Malaysia: Home Ministry Bans Controversial Book · Global Voices
Jerrenn Lam

Malaysia's Home Ministry has banned author Kim Quek's book “The March To Putrajaya- Malaysia's New Era Is At Hand” under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 as ‘it may incite public hatred and anger’.
Photo from the blog of Magick River
Online news portal The Malaysian Insider reported that the Home Ministry Secretary General Mahmood Adam said that the book was banned because of its baseless accusations against national leaders, among others. He also went on to add that ‘the printing, importing, publishing, reprint, sell, distribute or offer  to sell or in possession of such books is an offence punishable under  the law’.
Kim Quek has subsequently released a press statement denying that the book is not suitable for the public.
Throughout my book, one consistent theme  is my appeal to everyone to be  faithful and to defend the Constitution.  Even on the much politicized  Article 153, which has been deliberately  and dishonestly misinterpreted  to carry out all sorts of racist agenda  and therefore has attracted  much misgivings, I have only words of praise  for it.
I welcome any criticism and open dialogue  over any part of my book,  as it is through honest discourse that we  will bring benefit to the  nation.
As for the Ministry's ban over my book,  I reserve my  right to take the necessary legal recourse to protect my  constitutional  rights.
Currently, the blogosphere is dominated by bloggers who are providing the link to a website that was created yesterday where the book can be read and downloaded. Many are also taking to using Twitter to spread the link. SUARAM, a Malaysian human rights organisation, released a statement in their blog, criticising the Home Ministry's action.
The Home  Ministry is being  unreasonable and defensive by linking criticism of  the ruling government with public disorder when criticism of those in  power is a hallmark of a functioning democracy.
SUARAM believes that no books  should be  banned to prevent the circulation of ideas, and that the people  should  be free to seek and receive them.
Once again, application of the law  is  arbitrary and is being abused by the state as a political tool for   hegemonic purposes rather than to maintain social order.
The government should respect Article  (10) of the Federal Constitution and Article (19) of the Universal  Declaration of Human Rights(UDHR) which clearly state that,  everyone  has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes   freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and  impart  information and ideas through any media and regardless of  frontiers.
Another blog, Hornbill Unleashed, also believe that the ban was unjustified.
A country where its citizens are habitually fed with state-controlled  information – and nothing else – is a backward country which is bound to  fail in this information and globalised age.
If we look around the world, all the countries that are consistently  ranked the best and the most admired for its social and economic  achievement are societies that have free media.  It is only through free  flow of ideas that potentials of the mind can be fully developed.  And  it is the quality of the mind that determines the rate of progression or  even regression of a society.
Genuine reforms mean eradicating corruption and abuse of power, and the  substitution of bad values with good ones.  And what better way to  achieve that than by allowing a free media to act as watchdog as well as  conduit and nursery of creative ideas?  Unless, of course, there is the  absence of political will to leave the existing comfort zone of  corruption and decay.
Malaysia is a country with tough media censorship laws, and was ranked 131st in the 2009 Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index.
The link to the book can be found here.