php function with Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '(', expecting T_STRING or T_VARIABLE or '$'
<p>The PHP function below is producing this error: Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '(', expecting T_STRING or T_VARIABLE or '$', on this line that contens this code:<code>$obj = new (  );</code></p>

<p>Does anyone know what's wrong?</p>

<pre><code>function createContextAwareObjectOfClass($className) {
    $className;
    $obj = new (  );
    IApplicationContextAware;

    if (!( $obj instanceof null )) {
        Exception;
        throw new ( '' . 'Non-context aware class "' . $className . '" passed to createContextAwareObjectOfClass' );
    }

    $obj-&gt;setAppContext( $this );
    return $obj;
}
</code></pre>
