with some objects or letters to hide the obvious, or
c) photoshop out the character AND giving the real reason for it, or
d) what else?
Because such dilemmas will be more frequent, the pending one being the MAS scarf and alcohol thing, or the nurse uniform sleeve issue for example. Many employees in managerial positions are saddled with the responsibilities that include this dilemma.
I suspect, only suspect that the distributor might have been ordered to remove Piggy from the billboards and posters, and for fear of Chinese boycotting the movie (can see online or DVD, wakakaka), came out with a cari-makan (carma) spin. Aiyah, wansek ma (t'aan chnea lah)
DeleteYes, either he was ordered, or he did it before being ordered.
DeleteAnyway, he took the path of least resistance and got his job done and have his movie screened, at the price of a little public ridicule which will blow over and be forgotton come the next movie. In fact he got an unexpected bonus - free publicity courtesy of this hoo hah!
I would consider his problem/dilemma to be mild compared to those faced by managers in other situations which require far more difficult solutions.
like 1mdb
DeleteIts ridiculous! Come 2019, many countries will issue stamps with piggy. So? will muslim employees of the post office delivery letters with piggy stamps?
ReplyDeleteSolution is simple.......Get rid of Najib or ktemoc, problem solved
DeleteLaw of the land? Wakakaka, which law? When it suit you? According to the law of the land Captain Ikan Bakar should be ISA-ed a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteOr Najib should be in jails for eternity
DeleteThe Journey West is a highly mythologized account of the priest Hsuan Tsang's difficult journey to India to bring back Buddhist Sutras.
ReplyDeleteI suppose popular Chinese culture has finally met the Jihadis who run rampant in the Malaysian government.
Christians have been bearing the brunt of this extremely fragile Muslim sensitivities for years.
+++ A few months ago, an angry mob forced a cross to be removed from the exterior of a Church in KL. The threat of Violence was either implied or overt.
Police and AG surmised that no laws were broken, and nobody needs to be charged. Law of the Jungle.
+++ Langkawi has been promoting itself as an international tourist destination. But last week, the Jihadis bared their fangs at a purported attempt at proselytization....
A few background facts
- Terraced houses are required by regulations to have individual units separated by a fire wall extending beyond the roof-line
- It is common practice in Malaysia for Terrace houses to be designed with an air well, to ensure interior rooms receive fresh air and sunlight.
- Terrace houses usually have adjacent units design laid out as mirror images of each other.
The accidental result of this for the row of new houses in Langkawi is that, viewed from a distance, the combination of fire wall, air well, mirror image between adjacent houses, look like a long line of crosses when viewed from certain angles.....
The developer was forced to repaint the firewall, otherwise no OC....
https://www.google.com.my/maps/@3.1409017,101.6943275,3a,75y,130.79h,99.6t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sdAudi9VqdGvd7ysahvidSQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Deletehttps://www.google.com.my/maps/@3.1364539,101.6916972,3a,90y,82.6h,109.81t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sr0lPdNFmP7ydz9sbOMHegg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.my/maps/@3.1486977,101.6995328,3a,60y,347.33h,102.71t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s35K9Z03cvSot3FNknfWVkA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.my/maps/@3.1619172,101.7126506,3a,37.5y,338.88h,103.4t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s3ZwnVcsUfXJ8Bd7DvO-GLQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.my/maps/@3.1688059,101.6983463,3a,75y,80.62h,85.64t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sujnZ-zS6-WEMir1gBPdbYQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.my/maps/@3.1636209,101.7121139,3a,75y,147.03h,103.01t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKowpXpwJ9D9D3o6pajIkkQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
The "law of the land", it depends, who? As in the case of Chevrolet, it would have been ban in Malaysia.
ReplyDeleteIt should suffice that whoever in the Malaysian public wants to watch the movie, will be able to see it, for the price of a cinema ticket or DVD.
ReplyDeleteIf a minor adjustment needs to be made for promotional materials displayed in public areas , to respect Muslim sensitivities, so be it.
i think the action is offensive as it is preposterous. if the action is in the name of islam.. i alienated myself from it.
DeleteSorry, you can't. It's part of the package......hahahahaha
DeleteGod : "Ah So, are you a good believer/follower of my teaching?"
ReplyDeleteAh So : "Yes my Lord, I am your obedient believer/follower"
God : "But I teach you to be good and yet you are behaving like a monster bully!"