A CHECK on the list of banned publications on the Home Ministry’s website revealed a total of four banned publications from 2021 to 2022.

By contrast, there have been five publications that have made it to the list of banned reading materials so far this year.

Yes, you read it right. The Madani government has banned more publications in less than a year since coming into office than the previous government in its last two years in power.

This is a slap to the face of anyone who thinks that freedom of expression will improve under the new government.

The most recent was last month when the comic book “When I was a Kid 3” was banned following a demonstration by about a few dozen people in front of the Malaysian embassy in Indonesia, protesting the depiction of an Indonesian domestic worker, which the protesters claimed was racist. The author denied this.

The book was published in 2014 and has won first place in the Popular-The Star Reader’s Choice Awards.

Last month, the government also won an appeal in the Court of Appeal to reinstate the ban on the book “Gay is OK! A Christian Perspective”, which was first banned in 2020 but then had its ban overturned by the High Court last year.

Perhaps what’s worse is that the government has also creatively expanded the application of the law to where it never belonged.

For instance, of the above-mentioned five banned materials, one of them is not a book or publication in the traditional sense but is described as any publication that is related to LGBT in any form on the Swatch watches, including on any collection such as boxes, wrappers, accessories or any related item.

Maybe the government has not found any relevant law that they could use when they wanted to ban the Swatch watches, so the law that was traditionally used to ban books was applied.

This sets a very bad precedent where the law could now be used extensively to cover anything and everything that has words printed on it.  

The Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (Amendment) 2012 stipulates that anyone who prints, imports, produces, reproduces, publishes, sells, produces, circulates, offers for sale, distributes or possesses a banned publication could be imprisoned for a term not exceeding three years or fined not more than RM20,000, or both.

However, if you are in the book industry, even if you don’t sell the publications on the banned list, this does not guarantee that you will be safe from the harassment of government officials.

In August, the owner of bookshop Toko Buku Rakyat complained that ministry officials had raided the shop and seized one copy each of a poetry collection and a book on Karl Marx, neither of which was on the ministry’s list of banned publications.

Last week, Kean Wong, the editor of the book “Rebirth: Reformasi, Resistance, And Hope in New Malaysia”, which was banned in 2020 because of the allegedly insulting depiction of the national coat of arms on the book cover, was arrested and remanded for a few days. He is facing possible charges under several laws including sedition.

The censorship spree of the Madani government does not stop on books or watches alone.

Last month, the government banned local movie “Mentega Terbang”.  This came under Film Censorship (Prohibition) Order 2023, in which the exhibition, display, distribution, possession, circulation or sale of the film is punishable by law.

This is different from the rather common occurrence where a movie is merely not allowed to be screened in the cinema but could still be privately owned or shown through other mediums such as streaming.

Even movies that are supposed to have government backing are also not safe from censorship.

A local movie, “Tiger Stripes”, which has just won the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, was chosen by the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia, to represent Malaysia in the foreign film category in the next year’s Oscars.

To fulfil the entry requirement, the movie has to be screened in local cinema.

However, the movie suffered several cuts from the National Censorship Board when it was shown in the cinema and the filmmaker has disavowed herself from the theatrical version of the movie.

This begs the question, why would the government submit the movie to represent Malaysia if it was not prepared to stand behind its full version?

Perhaps what’s sadder is that this is just not a case of maintaining the status quo but actively making the situation worse.

For instance, whenever some old movies were screened in the cinema to celebrate the anniversary of their release, it has become obvious those movies suffered more cuts now than when they were first screened here decades ago! 

At this point, it is clear that censorship will continue to be the fact of life and worsen under the Madani government. Is this the best we could hope for as Malaysians? – October 23, 2023.

* Rayner Sylvester Yeo is a member of Agora Society. He was born in Sabah and is currently residing in Kuala Lumpur. Having grown up in a mixed-ethnic, multi-faith family and spent his working life in public, private and non-profit sectors, he believes diversity is the spice of life.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.