In the midst of the Malaysian crackdown on activists and politicians under the Sedition Act, Singaporeans are travelling to Malaysia just to watch a banned film.

Around 400 Singaporeans had travelled on Friday to watch the screening of award-winning film ‘To Singapore, With Love’, at the Freedom Film Festival 2014 held in Johor Baru, reports Singaporean online news portal The Online Citizen (TOC).

The 70-minute documentary on Singapore’s political exiles, by Tan Pin Pin, received a “not allowed for all ratings” (NAR) classification from Singapore’s Media Development Authority (MDA) on Sept 10.

MDA had claimed that the subjects in the film gave “distorted and untruthful accounts of how they came to leave Singapore and remain outside Singapore.”

However, the ban had drawn heated protests from Singaporeans, with many ridiculing the MDA’s excuse for the ban; that it threatens the country’s “national security”.

The film presents accounts of political exiles who describe the events leading to their departure from Singapore and how they were forced to escape prosecution from the government.

Most of the political exiles could only meet their friends and family members in Johor Baru.

Among the 400 attendees at the film screening were former Singaporean detainees who were imprisoned under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

The Sedition Act crackdown in Malaysia, meanwhile, has witnessed victims, ranging from preachers to even journalists and academicians being investigated and hauled up to court.