Cartoonist Zunar Charged with Sedition

The police raided the office of political cartoonist Zunar (left) in Brickfields on Friday and seized 66 copies of his collection (very aptly titled given the high-level of governmental paranoia towards his work!) Cartoon-o-phobia. They also apparently took away a caricature of Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor.

The story? :

Zunar’s book is considered detrimental to public order and can influence the public to revolt against government policies. 

Zunar was charged with sedition and detained but has since been released on bail.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein is reported as saying that Zunar's arrest was made after his book of cartoons that touched on the country's legal system and religion, including the "Allah" issue (still unresolved!) was found to be detrimental to public order.
 
Malaysiakini chief editor and Zunar's publisher Steven Gan called it :

... an attack on freedom of expression

Aliran says :

If expressing views that are critical of the government and its policies are deemed to be an offence, then this unfortunately may be construed as a warning to not only other cartoonists but also critical political commentators, analysts and oppositionists. ... If a free and responsible press is the cornerstone of a democracy, then the political and legal constraints that have been placed against journalists and cartoonists, among others, must be removed to promote democracy, the free flow of information and honest journalism. In the case of Malaysia, the Sedition Act and the Printing Presses and Publications Act must be repealed.

Zunar, meanwhile,  vows to continue to draw and also plans to sue the police.

This blogger cheers him on.

Postscript :

Some of the cartoons that got Zunar locked up.

Postscript 2 :

NGO's come out in support of Zunar :

Body2Body Snatchers

The Home Ministry has apparently seized* three copies of the Body 2 Body: A Malaysian Queer Anthology published last year, from KL book store, Kinokuniya, Patrick Lee reports.

Publisher Amir Muhammad commented :

They just walk into a shop and take the copies ... They don't want to go through the whole legal process (of banning the book). ... It's kind of ironic, (as) a month ago I decided not to reprint the book.

The book has sold more than 2,900 copies to date, so talk about making a gesture to shut the stable door after the horse has ... not just bolted, but disappeared over the horizon.

Lee points out that :

Amir is no stranger to the government's book-grabbing tendencies. ... In February this year, nine copies of his political satire title, “Malaysian Politicians Say the Darndest Things (Vol 2)” were seized by police officers from MPH Mahkota Parade in Malacca.

I must say that one doesn't know whether to laugh or to cry when this kind of thing happens. One way or another, we all get to read the books we want to read, and Malaysian voices will out.  But the fact that any book gets seized reminds us that Big Brother State is always there to attempt to trample those voices.

Anyway, Amir has some other good things going on to take his mind off all this.  The first edition of his new book 120 Malay Movies is all but sold out (Amir, please save me a copy!!). He has two more books on the best-seller list. And now he's steaming ahead with a book on his take of the Malay classic Sejarah Melayu. (Chapter One is here.)

Postscript :

Back to splitting semantic hairs.  Christine Chan writes in Malaysiakini :

The Home Ministry's Publications Control and Quranic Text secretary Zaitun Ab Samad said that the books entitled Body 2 Body, published by Amir Muhammad, have not been seized, rather only taken to undergo scrutiny.

"Taken" or "seized"? 

The first word is too innocuous (the stores have no choice but to let the books go so there is an element of  compulsion which "take" - sorry Pn Zaiton - does not cover).  "Seized" may yes, be too strong, a bit dramatic, but "confiscated", which is probably better, makes us think of school.  The books (we know from past form) will not be paid for, not returned after they have been "examined".  If the books were only for study then why on earth would three copies need to be taken??

Postscript to Postscript :

 Hazlan Zakaria gets round it nicely by using the word "appropriated"!

Singapore Arrests UK Author

I must express my concern over the arrest of author Alan Shadrake (75) in Singapore on defamation charges and contempt of course following the publication of his book on the death penalty in the city state.  Once A Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock was launched Saturday at the Post Museum.  The report against him came from the Media Development Authority.

 It sounds like Shadrake opened up a bag of worms the authorities would rather have kept tightly closed, particularly regarding serious inconsistencies in sentencing. The blurb reads :

Over the past few decades, investigative journalism has come to mean the kind of brave reporting that exposes injustice, wrongdoing and, above all, the abuse of power. Alan Shadrake’s hard-hitting new book cuts through the façade of official silence to reveal disturbing truths about Singapore’s use of the death penalty. From in-depth interviews with Darshan Singh, Singapore’s chief executioner for nearly fifty years, to meticulously researched accounts of numerous high profile cases, Once A Jolly Hangman reveals the cruelty and imprudence of an entire judicial system. At the same time he displays a touching empathy with the anguish of the victims and their families. This important book should be required reading for human rights activists everywhere.

The Online Citizen looks at what exactly might have rattled the Singapore authorities. 

The book can be purchased in Malaysia from Kinibooks and SIRD, but in Singapore, although the book was not banned, bookshops were ordered to take it off the shelves.

But there's always a positive side to book banning - it invariably highlights the books we really ought to read, and I hope that as a result of his arrest, the issues highlighted by Shadrake will be debated in a larger arena.

Postscript (20/7):

Shadrake has been released on bail.

A Lack of Confidence

It is quite astonishing that a successful and globalised country like Malaysia should contemplate banning a mainstream account of its recent political developments. It suggests a lack of confidence beneath a glossy, modern exterior. The problem for the government is that there is too big a gap between what it has fed the public in official versions of events and what really happened as related in my book. ... On a practical level, the prolonged examination of the book before release indicates ineptness. Malaysians were buying the book by the hundreds in Singapore and elsewhere, rendering a possible future ban pretty much moot.

says Barry Wain author of Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times in an interview with Deborah Loh at The Nut Graph. The book is now available in the shops.
 

When The Home Ministry Steals Your Books

I've known about the Home Ministry opening packets of books in the mail and confiscating them on whim for some time, but have usually lacked a concrete example to put before you. (The worst example I heard of before this was a friend losing the books she had ordered from Amazon.com on the subject of ovarian cysts, which she wanted to read up on prior to her surgery. Now if that isn't shameful, what is?)

Subashini provides not one but two examples of books that were taken en-route to her from Malaysian online bookshop Acmamall.  She writes on her blog :

Some time back I was told that my order of Laini Taylor’s Lips Touch Three Times was detained by the Home Ministry after I had placed the order and paid for it. Acmamall was most accommodating about issuing a refund, but I haven’t stopped foaming at the mouth about being informed that I simply couldn’t purchase any book I wanted as I initially thought I could. ... I’ve been unable to fathom what makes Lips Touch Three Times, a young adult book that’s been critically lauded in most American press, a subversive book, or indeed, one that is a threat to national security or morals. Is it the goblins? Are they afraid that reading this book will prompt a rash of young Malaysians to want to make out with pontianaks? Are they afraid it will encourage a kissing epidemic?

I have no idea.

I told myself to calm down, life’s too short to get raging mad at EVERY damn thing (wrinkles, sour facial expression, etc.), and chalked it up to one very small loss as a result of being Malaysian. Other Malaysians were dealing with far worse problems – lack of income, land, home, citizenship; lack of access to rights to see their own babies, rights to a fair trial, rights to drink whatever they damn well please without being whipped. Not being able to read a book is no big deal, really.

Or is it?

I placed my next order for Virginie Despentes’ King Kong Theory with trepidation. I told a friend that it will most likely be ‘detained,’ but I really hoped I was wrong. I REALLY wanted to read it. But sure enough, I get an email today from the Acmamall customer service informing me that the book has indeed been detained by the Home Ministry. And if you head over to Acmamall’s website, you’ll see that the book is now listed as ‘Not for sale in Malaysia.’

I felt anger at that very instant – again, being told what I’m allowed to read and not allowed to read just makes me blindingly angry. Even my parents have never told me what I could and could not read.

... With King Kong Theory, reviewers have said that the author, whether or not you agree with her stand, has presented a brash, bold and thought-provoking perspective on modern-day feminism. ... I mean, these are the subjects I like to think about and read about. Maybe I’m the only sad sod in all of Malaysia who’s upset about the Home Ministry detaining King Kong Theory because… well, what the hell kind of book is it anyway?!? But that shouldn’t be the point. I’m prevented from reading a book for reasons I don’t even know of.

I wonder what made the authorities deem this book unfit for Malaysian eyes – is it the fact that the author was formerly a prostitute, and made a highly-controversial (if not exactly acclaimed) movie on the complex interrelations of sexual desire, abuse, and power? Do the authorities even know this? (I’m of the belief that their brains are puny; small enough to hold only recycled thoughts and prosaic wishes – such as the nature of, “Harap boleh makan nasi lemak petang ni…”) Are they afraid that Malaysian women will, en-masse, decide to prostitute themselves in an attempt at self-empowerment? Are they afraid that Malaysian women will want to migrate to France and prostitute themselves after reading this book (the author is French)? Did they simply look at the title and conclude that King Kong, being the product of American capitalist Hollywood minds, has no place in Malaysia – that a King Kong theory usurps the revered position of our local orangutans?

Again, I have no idea.

Well, I’m not being honest here. I suppose I have an inkling. Books like this one make people think; but more alarmingly, it makes people question the status quo. Police states don’t want its citizens thinking and questioning anything – especially not if it’s a police state pretending to be a multicultural, peaceful, free-thinking democracy.

I hope Subashini's impassioned plea is heard by those who need to hear it.

Meanwhile if you or your friends have any books confiscated in the post do let me know so I can blog it here and get the word out.

The Quiet Desperation of Crumbling Regimes

The evidence suggests that there is a systemic, consistent effort to suppress any efforts to break BN’s hegemony on information and power. ... Instead of banning books or persecuting authors, the police now harass and intimidate bookstores — businesses at the mercy of the authorities — effectively creating a backdoor ban on the books. Due to this pressure, I believe one can barely find copies of Where is Justice? 1FunnyMalaysia, or Politicians Say the Darndest Things Vol. 2 (on the shelves for over a year, mind), in a single Malaysian bookshop anymore, even though it is still 100 per cent legal to sell them.

writes Nathaniel Tan's in Malaysian Insider, one example among many of how alternative voices are being suppressed.

And he concludes :

... the effort put into suppressing the free flow of information and wrongful intimidation of alternative voices indicate more than anything else a crumbling, bankrupt regime.

Nathaniel's book was, of course, one of those "confiscated".

Yes, Dr. M's Book Will Be Banned Here

Yes, it seems that there is a going to be a ban on the book Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times. The Malay Mail reports that the Home Ministry's Quran Publication Control and Text Division division :

... found the book by veteran Australian journalist Barry Wain to have content that was not only erroneous but also damaging to former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed.

The former PM says that he wanted the book to be released and said that he did not need any protection :

In his blog, Dr Mahathir welcomed the suggestion saying that the commission should not be confined to one prime minister alone but should also look into Tun Abdullah Badawi’s tenure as prime minister.

(Here's what he says on his blog about it.)

Surely it is better for everything to be out in the open, and allegations scrutinised and either refuted, or fully investigated? Banning the book is in no-one's best interests and simply demonstrates that the present government is unwilling to face up to issues that are undeniably in the public interest.

Another good review of the book by Din Merican can be found here.

New Biog of Mahathir Isn't Reaching Shops

800 copies of an authoritative new biography of our former PM entitled Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times have been held up for the past three weeks at customs at Port Klang. Says The Asian Sentinel, the book written by former Asian Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Barry Wain :

... is a warts-and-all, critical but fair account of Mahathir's 22 years in power. It is certain to become an essential study for scholars seeking to understand the onetime premier's reign and its consequences. But maybe not in Malaysia itself unless the locals buy through Barns & Noble (available Jan. 10) or Amazon (Jan. 5) for US$60.75.

And the piece gives a lovely insight into how a book can be prevented from reading its audience without ever actually being banned by time time honoured practice of foot-dragging :

Foreign published books air-freighted into Malaysia often go through customs without being checked, or with only a cursory check at the airport. Books sent by ship or by land from Singapore are often stopped for inspection, however, which can mean customs officers spending weeks reading the material. Sometimes they just sit on the book, leaving the publisher with little option but to withdraw it or be faced with being hit with storage charges, leaving the book effectively banned without the government having to face criticism for formally banning it.

Aliran says that this is

... nothing short of crude and reckless censorship, although indirect, the effect is the same. It very undemocratically denies Malaysians reading material that should be made freely available to all and sundry. This book is of particular interest to citizens who are appalled by the disclosure that under Mahathir RM100 billion could have been squandered. They have been waiting anxiously to find out how this atrocity involving a mammoth, mind-boggling amount could have happened without anybody commenting on this extravagance.

(One silly silly line at the end of the piece :

But for readers who buy Kindle or another electronic reader, it's easy to get.

because of course there isn't a single e-reader for the Malaysian market as yet !)

More about the book on Anak Bangsa Malaysia's blog.

Update 27/12 :

This from The Star :

The book Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times is not being put through any additional scrutiny by the Home Ministry.

It has been withheld to undergo the normal process for any foreign publication, said ministry deputy secretary-general Datuk Ahmad Fuad Abdul Aziz.

“Studying the content is the usual process for any publication from abroad and the book written by Barry Wain is no exception,” Ahmad Fuad said in a statement yesterday.

He said this was to ensure the publication’s contents would not jeopardise national security and public safety.

He said the ministry had 60 days from the time it was submitted to decide if the book should be allowed to be distributed in the country.

The Allah Controversy and the Confiscated Bibles

Malaysia once more hits the world news for all the wrong reasons :

Malaysian authorities have confiscated more than 15,000 Bibles in recent months because they referred to "God" as "Allah," a translation that has been banned in this Muslim-majority country, Christian church officials said Thursday.

This issue about whether Christians are allowed to refer to God as Allah when they use Malay should have been resolved by the courts, but two years later the case brought by The Roman Catholic Church who say the present ruling it is unconstitutional and discriminates against those worshiping in Malay language (i.e the national language, the medium of education!) is still stuck in preliminary hearings for almost two years.

Further Thoughts on ALA's Banned Books Week

This began as a footnote to my post on the American Library Association's Banned Books week and grew into a sound off, so am posting it separately. Worth reading is Mitchell Munsy's piece at The Wall Street Journal*, arguing that calling books banned in the US is "loose language":

... if banned means something like "made dangerous or difficult for the average person to obtain"...

since many of the books in question are best sellers, or the work of acclaimed authors and may be available at other libraries and in bookshops, and of course online. But Colleen Mondor of the Chasing Ray blog who points out just why removing a book from the shelf of a school library actually IS a big deal. We in Malaysia can but sigh of course. Our banned books are very banned and theoretically we could be fined or imprisoned for possessing and distributing them. More books never reach out bookstore shelf because someone thinks they are unsuitable for us. Books from overseas sometimes don't reach us (just ask Leon about trying to get his copies of Granta magazine or Dina trying to get medical books on ovarian cysts!). Ignorant people who would never read Rushdie in a hundred years (probably can't read any novels in English anyway) call for all his books to be banned and scream "Don't step on my sensitivities," in lieu of logical discussion. (Hey, I got sensitivities too as a reader!) Good for the ALA opposing and highlighting every instance where a book is challenged : I doubt if we could even keep up if we were to do this here! And half the time we don't even know how hard it is to obtain a title until we try. My friends, we are the ones more in need of a Banned Books Week than the Americans, and I really wish this event were an international one. Erna recently resurrected the Manuscripts Don't Burn blog from its long slumber and I hope this time it is maintained, as it could be a very useful focal point for discussion about the issue. (I found myself a lone voice on the blog with no-one else contributing and have dropped out of it now for good ... but will fight my fight from here, of course.) Sisters in Islam (SIS) have, of course, their own very important battle to fight. Leave has been granted for Judicial Review and the first hearing will be on 28 Oct. Thank you, Postscript : Just opened my e-mail midway through writing this post and found this message from Daphne Lee - talk about timely!! :

Twenty-sixth September saw the start of Banned Books Week in the States. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States. Here in Malaysia, more than 1500 books have been banned between 1971 and 2009. In terms of children's literature, these include books in the Spongebob Squarepants series, Dora’s Fiesta Adventure ActivePoint Book, Poems & Prayers for Children and Read-Aloud Children’s Classics.** The Dram Projects believes in the freedom to read. We also believe in the right to make informed choices when selecting reading material. TDP will be participating in the Right to Read Festival, presented by Sisters in Islam and The Centre for Independent Journalism. Artist/photographer Wei Meng Foo and Daphne Lee (of TDP) will conduct Free2READ, a workshop that introduces children (9-12) to their rights as readers; celebrates the joy and thrill of discovering the different worlds and experiences that lie between the covers of books; and examines the problems and challenges children might encounter in their reading journeys. The workshop participants will be encouraged to discuss and debate the concept of book-banning; invited to question book-banning and challenging policies; and explore their own feelings and thoughts regarding the practice of restricting children's reading material. This will be followed by a bookcover art session with artist/photographer Wei Meng Foo. During this session participants will be invited to exercise their imaginations and creatiivity to produce book covers that celebrate their rights as readers. Date: 10th October, 2009 Time: 10am-1pm Venue: The Annexe, Central Market, Kuala Lumpur Admission: Free Registration: Call Nazreen at 03-7785 6121 -- The Dram Projects 016-328 1513

*Found via jelundberg on Twitter. ** Ooops- postscript to a postscript - these children's titles were never "banned" (e.g gazetted) but were, for whatever reasons, seized by JPJ officers. If Munsy is accusing ALA of being sloppy with language, we should take care ourselves.

For Zealots and Bigots on Banned Books Week

It's Banned Books Week in the US, an annual event which celebrates the freedom to read, and highlights the harms of censorship and actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States. (The map here shows the individual incidents across the country.)

Ellen Hopkins, an author of young adult fiction (who had an event cancelled a few days ago after a parent complained about her New York Times bestselling novels Crank and Glass) has written a poem addressed to :

... zealots and bigots and false
patriots who live in fear of discourse
You screamers and banners and burners
who would force books off shelves
in your brand of greater good.

The American Library Association has also produced this charming video to publicise Banned Books Week :

Both Boobs and Books Get Censored by IHT

Huh? Now here's something I don't understand and would love one of you more clued up guys to explain to me.

Why have the titles of Islamic books in a Paris bookshop been blacked out by censors (in an article about the banning of the burqa) in my Malaysian edition of The International Herald Tribune?

Here is the original pic from The New York Times :


And here is my photo of the hardcopy page - not terribly good quality, but you get the picture :


Does anyone have any idea what the title of the blanked out books are, and why some censorship has been carried out? What arcane knowledge is being hidden from out eyes least it pollute our minds? Of course NYT/Trib readers are so naive and impressionable!

The censorship of IHT pictures is quite commonplace, but usually it is the cleavage which is attacked. We aren't supposed to know about women's boobs, of course. (It was vaudeville queen Sophie Tucker's bosom that got expunged today - you can feast your eyes on it here.) Now it seems we aren't supposed to know about books either!

Presumably this censorship is carried out with the collusion of the NYT/Trib which I think is more than a tad shameful. Malaysian readers deserve the content they pay for. (If anyone from the paper passes this way, could we have a statement please?)

But let's be thankful for small mercies. At least the offending parts these days are blanked digitally and no longer by a chap with a black felt pen that penetrates the page. That, I suppose is progress.

Gedung Kartun Seized

Received this press statement today and very much share the concerns :

Problematic licensing laws hampers distribution of new cartoon

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) and Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI) are concerned about the confiscation of hundreds of copies of a cartoon magazines on current issues edited by prominent cartoonist, Zunar. The confiscation smacks of harassment and censorship of discussion of current issues.

On 25 August, officials from the Control of Publication Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs seized copies of the inaugural issues of Gedung Kartun (Cartoon Store) from the publisher's office in Kuala Lumpur. According to the magazine Chief Editor Zulkiflee Anwar Haque, better known as Zunar, more than 400 copies were seized. When contacted by CIJ, the Department's Assistant Secretary Abdul Razak Abdul Latif said the magazine was confiscated "primarily" due to the lack of a publication permit as well as for content "checking". He was unable to confirm the amount seized.

However, Zunar disputed the lack of permit as the reason and claimed that he had obtained the permit's serial number verbally. He said the officers insisted on confiscating the magazines despite informing them of the verbal permission. Zunar said he was then told to ask for an official letter regarding the status of the permit.

The permit requirement for publications is legislated under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, and failing to meet the requirement can result in imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to RM20 000 (USD5700).

The confiscation is a form of harassment against those who publish alternative interpretations of current events. Zunar is a long time contributor to online news site Malaysiakini and is well-known for his political cartoons. Gedung Kartun, a bi-weekly slated for the market in September, features drawings that discuss the controversial death of the political assistant from opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) at the Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office as well as one involving the Prime Minister Najib Razak. Zunar said the magazine is about alternative humour.

The action once again shows how the licensing regime is used arbitrarily to control expression. The employment of such law does not inspire confidence with the Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussien's announcement that the law will be reviewed to keep up with the demands of the people. To show that the Minister appreciates the people's criticism of the law, he should stop any further practices of harsh measures such as the arbitrary confiscation of publications.

CIJ and WAMI urge the Ministry to return copies of Gedung Kartun to its publisher so that it can be made available to the public. We also urge the Ministry to reveal what it's plan is for the supposed review of the PPPA and to include civil society in its consultations.

Issued by

Gayathry Venkiteswaran
Executive Director, CIJ

and Wong Chin Huat
Chairman, WAMI

For more information please contact Wai Fong at 03 4023 0772

More here and here. And you can see some of the cartoons here.

Jewel of Medina Among Books Banned in Malaysia

22 more books have joined the banned list in Malaysia, bringing the total number of books banned sine 2000 to 397.

From Bernama :

The Home Ministry has issued a ban order on 397 book titles containing materials that could jeopardise public order and obscenity from 2000 to July 2009.

Publication Control Division and Al-Quran Text Division principal assistant secretary Abdul Razak Abdul Latif said 190 of them contained materials that could jeopardise public order and 207 with immoral content.

He said 150 of the books were in Bahasa Malaysia followed by English (142), Mandarin (94), Tamil (nine) and Arabic (two).

Of 22 books banned until July this year, 13 were in Bahasa Malaysia while the rest in English, he said in a statement.

Among Bahasa Malaysia titles banned were Cinta Awak Dalam Sehari, Pengantin Remaja, 55 Masalah Seksual Yang Anda Malu Tanya, Rahsia Dalam Rahsia Di Sebalik Tirai Kamar Suami Isteri and Senggama Kubur.

English titles banned include those published abroad like The Jewel of Medina, The Trouble with Islam Today, Ibrahim a.s And Sarah and Qabil & Nabil.

Abdul Razak said individuals involved in printing, importing, publishing, selling, distributing the books can be charged under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 which carries a jail term up to three years and a fine up to RM20,000.

The complete list of books gazetted as banned in Malaysia from 2000-2009 is online here. Most of the books are the predictable mix of sex manuals and titillation, and books on Islam which don't follow the official line.

The list apparently includes The Jewel of Medina which is not unexpected (and of course there was a whole kerfuffle about it in Britain and elsewhere), but I can't seem to locate it on the list. (Can you?)

The book that I'm saddest about of course is the book edited by Noraini Othman and published by Sisters-in-Islam : Muslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism.

I see things in Malaysia as becoming less free every day - I almost coughed up a hairball when I read about the possibility that the internet in Malaysia be censored. Freedom of speech is vitally important and must be defended.

SIS Goes for Judicial Review

Readers of this blog will remember that last July Sisters In Islam (SIS) had one of their books Muslim Women and the Challenges of Islamic Extremism banned by the Home Ministry last year on the sole ground that it was “prejudicial to public order” under Section 7 of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984. (And if not, you can refresh your memory here.)

Now SIS has applied for leave for a judicial review and lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar has declared the case ultra vires since the book was no threat to public order and had been in circulation for almost two years prior to the ban. Malik said the ban was ultra vires since the book was no threat to public order and had been in circulation for almost two years prior to the ban :

As such it is contrary to the applicant’s rights under Article 10(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution to freedom of expression.

Really hoping for SIS' victory here as this is a case I think with much broader implications.

Book City Project to Go Ahead

This from Bernama :

The Book City, which the government plans to set up by end of this year, will provide an avenue for publishers and writers to expand the scope and quality of their work, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.

He said that the project, coordinated by the Education Ministry, would also be an avenue for the country's literary fans to enjoy quality books and spur the country's book industry to greater heights.

"We already have a building in Kuala Lumpur which will be turned into a Teachers' Museum and Book City. We will start the project by end of this year at the cost of RM20 million ..."

He said interested parties could rent a space to display their publications at the Book City.

Muhyiddin who is Education Minister, also said that the ministry was carrying out studies to improve literature curriculum in school.

"We are looking into the types of books to be used and for which level. Literature is taught in secondary school and at university level, so we want to coordinate the curriculum so that there will be continuity," he said.

To a question, Muhyiddin said the government normally would not block the entry of literary works from abroad so long as they did not create problems for the readers.

The Book City project was proposed back in 2006, and I had several questions and reservations back then. (And I have to point out, splitting semantic hairs, that a single building is hardly a "city" ...) But I do hope that something good comes of this ...

I am also glad that studies are being carried out on the study of literature in schools. Let's hope for some texts the students can really enjoy and plenty of support for teachers. But I'm not too clear what the Muhyiddin means by saying the Ministry plans to coordinate literature studies in schools with those at the universities :

... to ensure the teaching of literature in schools remains relevant to the aspiration to build a nation that is not only progressive, but united and peaceful ...

Can, and even should, literature be looked at in these terms?

It's good that a journalist asked about the censorship of foreign books (yes, keep up the pressure!) but what exactly does "as long as they did not create a problem for readers" actually mean? Vague vague vague!!

Reading Lolita in KL

Just thought I'd post this up :

Dear friends,

KL Alternative Bookfest (KLAB) is just around the corner (this weekend...) so if you are planning to go KLABbing this weekend, I'd recommend you stop by SIS booth and attend our reading.

It being a
bookfest means there are quite a few readings but there are some very compelling
reasons why you should attend ours.

1. without divulging too much as it's an experiential thing, let's just say it's going to be dark and very interesting.

2. the reading list is a selection of books banned throughout the ages, including works by Darwin, Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, and a few other authors and titles you wouldn't expect to be in the realm of the censored.

3. we've been very lucky to get these booklovers to read (for free and freely) and they are:

hot off the air-con Shanon Shah, Marina Mahathir, Fahmi Fadzil, Cecil Rajendra, Rahmat Haron, Priya K. (young poet), Chi Too (documentary filmmaker and a Mak Bedah), and Aishah Hassan (performing arts student).

Whether this event is (malaysian) shariah-compliant I'm not sure but
it's definitely fatwa-free and 100% mother's day-friendly so bring your BFFs and
their moms and join us as we celebrate the freedom to read.

Here are the details:

Reading Lolita in KL
Sunday, May 10, 2009
4.30pm - 6pm
2nd floor, The Annexe Gallery, Central Market KL


booklovers of
the world unite to take over!

XXXmas

--
Masjaliza Hamzah
Programme Manager (Research & Publications)
Sisters in Islam
7 Jalan 6/10, 46000 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel:603-7785 6121,
Fax:603 7785 8737
Website: www.sistersinislam.org.my

Coming Up!

Here's a quick guide to some of the good things on in KL in the near future, and which I won't get to see as I will be away. First of all, do remember the poetry slam organised for tomorrow, and featuring an impressive line-up which includes Chris Mooney-Singh, Bani Haykkal (B-Quartet), Priya K, Hazlan Zakaria, Dizzy Firefly, the slammers of the night (Illya, Afi, Ayue, Cipta, Fynn, Arzumy, Abdul M.I. Abdullah, Zain Azrai).... and maybe YOU because even if you don't want to be part of the slam, you can take a turn at the mic to read any new work you have. Then there is the KL Alternative Bookfair at Central Market Annexe, held in conjunction with Art for Grabs on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10 May, 12pm to 8pm. There is a programme up on Facebook, with several talks and quite a number of book launches listed. Do check it out - last year the event was great fun and everyone who went managed to snag free books, and I expect this year will be even better. I like the sound of Sisters In Islam's event on the Sunday afternoon celebrating the freedom to read by performing poetry and excerpts from books, plays, scripts, etc that have been banned in many countries throughout history. Chuah Guat Eng's novel Echoes of Silence was the first full-length novel in English by a Malaysian woman, when it first appeared in 1994. Now the book has been republished and in a session called Anatomizing the Colonised Mind, on Saturday, 23 May at Silverfish Books, Guat will read from, and discuss her novel.

Most Challenged Titles Include Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner turns up as one of the most frequently challenged books in US libraries. There is a child rape scene and some strong language in the book.

The American Library Association listed 513 challenges to titles on library shelves in 2008. A challenge is defined as a :

... formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness ...

Topping the list for the third year was Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell's award-winning And Tango Makes Three a children's book about two male penguins caring for an orphaned egg.

The association will co-sponsor the 28th annual Banned Books Week starting September 26th 2009 to highlight banned and challenged books.

Homozon.com?

Somehow ... a "glitch" has caused sales ratings on Amazon.com to be removed from gay/lesbian themed books. Among them James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room, Gore Vidal's The City and the Pillar, Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain and Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. (I found though that Alan Hollingshurst's The Line of Beauty was unaffected at Amazon.com - maybe Booker prize winners are immune!).

The furor about this has been building up since the weekend especially on Twitter and Facebook (which is how I came to hear of this first), with the first people to become aware of it being authors who suddenly found themselves stripped of their ratings. (See also Edward Champion's post here.)

Publisher Mark Probst was one of the first to question what was going on. The answer he got from Amazon was evasive :

In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude "adult" material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.

Novels with hetrosexual sex scenes in them, though, seem to be strangely unaffected! Jackie Collins is still ranked and so is Harold Robbins, although many books in the erotica category have also been stripped of ratings.

More comment today at The Guardian.

Update :

A hacker called Weev has claimed credit for creating "the glitch". Amazon is repairing the damage. All our buttons got pushed, hey-ho.

Afterthought :

If it's true that this was a case of hacking, why on earth couldn't Amazon have handled public relations more professionally? At the first sniff of a problem, there should have been a notice posted on the site to the effect that they had been notified about the problem and were working to fix it. Now they need to put some serious effort into damage control.

(Wish I could claim credit for the title of this post but nicked it from a wittier friend!)