"Ice Kacang Puppy Love" stars Ah Niu, Angelica Lee Sinje, Fish Leong, Gary Chaw and others

31 Jan – Minister of Information, Communication and Culture Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said that all Malaysian-made movies in Mandarin, Cantonese or Tamil with Bahasa Malaysia subtitles are now recognised as local movies for the purposes of entertainment tax rebate.

The New Straits Times reported that he cited Ah Niu's "Ice Kacang Puppy Love" as already having been reclassified as a local movie.

Rais Yatim: "I have decided with our committee and I have informed the cabinet about this decision."

The popular movie raked in a surprising RM 4 million when it was released in April 2010 and this was followed by calls by some industry pundits to revise the National Film Development Corporation (FINAS) provisions that did not admit local movies without at least 60% of Bahasa Malaysia content as being qualified for the 25% tax rebate enjoyed by other Malay-language movies.

The New Straits Times also reported that besides the tax rebate, another government incentive to protect local film producers is the Compulsory Screening Scheme (CSS) which requires cinema operators to screen locally-produced films for 14 days. The scheme is expected to be reviewed soon due to the increasing number of local films produced.

It is learnt that the CSS committee is considering allowing two local films to open every week. Currently, only one local film is allowed to open every two weeks, except under exceptional circumstances like the Raya period.

Beginning March, one local film would open every week due to a glut in local films.