All printed media in Malaysia are regulated by The Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984 which was implemented by the government. Hence, the government has the rights to ban those books that they consider will harm the nations and demolish moral issues (Malaysia Printers Association 2012). The Act has been posed to the book 'Where Did I Come From?' as this book was regarded as breaking the moral ethics and peace of nations. The government of Malaysia viewed this book as an obscene and banned it.
(Source From: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Where-Did-I-Come-From/dp/0230015492)
According to a recent news article posted by BBC, it stated that the government has banned the sex education book that was written by Peter Mayle in Malaysia due to the sexual contents that were discussed in the book (BBC 2012). This book is aimed at the children aged between 4 and 8 by introducing primary sex education to them using cute pictures and simple explanations (Associated Press 2012). This book was written by the author about 40 years ago. Recently, it was claimed by the Muslims that such book is obscene , so it should be banned in Malaysia. Those who are selling and distributing the books will also be penalised.
(Source From: Napalan, R. 2009, http://libr267blog.blogspot.com/2009/03/chronicles-of-narnia-lion-witch-and.html)
According to Green and Karolides (2005, p.339), those books that contained sensitive contents like political, religious, and sexual issues will be banned. Malaysia is an Islamic country in which more than half of the nations are Muslims. So, the Muslim activists are incredibly concerned about the sexual issue and always prohibited it to being promoted in the country. In compliance with the content codes of Malaysia, all sexual images of adults and children to be banned from publishing due to the country's regulations (CMCF No Date).
From my point of view, I believe that banning books is not really a wise choice. The contents of sexuality should be censored but it should not strictly be banned due to the curiosity of youngsters nowadays. The sex education book like 'Where Did I Come From?' is intended to provide brief sexual education to the children instead of promoting sex.
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Reference:
Associated Press 2012, 'Decades Old Sex-Ed Book Banned In Malaysia', [CBC News], (Updated February 2012). Viewed 7th June 2012,
BBC News 2012, 'Malaysia 'Bans' Peter Mayle Book Where Did I Come From?: Malaysian officials have ordered book shops to stop selling a sex education book by British author Peter Mayle.', [BBC News UK], (Updated February 2012). Viewed 7th June 2012,
CMCF, No Date, 'The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Content Code', The Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia, Version 6, Malaysia. Viewed 8th June 2012,
Green, J. & Karolides, N.J. 2005, 'Encyclopedia of Censorship', New Edition, Facts On File, Inc., NY. Viewed 7th June 2012,
Malaysia Printers Association 2012, 'The Printing and Publications Act in Malaysia', Malaysia Printers Association, Malaysia. Viewed 7th June 2012,
XIX 2006, 'Malaysia: 18 Books Banned For Disrupting Peace and Harmony', Article 19, Global Campaign For Free Expression, UK. Viewed 7th June 2012,
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