A news report in FMT on
March 23 said that Berjaya Books Sdn Bhd, which owns the Borders
bookstores in Malaysia, and two others today succeeded in their
attempt to quash the decision by the Federal Territory Islamic
Department (Jawi) over the seizure of Irshad Manji’s Allah, Kebebasan dan Cinta in May last year.Justice Zaleha Yusof said at the time of Jawi’s action, the book was not subjected to the prohibitory order that was only issued three weeks later.
So is that the end of another sordid episode in the annals of book publishing in the country? Not by a mile, no!
Store manager Nik Raina Abdul Aziz still has a Syariah court case pending: she was charged on June 19, last year, with distributing and selling the book, said to contravene Islamic law, at the Borders Bookstore, The Gardens Mall, between 8.41pm and 9.45pm on May 23 – before the book was 'banned'! (The copy of the Gazette notification that we have is dated May 29.)
This story might illustrate why Silverfish Books had a visitation from two officers (no names mentioned) from JAKIM, the federal religious police who were polite and threatening at the same time. One of them asked why we were still selling the Irshad Manji book. My reply was that a book was not banned until it was signed off by the minister and gazetted. I said we'd follow the law stop selling the book once it was, but not until then. Then the officer asked if I knew that if we had a Muslim staff working for us they'd arrest him or her and charge them with selling the book even, if they were only employees. I was furious, but there was nothing I could, except stare at them. There was nothing they could do either, except stare back.
That afternoon two others showed up panting up the stairs, this time from the Home Ministry, with a copy of the gazette notification (of which they gave us a copy), and we surrendered our copies of Allah, Kebebasan dan Cinta.
Freedom to Publish
I got an email last month from an organisation called Freedom to Publish, a program of the International Publishers Association (IPA) asking some question regarding censorship in Malaysia under the Universal Periodical Review (UPR) Working Group of the UN Human Rights Council mechanism that reviews the human rights records of all UN Member States. It was one of those emails that made one want to cry and laugh at the same time. Another survey by a bunch clueless civil-servant box-tickers, I thought. Do they have law A? Yes. Tick. Do they have Law B? No. No tick. Jeez! Equating the existence of laws to human rights is like equating elections to democracy. How naive can one get?
This is a gist of my reply:
1. There is censorship by law, where the publications that are judged prejudicial to public order are proscribed by the Home Minister after a debate, or none. Most bookshops will not carry books on the list (not openly anyway), but as the list gets longer it becomes more difficult to comply.
2. Censorship by harassment. Government employees walk into bookshops and seize books which they (arbitrarily) deem offensive, not necessarily on the list. The newspapers will carry the stories, and all other bookstores will start to act defensively by removing them from their shelves, effectively 'banning' the title. When confronted, the Minister will argue that the books are being investigated, after which the matter will be duly forgotten. (Yes, it's that predictable.) If a bookseller or dealer protests, he can be punished by arbitrary withholding of his future shipments at the customs, inspect every single one of his 100,000 titles, with more raids at the bookstore designed to scare away customers, having all his mail scrutinized, and more.
3. Censorship by refusal to protect the victimized. This case was highlighted when the office of the publisher of the Malay translation of a book by Canadian writer Irshad Manji was 'raided' by a group of twenty from a religious department. This was clearly illegal intimidation, but the authorities refused to take action, or to protect the publisher. Most publishers, booksellers and distributors in the country live in fear of arbitrary seizure and prosecution, and know that they cannot depend on protection from the Government, and, worse still, could be subjected to more harassment.
4. Censorship by those who consider themselves the law, whose actions the Minister is indifferent or afraid to question. A Heinemann, 1992, edition of The Prophet by Khalil Gibran is banned in Malaysia. (So, technically, only that edition is banned.) Silverfish Books imported 300 books (other titles) by Khalil Gibran and had them all seized by the Home Ministry officers at the airport once (who made several unmentionable remarks about the ministers and the PM of the time). Later, we got a a letter from the Home Ministry saying that all the titles had been proscribed (although none of them were on the 'banned' list). We never saw the books again (nor did any of the titles show up on the infamous 'list'). Knowing the consequences of further protest we decided to accept our 'fate'. (An inside source told us that someone in the Ministry didn't like how the books were written. A literary critic in the Home Ministry! Brilliant!)
Human rights
Censorship laws exist in Malaysia like in many other countries. One could argue about it, say it's out of date, call the censorship board names, or whatever, but unless a major change, or enlightenment process takes place, there's nothing one can do about it. It's something that will be fought over for a long time. What is of more concern are those who operate from outside the law.
First, we have outlaws, those criminal types, both blue and white collar; pirate DVD sellers, drug dealers, illegal bookies, conmen, bribe takers, robbers, buglers ... you get the idea. Their operations are clear-cut. They fight to win too, but they know they are breaking the law and are prepared for the consequences if they lose.
Second, are those who believe they are above the law, that they can get away with anything, that they have so much influence that they are untouchable.
Third, there are those who think they are the law. Like little governments within a government. Like pocket Napoleons out of control. Like warlords with private armies. In the case above, Nik Raina Abdul Aziz was randomly victimised and mentally traumatised, one of many. Those who victimised her will not be punished. Nothing will happen to them, because they don't think they are not obliged to follow the law, because they are not accountable, because they are only 'doing their job', because those in power don't have the testicular fortitude to stop them. They will go on to victimise others, and the whole process will be repeated (as we have seen in the past). But so what?
What's worse is the Malaysian civil service mindset that anyone running any business is kaya, so it's all right to inconvenience them, or if they lose some money. It's only an extra cost for doing business. (So, is it a surprise that so many look for jalan to kow thim?) They don't know, and don't want to know, what a struggle it really is.
Should have been a pirate DVD seller. The only requirement would have been coloured hair-dye and some bribes.
The rules for illegal businesses are clearer. Those who live by the law, will continue to live in disgrace.
(The record of the gazette notification can be seen here amongst a total of 1519 titles, including Conan Saga Vol.1, No. 27 July 1989. You can read a story about it in The Malaysian Insider story here.)
