VIDEO | 1:31 mins

The playing of the national anthem, which is supposed to be done before the screening of each movie from today, had yet to be implemented this morning at one cinema in Kuala Lumpur.

NONE Malaysiakini went to the Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) in Mid-Valley Megamall to catch the 11.20am screening of Elysium .

It observed that the Negaraku was not played before the start of the movie.

Two accompanying patriotic-themed film clips - Pesanan Terakhir (Last Message) and Tanah Tumpahnya Darahku (My Birth Place) - were not screened either.

A KiniTV journalist, who went to another cinema at the same complex to watch The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones at 1.45pm, reported that the national anthem was also not played there.

According to GSC, its Mid Valley Megamall cinemas only received the two Merdeka-featured clips and Negaraku at 2.30pm today.

"The clips were then uploaded immediately and screened in the cinema by 3.30pm...," said Esther Chew from the company's Corporate Comm & Branding department in a statement.

Later today, Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek explained that several cinemas had yet to receive the official copy of the national anthem and the film clips, and thus, were not able to start the campaign today.

"I have received complaints of some places (that have not played the Negaraku) due to delays in receiving the (official) compact disc. This is a technical matter. We will ensure there will be no problem tomorrow," the minister said.

NONE Shabery had last week announced the move for all cinemas to play the national anthem and screen the two patriotric clips from Aug 28 to Sept 3, to commemorate National Day on Aug 31.

He said movie-goers should stand up when the anthem is played and cinema operators would be in charge of monitoring this.

Pictures from social media show that some cinemas had complied with the ruling.

Images taken from social media websites show some movie-goers standing facing the screen when images of the Agong and the Queen are shown as the national anthem is played.

Some movie-goers left puzzled

One movie goer Mohd Shafiz Harun, 21, when met by this news portal at Mid Valley Megamall questioned what happened to the national anthem, which was not played during the movie he went to watch.

The student, who is taking Statistics at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Kota Bharu, said he had read news reports about the Negaraku being played in cinema theatres.

"I am puzzled why the Negaraku was not played, as prior to this the news said it will be played beginning today," Shafiz said, adding that he welcomed the move as patriotic values have been on a decline among the younger generation.

 

Another cinema-goer, who wanted to be identified as Junjie, said he did not understand why such steps had to be taken and did not feel anything strange when the national anthem was not played.

"I feel nothing out of the ordinary when the national anthem was not played. I also do not understand why such steps should be taken," said the 19-year-old. 

NONE "The cinema cannot help to instill patriotism," the college student  added.

According to movie goers, two cinemas at Sunway Pyramid in Subang and The Pavilion in Kuala Lumpur followed the instructions by playing the national anthem before the movies started.

The first film clip was shown before trailers and advertisements, while the second clip was played right after the trailers and advertisements, with the Negaraku being played before the movie started.

The movie goers were asked to stand up, through a voice-over, and subtitles on the screen before national anthem was played.