THE home minister’s decision to ban the book “Gay is Okay! A Christian Perspective” is legal, rational, and in accordance with the law, the Court of Appeal heard today.

Senior Federal Counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly@Alwi, who represented the home minister and government of Malaysia, told the three-member bench that the home minister was satisfied that the content of the book was likely to be prejudicial to public order, morality, and public interest. 

He said the book had defended and promoted homosexuality, adding that homosexuality is deemed immoral by Malaysian society. 

He said this could be seen in the minister’s affidavit where he stated that society objected to homosexuality. 

“Homosexuals’ way of life is prohibited by all religions including Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism. This fact is reflected by the rejection towards homosexuality by the general society in Malaysia, which is a multi-religious society,” said Ahmad Hanir, who was assisted by federal counsel Mohammad Salehuddin Md Ali.

He said the High Court erred in its finding when it allowed the judicial review by the publisher Chong Ton Sin and author Ngeo Boon to quash the Home Minister’s decision to ban the book. 

The Home Minister and the government filed an appeal seeking to reinstate the ban, which was lifted by the High Court on February 22, 2022.

Meanwhile, lawyer Edmund Bon Tai Soon, who represented Chong and Ngeo, submitted that High Court judge Noorin Badaruddin was correct in her reasoning that the home minister failed to justify the ban on the grounds that the book was likely to be prejudicial to public order, morality, and public interest. 

He said the book provided an alternative view from a Christian perspective on whether homosexuality should be opposed. 

Bon, who was assisted by lawyer Michael Cheah Ern Tien, said the home minister did not read the whole book to understand it objectively.  

On February 17, 2021, Chong and Ngeo filed the judicial review asserting that the ban was irrational and disproportionate as no untoward incidents were triggered by the book’s publication over seven years ago. 

On December 18, 2020, the Home Ministry banned the book under Section 7(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984. 

Justice Azizah Nawawi, who presided with Justices M. Gunalan and Wong Kian Kheong fixed May 25 for case management to set the decision date for the appeal. – Bernama, May 18, 2023.