Film censorship in Malaysia is pervasive since its conception under British rule under the 1908 Theatre Ordinance enacted by the Straits Settlements colonial government starting 1912.[1] Even with the succesive independence of these colonies, the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia (Malay: Lembaga Penapis Filem) is the government ministry that which dictates whether, when, and how a film gets released in the country. It is under the control of the Ministry of Home Affairs (Malay: Kementerian Dalam Negeri). The government censors film content for mainly homosexual, political and religious reasons.[citation needed]
The two main cinema operators in Malaysia, Golden Screen Cinemas and Tanjung Golden Village, are known to be strict in ensuring that only patrons aged 18 and above are allowed to view films rated "18". Although movies shown in Malaysian cinemas carry an age-restricted rating such as "18", films that contain scenes of sex and nudity are completely censored off by the LPF (Malaysia's film censorship board), which renders the 18 rating meaningless and strict entry by the cinema operators pointless.[citation needed]
Kissing and make-out scenes are also censored in movies rated "P13" but in recent years the Board has loosened the censorship. On the other hand, there have been many "18" rated films filled with profanity and graphic violence that were hardly censored or uncensored in recent years. This shows that the board mostly views sex and nudity as completely unacceptable for a Malaysian audience.[citation needed]
The rating system for movies shown in Malaysian cinemas was introduced in 1996 and the classification system for approved films is as follows:
The four 18 categories are now superseded by the simplified 18 rating, which makes no distinction on what type of objectionable content is contained within the movie. Films with an 18 rating are only restricted for audiences age 18 and above.
Over the years, various films has been banned in Malaysia.
On 4 March 2007, the Malaysian Censorship Board decided to ban Tsai Ming-liang's film, I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, based on 18 counts of incidents shown in the film depicting the country "in a bad light" for cultural, ethical, and racial reasons. However, they later allowed the film to be screened in the country after Tsai agreed to censor parts of the film according to the requirements of the Censorship Board.[2]