Malaysiakini(http://www.malaysiakini.com)
(1) Banning of books alarms freedom advocates, 24 February 2010
by Baradan Kuppusamy
The confiscation and banning of books by Malaysian authorities is sending alarm bells ringing among activists, who want the repeal of laws that the government is using to suppress freedom of expression.
Home Ministry officials last week continued to raid numerous bookstores to confiscate books and publications by Malaysiakini, an independent news website that has been critical of government policies.
The ministry says it needs to "study and review" these books for content deemed to be against national security. But for Malaysiakini chief editor Steven Gan, the action amounts to harassment of writers and booksellers.
Two publications by Malaysiakini, '1Funny Malaysia' and 'Where is Justice', have virtually been banned because bookstores are afraid to sell them and people are afraid to buy because of official harassment, he said. Thus far, a dozen bookstores across this South-east Asian country have had their stocks of the two publications seized for "study and review".
"According to Home Ministry officials, the books were suspected to cause harm to public order, morality, public safety and international relations," Gan told IPS. "The books are not banned, but they want to seize the books for review purposes."
"They can get the books from us," he said. "There is no need to harass the bookstores."
This follows the banning by the publication division of the Home Ministry of books that include works written by human rights activists and Muslim feminist academics.
Phrases banned
Even the use of particular phrases like the word 'Allah', the Arabic word for God, is banned in some publications, with officials arguing that these words are exclusive to Islam.
"These works (Malaysiakini publications) are about current issues and written to arouse critical thinking and encourage healthy debates," said political humourist Zunar, author of '1Funny Malaysia', a collection of his best-known political cartoons that lambast the ruling power elites.
The title is a pun on the '1Malaysia campaign' by Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is hoping to recoup political losses by convincing the public that the government is for all of them and not just for the ruling elite.
"It is a violation of press freedom, freedom of expression and the principles of democracy," Zunar told IPS. The spate of raids and confiscations is being done under the Printing Presses and Publications Act, a law enacted to defeat a communist insurrection in the late 1940s.
While it remains in the books, opposition lawmaker Murugesan Kulasegaran said: "The law is outdated. It has no place in a liberal and progressive country. It should be repealed entirely."
The mere possession of a banned book can lead to a jail term and fine of RM5,000.
Meantime, the judiciary, which media and civil society hope to turn to for redress, has given mixed signals on the issue.
While some judges have ordered the government to lift the ban on books, others have supported the home minister in their judgements, arguing that the minister knows better and has the power to use his discretion to preserve "public safety and national security".
Conflicting judgements
In two conflicting judgements in the first two months of 2010, one judge lifted a ban on the book 'Muslim Women and the Challenges of Islamic Extremism' by Muslim feminist academic Noraini Othman and another confirmed a ban on 'March 8', a book by lawyer K Arumugam about the origins of a 2001 riot between Hindus and Muslims in the city.
Deputy Home Minister Fu Ah Kiow justified the ban as just ordinary procedure. "We have to act to because some books are unfavourable for the public, cause ill feelings among the races," the English-language daily The Star quoted him as saying.
Discussions of race and ethnicity are sensitive in this country, where racial tensions have simmered under its multi-ethnic surface since independence in 1957 and where laws discourage inflammatory statements and publications.
Some 55 percent of Malaysia's more than 28 million people are Malay, most of them Muslim, while 25 percent are Chinese, 12 percent indigenous peoples, and nearly 8 percent Indians.
Records in the past two decades show that some 7,000 books have been banned, the bulk of them from abroad. "Most of these books never enter the bookstores because they are vetted first on arrival," said a senior manager of a leading publishing company, requesting anonymity. "We simply follow the Home Ministry orders."
The current crackdown on books and publications comes after a lull during the 2003-2008 tenure of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi. During that time, there was greater tolerance for dissent, arbitrary arrests were suspended and media enjoyed greater freedom although none of the repressive laws that curb free speech and assembly were repealed.
The Kuala-Lumpur based Centre for Independent Journalism says the government is abusing the Printing Presses and Publication Act to harass the legitimate political opposition.
"Publications that challenge views propagated by the government are targeted. Writers whose books are banned are often not informed," said the centre's executive director Gayathry Venkiteswaran. "Publishers are vulnerable and the public and civil society are kept in the dark over what can be read and what is banned. This law needs to be repealed entirely."
Tightening the law
But the government has no plans to repeal the law and is in fact tightening its clauses administratively, political analysts said.
"Free speech and freedom of expression are under attack," Kulasegaran said, adding that the government is more insecure following the massive losses that the ruling party Barisan Nasional suffered in the 2008 polls. "They are shaken and hope to recover political losses by curbing free speech. Intolerance is on the rise and they want everyone to toe the line. Alternative views that can undermine their status are strongly discouraged," he said.
Often, books stay in limbo for months or even years and are officially classified as "being evaluated" by the Home Ministry until it is no longer economical to place them in bookstores.
One such book under "evaluation" is 'Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times', written by Australian journalist Barry Wain.
The book arrived at the customs' warehouse on Dec. 24, 2009 and is still "under evaluation", even though former prime minister Mahathir himself has appealed to the authorities to release it. He has said he is not "afraid" of anything in the book, which accuses him of mismanagement on a grand scale during his 22 years as prime minister.
Mahathir's own book, the controversial 'The Malay Dilemma', was banned in 1968. The ban was only lifted years later, after he became prime minister.
- ASIA MEDIA FORUM
(2) 'Ban if you want, but don't harass booksellers', 12 February 2010
by Aidila Razak
Kinibooks, which had two of its books confiscated in a series of raids nationwide this year, has condemned the action and called for the halt of harassment against booksellers.
The publisher, a subsidiary of Malaysiakini, had 118 copies of its latest books, 1Funny Malaysia and Where is Justice, seized from bookstores in Malacca, Johor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan since Jan 7.
The seizures were made under Section 18 of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, as the books were suspected to cause harm to public order, morality, public safety and international relations.
When contacted, the authorities told Malaysiakini that the books are not banned and that the seizure was to enable police officers to "analyse their contents".
"If they wanted to review the books, they could have gotten them from us. We would be happy to give them a free copy each," said Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan.
"We want the police and the Home Ministry officials to stop the harassment of booksellers across the country," he said.
He added that Kinibooks is sending a legal letter to the Home Ministry demanding a reason for the seizure and that the books to be returned.
Stop using back door tactics
Echoing the sentiment was Where is Justice editor, Nathaniel Tan, who said that the ministry should "just do (the review) and make its decision quickly".
"If you want to ban it, then do so, and we will challenge it in court. Instead they are using back-door tactics to stop the public from getting the books.
"The books are not very long and can be finished within one day. I would expect the officers at the Home Ministry to be able to do so," he said.
He, however, added that there was no legal reason to ban the book, as it was based on facts and this "will hold up in a court of law".
1Funny Malaysia author Zulkiflee Anwar Haque (better known as Zunar) said that the action is stifling the already under-developed Malaysian political cartoon industry.
"A cartoonist's role is to be a watchdog for the government (but) they are trying to instill a culture of fear and affect their work," he said.
Zunar added that he refused to be cowed and that the seizures, along with that of his other publication, Gedung Kartun, have only strengthened his determination.
"I have received emails from readers from all walks of life telling me to keep going, and this is because cartoons reach out to people of all ages and backgrounds," he said.
There's a silver lining though, with Kinibooks boasting higher sales after the seizures begun due to the "free publicity".
"We also have bookstores asking for more copies," said Malaysiakini group business development manager See Tho Chee Seong.
Some bookstores have, however, taken the books off the shelves and are only selling them upon request.
"This is not right... Stop being sneaky and underhanded. If (the government) is concerned about their dirty laundry being aired, then do something about the dirty laundry. Don't harass the booksellers," said Tan.
(End)
