Banned books - letter to the PM

Now that the letters (with 50 signatures) to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Culture (and a host of others) have been delivered, what do we do next? Twiddle our thumbs and wait? Wait for what? Something has to be done, yes, but what and by whom? We have been told that this matter was actually raised in the parliament but it was neatly sidestepped and ignored. Truth is, very few in the Government, and in the opposition, actually care. There are more 'important' issues.

Yes, we cannot disagree with that. Like for instance, why are un-elected petty desk officers running the country? Does the Minister know what is going on? Do the senior officers in the Ministry have any control over what is happening on the ground?

A representative of one of the distributors was in the office sometime last week. Where is the list of banned books you promised, we asked him. No lah, my boss does not want to get involved, he said, After they stop all our shipment from Singapore … susah lah. We told him that, perhaps, they should stop selling books and switch to selling rice, sugar and ikan bilis instead, for all the testicular fortitude they have. This is precisely what book banners and book burners thrive on: fear. And book banning and book burning is where it all starts.

Truth is, we know very well how things happen (and or don't happen) in this country. Don't rock the boat; accept all humiliation, every injustice, live in disgrace and make money. Dignity is for losers. That should be our national motto.

Anyway while we wait for anything, if at all, to happen let us entertain ourselves with extracts from the three newspaper articles on the subject that appeared recently:

3rd December 2006, The Star: Deputy Internal Security Minister, Datuk Fu Ah Kiow is quoted, "We ban titles, not authors." Good YAB Tim Mentri. Then why are all titles by Salman Rusdie being stopped at Johor Baru? Are you aware of this? Do you have any control?

4th December 2006, The Sun: The secretary of the publications and Quranic texts control division, Che Din Yusoh said that the Minister could use "absolute discretion' to "gazette undesirable publications". Another good one. Question: is this power also given to every desk officer in the division? But the following is interesting: 'Che Din said … that officers at each entry point might have different lists'. Huh? Might have? But this is one takes the cake: As the country's moral guardian, we cannot let these books in. Did that make you cringe with shame? Yes, yes, we actually still have senior government officers in this country who can say such things in public without embarrassment. (And, yes, it will be year 2007 soon.)

5th December 2006, The Sun: Prof Lim Chee Seng has a few things to say: In a democracy, you should be training people to deal with these books ... and not try to keep the books away from them as if they were children, and, of course, there is the Prof Lim's quote from IR Richards "... a book is a machine to think with ..."

That explains everything, doesn't it? Is there a politician in the world who likes a population that can think?

Everyone has a story to tell

Or, in the case of the participants of the Silverfish Writing Programme (SWP), some people have many stories to tell.

The first intake was in July, and since then over 30 participants have attended or are attending the Programme. One of the spin-offs of the SWP is The Silverfish Writer page at http://www.silverfishbooks.com/writer.html. We started this some weeks after the end of the first Programme. It was the usual dilemma: how to keep the momentum going after the course. The first group tried to form a writer's circle for a few weeks, and then gave up. They realised that it was almost impossible for everyone to be free at the same time on the same day? Geographical locations in the Klang Valley can be remote and the traffic (especially during the rainy season) quite daunting. We suggested an online writers group and The Silverfish Writer page was created with Silverfish Books as the facilitator. We hoped it would help but, to be honest, we were really not sure at all at that time.

For the last three-months we have kept it largely within the SWP community, so to speak. But we notice that the site has attracted others as well, with many helpful (and some not so helpful) comments. With the internet, that is to be expected.

Our decision was to post a story a week, and so far we have posted 12. (We have received over 20 and they keep coming in.) All the stories posted so far (and those in our queue) are from the SWP participants. They have been posted in, more or less, their 'raw' form, that is, with very little editing. Some of them still require more work, and all of them need to be edited and proofed. Many of the stories began as assignments. Many are well on their way to publishing their first book.


Not all stories are posted, however. We have also received several stories from none SWP participants. We have no objections to that at all. But so far we have not posted any of them. We have sent back stories for rewrites if, after reading (at least a couple of times) we feel, "Excuse me, what are you trying to say? What is your story about?" (In some cases, we feel there is a story in there somewhere but is obscured by the writer's own seeming attempt at cleverness.Our advice: keep it simple. If you are clever, it will show. Don't worry.)

Writers are, first and foremost, storytellers. They ply their trade by telling stories - as do dramatists, movie directors, singers, or even, dancers and painters. Writing by itself is only a tool - albeit a powerful one. They are like paints and brushes. Calling oneself a writer is like calling oneself a typist. It does not mean anything. Whether writers like to believe it or not, they belong in the entertainment industry. Stories are read for entertainment first. After that, if they are good enough (or great even) they become cultural markers. Ditto: movies, drama, paintings, etc.

The next intake for the Silverfish Writing Programme will resume on the 6th of January 2007 after a short break in December 2006. (Several people have already inquired about registration before this announcement. You may submit your registration now.) For more information about the Programme please visit: http://www.silverfishbooks.com/Silverfish/Version4/Writing/WrtitingProgramme.asp

Why do people need stories?

I met Yasmin Ahmad and (veteran film maker) Dato L Krishnan during a function last week when the question arose, Why do we need stories? Why do people need stories?

Just look around us. We are saturated with stories. The fact that Malaysians don't read much does not count for anything. We are surrounded by stories. Everywhere. They are all around us. In books, in newspapers, in magazines, in movies, on television, and on radio. We write stories, we sing stories in songs, we tell them in drama, we draw them in paintings, we dance it … Thousands of stories are told every day, for thousands and thousands of listeners. We can live with very little to eat, but we cannot live without stories.

Maybe it is because stories are about people's lives, and that's why they like to listen to it … we want to find out more about our lives, Yasmin said.

You think so? interjected Dato' Krishnan, How do you explain a five year old or even a two year old who likes to listen to stories sitting on his grandfather's lap or before he goes to sleep, and what does he know about life?

I guess we will never answer the 'why' question satisfactorily. But the fact remains, stories are a major part of our lives and throughout the ages storytellers have held the most important positions in society. Leading American writer Paul Auster, in a recent acceptance speech for the Prince of Asturias Prize for Letters, (Spain's premier literary award) argues that fiction is 'magnificently useless'. Magnificent, yes we can see that … but useless? Surely not. It is, perhaps, useless in a practical sense: we cannot eat it, it will not fix a leaking roof, or change the light bulb … but can any human live without it?

Paul Auster continues: This need to make, to create, to invent is, no doubt, a fundamental human impulse. But to what end? What purpose does art, in particular the art of fiction; serve in what we call the real world? … Some like to think that a keen appreciation of art can actually make us better people - more just, more moral, more sensitive, more understanding … art is useless, at least when compared, say, to the work of a plumber, or a doctor, or a railroad engineer. But is uselessness a bad thing? Does a lack of practical purpose mean that books and paintings and string quartets are simply a waste of our time?

Anyone who has seen the excitement in the eyes of the two year old sitting on a relative's lap, listening to a yarn unfold knows the answer to that.

We are human and we cannot live without stories. We are the only animals with this yearning. Yasmin then said, Do storytellers really create the stories, or do the stories already exist and the storyteller is merely the vehicle? It is a chicken and egg question, the answer to which is not important.

What is important is that stories and art are our cultural genes, or memes - to use a word coined by Richard Dawkins in1979 - that make up our social DNA. And almost every aspect of a society can be found in these memes. In the Malaysian context, the legend of Hang Tuah's epic battle with Hang Jebat is probably the most prominent meme. That which splits Malaysians right down the middle even today - do you protest against an unjust ruler or rule, or uphold it because it comes from the ruler and it is the rule?

Another interesting Malaysian meme, for me, is from the Malay Annals - the story Singapura dilanda todak or the Swordfish attack on Singapore. This is quite similar to the Dutch story of a little boy who stuck his finger into a dike to stop a leak and as a result saved the country from flooding. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe he became a hero in Holland after that. In the Malaysian version of this meme, this happened long before the time of the founding of Melaka in the 15th century, swordfish attack Singapore. People are attacked by this fish, pierced through their chest and stomach, and even decapitated. Many die. The Ruler orders his men to form a continuous row along the shoreline to kill the fish as they approach. But when the swordfish come many men needlessly perished when the fish attack their shins. Then one little boy watching this disaster said, Why are we making a barricade with our legs. Would it not be better if we used banana stems instead? When the Paduka Sri Maharaja (today he would be called the prime minister) heard this he said, Of course, the boy is right. And so they built a barricade of banana stems and the swordfish were defeated due to the ingenuity of a little boy.

In most versions, the story ends here. But in the actual account in the Sejarah Melayu, the Paduka Sri Maharaja goes back to the Ruler and tells him what happens. He also adds, The boy is very clever and when he grows up he will be a very clever man. Would it not be better to get rid of him now. The Ruler agrees and orders the boy to be put to death.

We still haven't stopped shooting messengers over seven hundred years after that event. Could that be the reason why we worship mediocrity like Akademi Fantasia so much? The reason for our major anti-intellectualism, perhaps?

Banned books - the saga continues

It was another routine stock replenishment order. Then came the shock: the distributor is unable to supply copies of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children because the book had been 'restricted' in Malaysia by the KDN.

Our initial reaction was to laugh out loud. Who are these people? Midnight's Children, published in 1980, won the Booker in 1981 and won the Booker of Bookers in 1993. Every self-respecting reader in the country has not only read the book, but owns a special sentimental copy. Now, after 26 years, some barely literate little Napoleon - to borrow Pak Lah's term - sitting behind a KDN desk in Johor Bahru has decided that the book is not suitable for Malaysians.

We spoke to the distributor of this title. He confirmed that all Salman Rushdie books are now getting the 'treatment'. He related how he tried to ship in the hardback edition of Shalimar the Clown, and was told that it was 'restricted'. He didn't argue. He says he never argues, because he wants the rest of the shipment to go through. This is how all Malaysian (and Singaporean) shippers are treated. If they decide to argue, every single one of the hundred odd boxes will be detained for 'further inspection', if not ripped open right there on the tarmac. If a complaint is made 'further up', this treatment can be expected for every subsequent shipment. It is not surprising then that distributors prefer to suffer in silence, while we readers live in Coetzee's Disgrace, where victimising victims and shooting messangers is a national culture.

(I want to tell you an interesting story here. This was some years ago, during the Khalil Gibran incident, when I was young and foolish enough to think that I could clear books from KLIA on my own without an agent. The book was Sex, Scotch and Scholarship by Kushwant Singh. It was quite obvious that the woman in charge recognised at least one of the 's' words. She kept turning the book over and over, flipping through the pages, peering at the written words as if trying to find something - I suppose, incriminating. Faris and I watched, quite amused. Finally she returned the book to the box. "Too many words," Faris said.)

Anyway coming back to the distributor, some weeks later he tried to import another bunch of books with the paperback edition of Shalimar the Clown in it. To use his words regarding Salman Rushdie's books: ... they are not consistent ... depends on luck, if they happen to see kena la. (For the information of those who don't know, every shipment of books must be accompanied by a packing list.) So the 'restriction' of books depends on who is sitting behind that desk at any point in time, what the person had for breakfast, his 'current' relationship with his wife, parents, in-laws and children and probably, lunar cycles ... amongst others.)

We have managed to get a list of over a hundred from (only) one distributor and we have posted it here for your information, entertainment and outrage. We suspect your reactions will follow a pattern similar to ours. First, laughter. What were they thinking? Some of the titles are really bizarre. Next, sadness. What's wrong with these guys? What's wrong with this country? Then, outrage. Who the hell is this little Napolean, who can barely spell his own name, to tell me what I can and cannot read? And finally: If this is how the KDN operates, how about the other Ministries and Departments? (There are obviously two layers of lawmakers in this country. One: the elected Government and Members of Parliament. Two, a Kafkaesque brigade of barely literates sitting behind desks in various government departments making rules as they like, when they like, as they go along.) Is that a scary thought or what? (Don't be alarmed by the high pitch, whining noise you here at this point. It is a well documented feature of little - and, sometimes, big - Napoleon-dom.)

Guide to using THE LIST: Get a few friends. Type the ISBN number as it appears, into Amazon or Google to get details of the book. Giggle. Try and guess why it has been 'restricted'. (It is more fun if you have your friends around you and your computer, peering over your shoulders and making irreverent comments. Advice: irreverent is good. Try not to get too serious because your sanity is at stake here.) Make a game of it. Count the number of 'restricted' books on the list you and your friends have. No cheating, you must produce the book as evidence. Decide what the winner gets. Then have a party. Read passages from the book, especially those that you think might have offended the little Napoleons. (I know, I know: they can't read. Just pretend, okay?) After you have milked enough fun out of it, adjourn to the nearest mamak shop for some sickly sweet tea, roti canai and outrage.

Note 1: some of you might say, "But I have seen that book in the shops!" You will be absolutely right. They would have been imported directly by air, or they might be old stock. The books on the list have been seized by the KDN staff in Johor Bahru and the distributors have been issued with 'restriction' orders. But the same books may have been legally imported through KLIA for instance. Who is calling George Bush a cowboy?! It is only a matter of degree.

Note 2: The undisputed champion on the list is Salman Rushdie, but you will also find Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Anthony Burgess and Alan Hollinghurst.

More on banned books

Sharon sent me an email yesterday morning if it was true that Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. I know the book has been making its rounds for a while. I have not read the book myself; firstly because I have a certain aversion to big books these days, and secondly, due to my own personal prejudices. (One Tamil boy called Patel is enough.) Anyway, I made a few phone calls and confirmed the worst.


This is the third book this month. So far this year the distributors have told us that we cannot order the following books because they have been banned. The Malayan Trilogy by Anthony Burgess, Immortality and Laughable Loves by Milan Kundera, 1001 Arabian Nights, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang and, Penguin says, all books by Khalil Gibran.


I have also been busy trying to acquire a list of banned books, I mean books that have actually been banned ie gazetted as prohibited under the Printing Presses and Publications (Control of Undesirable Publications) Act, for a long time - ever since all my Khalil Gibrans got nicked by the KDN at KLIA seven years ago, despite the books being available in every other bookshop in KL at that time. Anyway, I finally managed to get one with the help of some friends. I have posted it in PDF format if you'd like to take a look at it. (Read it here, some of it is really funny. Good party material. There is even one called Kunci Mencari Rezeki (2002) published by a company called the Speedy Self Study System!! Go figure.)


From the list one can conclude that that the government has major issues with sex, religion and, to a much smaller extent, drugs. Many of the banned books on sex are in Chinese and a few in English. One interesting note: the Chinese translation of Lady Chatterley's Lover (2000) has been banned, but not the English original. Hmmm! I don't know much about the Chinese books, but there is a certain surrealism about the English list. I mean, this is a country that allows free import and distribution of 'hard-core' porn Fanny Hill (what do they think that it is, a schoolgirl mystery novel?) and prebuscent children are allowed to watch and imitate MTV or Channel V which, to me, is little more that soft porn.


I wonder how many of you read this June 23, 2006 report Porn Up, Rape Down Anthony D'Amato Of Northwestern University - School of Law in the US. Here is the abstract: The incidence of rape in the United States has declined 85% in the past 25 years while access to pornography has become freely available to teenagers and adults. The Nixon and Reagan Commissions tried to show that exposure to pornographic materials produced social violence. The reverse may be true: that pornography has reduced social violence. (Read it here.)


There is no necessity to get your knickers in a knot over that report. You don't have to agree with it. But to me, it does stand to reason. This should mean that countries with more liberal attitudes and policies towards sex, should have less sex crimes. Is that a fact? It sure appears that way from afar.


And how about religion? Is religious tolerance directly proportional to liberal politics and society, or the reverse?


Anyway, coming back to book banning; one there is the official ban with the papers signed off by the Home Minister or his Deputy, then there is the other 'ban', arbitrary and unpredictable. It is almost as if there are two authorities running in parallel. The first one is quite clear-cut (even if you don't agree with it). The second is pure Kafka. Case in point: none of the books that have been proscribed by the KDN this year (according to the distributors) have been gazetted. Is the Minister aware of this?

Commonwealth Prizes and Banned Books

Commonwealth Prize

We received an email and entry forms for the 2007 Prize recently from an assistant working on the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, a literary award established in 1987 to 'reward the upsurge of new Commonwealth fiction and ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside their country of origin'. (Previous winners include, Andrea Levy, Louis de Bernieres, J.M. Coetzee, Zadie Smith and Vikram Seth.)

As we know, The Prize is open to any Commonwealth citizen and any work of fiction is eligible with the exception of any work written for children alone, or drama or poetry. (From their website.)

They said they were currently updating their publisher lists for the 2007 Prize. It’s great that Silverfish Books has been noticed by The Commonwealth Writer's Prize organisation. Now, if only we had writers to nominate ...

More books banned in Malaysia

Latest in the list of casualties is Immortality and Laughable Loves by Milan Kundera. We can practically hear your, wha-aa-at? We can only say, to those who are new here, "Welcome to Malaysia."

No time for dillydallying - a writer's primer

"How can Ayelet Waldman be so calm?" asks Andrea Hoag of Seattle Post-Intelligerncer of this author and mother of four whom she meets on a book tour in support of her seventh Mommy Track mystery, Bye-Bye, Black Sheep (Berkley Prime Crime). Her husband is Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Michael Chabon.

"We both stick to very strict schedules," she tells Andrea Hoag "I drop the kids off, and then I work. Every weekday. I have no time for dillydallying; I can't wait for the muse to show up. I write 1,000 to 1,500 words every day, and I don't believe in writer's block. You can always write something, even if it's bad."

"Fame is so fleeting. I was a public persona for 11 minutes, then I went back to being a woman driving too many kids in a too dirty minivan."

"I hate reading a book that has details sort of casually wrong. I make mistakes all the time, many of them stupid, but I do try to get things right," she insisted.

Ayelet Wadman is the author of five novels about apart-time sleuth who is also a full-time mother of three. The author never attended a formal writing program.

She worries, "... about people going to writing programs in lieu of reading. Far too many young writers I know say they don't read. Beyond the obvious problem with that, who do they imagine will buy their books if they themselves don't read?"

Another quote, "... people like to read about misery. What's interesting about a happy marriage?"

Read the whole story here.