Chinese streaming sites remove ‘Ultraman’

Compiled by JUNAID IBRAHIM and C. ARUNO

A TV series, Ultraman Tiga, has been removed from streaming sites in China following complaints that the show contained “violent elements”, Sin Chew Daily reported.

The Japanese TV show, which is popular among children, is no longer found on video platforms including iQiyi, Tencent TV and Youko.

In April, the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Committee conducted a survey among 1,000 parents, out of which 80% of them called for a stop to the broadcast of violent shows to minors.

Ultraman Tiga was one of the children’s series singled out by the unhappy parents.

One parent spoke about getting a complaint from his son’s school when the boy was caught emulating Ultraman and fighting with other kids whom he viewed as monsters.

Ultraman Tiga is part of the Ultraman series which often features a hero fighting giant monsters.

Following the ban on the TV show, the topic “Ultraman Tiga got removed” became a trending topic on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, on Friday.

It sparked a fierce online debate, with some people feeling outraged while others expressed relief.

“Why not ban Journey to the West? Isn’t it also filled with violence and gore?” someone posted.

The National Radio and Television Administration of China had urged streaming sites to promote “healthy content” to children and remove scenes that highlighted sex, violence and gore.

> Malaysia’s “King of Hakka hill songs” Qiu Hui Zhong passed away on Saturday at the age of 79, China Press reported.

Hakka hill songs are rural tunes sung in the dialect. It is regarded as the “pearl of Hakka literature”.

Apparently, its name came about because Hakka people had lived in hilly areas in the past. Thus, a hill song is used as a better means of communication than spoken words.

Local film director Chong Keat Aun said Qiu was one of Malaysia’s last practitioners of the ancient artform. “Thank you for leaving behind numerous beautiful hill songs,” Chong wrote.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.