THE Home Ministry has banned three publications – “The Tale of Steven”, “Jacob’s Room To Choose”, and “Aku” which are deemed to be harmful to Malaysian morals with two of the books said to be containing LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) elements.
The Prohibition Order was issued in accordance with provisions under Section 7(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (Amended 2012) through Government Gazette P.U.(A) 24, 25 and 26 dated Jan 20, 2023.
The order stipulates that printing, importing, producing, reproducing, publishing, selling, circulating, distributing or owning these three publications are strictly prohibited in Malaysia, according to the ministry.
“All three publications have content that may harm morals. The publication ‘Aku’ was found to have obscene and immoral content that could influence personal behaviour and is against the values of decency in Malaysian society,” justified the ministry in a statement.
“The ‘Tale of Steven’ and ‘Jacob’s Room To Choose’ were deemed to promote a LGBT lifestyle which is seen as a threat to the noble values taught by religion and Eastern society all this time.”
The three books joined three other books deemed to contain immoral values and LBGT elements which were banned by the previous administration on Nov 8 last year.
Back then, the Home Ministry said the book “Chelsia Amanda (Berdasarkan Kisah Benar)” contains obscene and immoral content that contradicts the cultural values and social norms of Malaysian society which places great emphasis on decency.
Meanwhile, the contents of the publications entitled “Heartstopper Volume 2” and “Cekik” were viewed as an attempt to LGBT) culture and contained obscene elements which goes against religious and cultural sensitivities in the country.
With regard to the latest ban, the Home Ministry said the government is committed to preventing the spread of elements that are harmful to the morals of the community which can indirectly contribute to the erosion of races and the nation.
“Based on the provision under Section 8(2) of the Printing and Publishing Act 1984 (Amendment 2012), if convicted, they can be imprisoned for a period not exceeding three years or fined not exceeding RM20,000 or both,” it further warned.
“If members of the public find that the above publication or any publication that is feared to be in violation of the law is still being distributed on the market, they can inform the Home Ministry’s enforcement division at 03-88868047 or fax 03-88891682.”
The ministry also welcomed complaints to be made to the ministry’s complaint system at http://moha.spab.gov.my.
Interestingly, a publisher and an author had on Feb 22 last year won their legal challenge in the High Court here to revoke the government’s ban against their book “Gay is OK!: A Christian Perspective”.
Judge Noorin Badaruddin granted Gerakbudaya’s Chong Ton Sin and writer Ngeo Boon Lin’s judicial review today.
The Home Ministry had in 2020 banned the book under Section 7(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act on grounds that it was deemed an undesirable publication. The book was published in 2013.
In her ruling, Noorin said the government “failed to show evidence of actual prejudice to public order that had occurred”. In such a situation, she said, the book was “unlikely to be prejudicial to public order”. – Feb 15, 2023
