THE Government has rejected appeals to review a ban on one of Asia's most popular television programmes, Judge Pao, amid mounting controversy over its move.
The Taiwan-made series about a judge in Sung Dynasty China, which has attracted a large following in Hong Kong and Singapore, had been cleared by the National Film Censorship Board for screening by Malaysia's new privately owned station, MetroVision.
But the Ministry of Information overruled the censors shortly before the first of 33 episodes was due to go to air.
The ministry initially explained the ban by saying it would not allow the showing of 'Chinese costume programmes' on Malaysian television.
However, the ministry's secretary-general, Zawawi Mahmuddin, said the ban applied to costume dramas in general. He said other costume dramas produced overseas, including operas, plays and programmes from the Middle East, India and Japan, would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
'We want to increase programmes with local content on our television stations,' he said.
Mr Zawawi said the ministry would not allow programmes such as Judge Pao even though it propagated healthy family values and loyalty to the country.