The car plate scene had popped up briefly in one of the movie’s trailers on YouTube, uploaded on December 16 last year by its production house, world evolution Brain. — Screen capture via YouTube

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 — The producers of local movie Malay Regiment have been ordered to remove a scene featuring a car with the number plate “DAP165”.

“The matter was brought to my attention this morning. Upon checking the trailer, I found that the scene was inappropriate and asked for it to be removed,” Communication and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak told news portal Malaysiakini today.

The car plate scene had popped up briefly in one of the movie’s trailers on YouTube, uploaded on December 16 last year by its production house, world evolution Brain.

The combination of letters and numbers resemble the epithet ‘DAPIGS’, said to be frequently by the federal Opposition party’s detractors on the Internet.

The news portal also reported the movie director Datuk Jurey Latiff Rosli saying he would abide by the minister’s order, but denied a furtive attempt to slag the DAP or portray the political party as communist.

“To me, the film’s philosophy can be interpreted to have many meanings. We are showing the incident happened in 1976 and the past can be a lesson to us today,” he was quoted saying.

The movie is scheduled for cinematic release on August 31, which also marks the country’s Independence Day.

But Malaysiakini reported Jurey saying he is still waiting for approval from the Armed Forces Chief.