RTM had pulled the song of an award-winning local band off  the airwaves, allegedly because it mentioned the word "reformasi", even though the musicians had insisted that the song was not political.

The lyrics to Panik (Panic), which is just under four minutes long, contained one instance of the verse "Reformasi, mana sakti? Sini semua beraksi, ancaman mereka tiada makna." (Reformation, where is the power? Everyone merely shows off, their threats are meaningless.)

bunkface band song bannedBunkface's guitarist and singer Shamsul Annuar Mohd Baharum reportedly told MyNewsHub on Tuesday that the song relates the life experiences of band members and had nothing to do with the movement of the same name in 1998 that culminated in the formation of the PKR.

"I do not understand why RTM banned the song from being broadcast.

"We were only told that the song contained the word 'reformasi'. Is it wrong that we used the word 'reformasi'? We were not sending a bad message," said Shamsul, who goes by the stage name of "Sam".

The three-member rock band with nearly 800,000 Facebook fans had previously won several awards, including the prestigious Malaysian Music Industry Award's (AIM) Kembara award for promoting local music abroad, and Best Rock Band award, as well as Berita Harian's Most Popular Artist Award in the group category last year.

PKR parliamentarian Yusmadi Yusoff has come out in defence of the band, urging RTM to lift the ban .

"For me, the word reformasi is not the monopoly of any authority or individual. The word is the right of anyone who fights for change whether in politics, arts, or society," he said in a press statement yesterday.

The Balik Pulau MP cited a dictionary that defined the allegedly offending word as "change or renewal towards a better condition, particularly in social, political, and cultural systems of a society."