Censorship in Malaysia

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Censorship is a growing issue in Malaysia as it attempts to adapt to a modern knowledge-based economy.^[1] The press is tightly restricted and the level of public debate is seen as low.

In 2007, Malaysia was ranked 124th in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders. It was also given a "Partly Free" status on the Freedom in the World report by Freedom House in 2008. The Freedom in the World index, graded on a scale of one to seven, with one being the most free and seven being the least, Malaysia obtained four points for both Political Rights and Civil Liberties. ^[2]

Unlicensed use or possession of a printing press is illegal under the Printing Presses and Publications Act of 1984. Journalists are frequently given guidelines by the Prime Minister's Office when reporting 'sensitive' issues, and media self-censorship is encouraged.^[3]

The Film Censorship Board of Malaysia is the government agency responsible for granting licenses to the films for viewing.

Contents 1 Background 2 Press censorship 2.1 Book banning 2.2 Newspapers 2.3 Musicians 3 Nudity, sex offenders and crimes 3.1 Censorship of Nudity 4 Public complaints 5 Internet censorship 5.1 News blogs 5.2 Blocking of Malaysia Today 5.2.1 Blogger arrested 6 List of works banned in Malaysia 6.1 Books banned 6.2 Films banned [22] 6.3 Plays banned 6.4 Television shows banned 7 References 8 External links

Background

It has been said that Malaysia has some of the toughest censorship laws in the world. The Film Censorship Board of Malaysia strictly vets all film and television productions. There have been concerns raised over the boards political neutrality as it is under the control of the Malaysian home office. The censors pay special attention to nudity, sex, profanity, violence and sensitive religious themes in films. Films are rated to guide audiences on the nature of the content, or banned outright if the material is considered inappropriate. Scenes of kissing are often cut from films and TV shows.

In line with former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's call for Malaysians to "hold on to good values and preserve the family institution", the board's chairman Shaari Mohamad Noor said:

“

"In order for us to instil good morals and values in our people, we have to stop importing films that are not appropriate for our country....We imposed the ban after viewing thousands of titles over the last five months."

”

Press censorship

Book banning

In 2006 alone, 56 publications were banned by the Internal Security Ministry, including the Indonesian translation of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species.^[4]

Malaysia once banned the release of the Bible in Iban language. The translation of the word "God", i.e. "Allah Tala" was deemed to be specifically for Muslim use. The ban has since been lifted.^[5]

In August 2008, the Sisters in Islam (SIS), an Islamic organisation in Malaysia, was surprised that a book published in 2005 featuring a compilation of research papers was banned by the Home Ministry of Malaysia. SIS research and publications programme manager, Masjaliza Hamzah, said activists and academics from Southeast Asia and the Middle East contributed to the book in 2003 and it mainly focused on challenges Muslim women faced in their countries. A statement from SIS explained the book as "It discussed strategies...used to curb extremism and promote women’s rights".^[6]

Newspapers

On October 27, 1987, Operation Lalang was carried out. In this operation, two daily newspapers, The Star and Sin Chew Jit Poh, and two weekly newspapers, The Sunday Star and Watan, were closed down for several months. They also had their publishing permits suspended temporarily. Prior to the operation, The Star was the primary English newspaper that provided news in the Opposition's point of view. This was considered treason, and during Operation Lalang, this newspaper was shut down. Most of the previous staff which worked for the four newspaper were laid off or otherwise threatened with prison and detainment, under the Internal Security Act.

In 2003, Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad, the former editor-in-chief of the New Straits Times, wrote an article criticizing Saudi Arabian policies that aided the United States invasion of Iraq amongst other things. As a result, the Saudi government reduced Malaysian quota for haj and in the same year he "was fired without warning by the daily’s management at the request of the ruling UMNO party following a complaint by the Saudi ambassador in Malaysia." UMNO, which holds a stake in the paper, later stated that he had jeopardized Malaysia's close relationship with Saudi Arabia. ^[7][8]

Musicians

Malaysia has a history of censoring musicians. In 2003, American rock band Linkin Park was told to refrain from wearing shorts while performing^[9] and in 2004, singer Mariah Carey was asked to cover up.^[9][10] Madonna has been banned from Malaysian television^[11] and a scheduled concert by Norwegian metal band, Mayhem, was banned earlier in 2006.^[12] Malaysian organizers of a Pussycat Dolls concert have been fined for flouting decency laws.^[9] The country's opposition party, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, urged the government to order a cancellation of a concert on August 29 2008 by Canadian rock singer Avril Lavigne. Her on-stage moves were considered too provocative for Malaysia's teenage population.^[13] Eventually the concert went on as scheduled, it sold over 10,000 tickets and was a critical success. ^[14]

Nudity, sex offenders and crimes

Malaysian Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said that the current guidelines surrounding censorship, which were drawn up in 1993, would be restudied because some of the rules "were no longer applicable". he reiterated that the main objective of the code was to build a better "Bangsa Malaysia". On the current censorship guidelines relating to nudity, he said that if a nude scene was "too explicit", then the scene would be axed. "It's up to the Board. They watch the scene and if it's too glaring then they will cut it. If it's not pornographic in nature, then they will allow it. It is very subjective,". He also said "Today's standard of morality and spirituality must be strong because people are exposed to all sorts of challenges" and "There is a correlation between criminal offenders and sex and violence shown on screen."

Censorship of Nudity

Books, magazines and prints containing nudity (including aborigine peoples) are censored manually by shading the segments in black ink. Some books are made decent by ripping out entire pages.^[15]

Public complaints

The movie Rambo 4 received complaints from the public. ^[16] "I recently saw the movie, Rambo 4 in a local multiplex and was astounded when I distinctly heard the phrases: “fuck off” and “pain in the arse twice” and at least one usage of the word “bastard.” "^[17]

Internet censorship

News blogs

Deputy Science and Technology Minister Kong Cho Ha has announced that all Malaysian news blogs will have to be register with the Ministry of Information. he justified this by stating the law was necessary to dissuade bloggers from promoting disorder in Malaysia’s multi-ethnic society.^{[citation needed]}

Blocking of Malaysia Today

On August 27 2008, Malaysiakini reported that Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has ordered all internet service providers (ISPs) to block the controversial online portal Malaysia Today. ^[18]. This was seen as contary to earlier promises and Point 7 under the Multimedia Super Corridor Bill of Guarantees that there would be no internet censorship.^[19]

Blogger arrested

On September 12, 2008, blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, the editor of Malaysia Today, was arrested under the Internal Security Act. He has been charged with sedition and defamation after linking the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his wife to the sensational murder of a Mongolian woman. The blogger's wife Marina Lee Abdullah said he was arrested by police at his home under legislation that allows for detention without trial, she said: "They came here and arrested him under the Internal Security Act for inciting hate in his articles on Islam". ^[20] Raja was freed on November 7, 2008 after a judge ruled the detention illegal.

List of works banned in Malaysia

Books banned

Silverfish Books in Kuala Lumpur has reported on the censorship of foreign books in Malaysia^[21] They have discovered the censorship of Milan Kundera, the banning of works by Khalil Gibran, Chinua Achebe, and Iris Chang, and the restriction of books by Rushdie and many others. They also managed to get a list of some of the restricted books from one of their distributors. The list includes literary fiction (e.g. work from Salman Rushdie, Irvine Welsh, Anthony Burgess, Rebecca Wells), a fantasy novel by Robert Jordan, children’s books (e.g. SpongeBob Squarepants and Dora the Explorer titles).

Comics include It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken and The Best of Drawn and Quarterly[1]. Non fiction is varied, it includes academic works such as: Mao: A Life and Making Globalization Work, as well as a host of books dealing with human bodies and/or sexuality, such as The Vagina Monologues, Breastfeeding Your Baby: Revised Edition, How to Talk to Your Child About Sex and The Best Sex Positions Ever.

Films banned ^[22]

These films are listed in chronological order by year of release. All of the movies listed here were banned at some point of time, although many were later allowed to be televised on cable networks or released on DVD. The bolded movies are still banned, as of 2008.

The Exorcist (1973) - passed for VCD release by Movie Master Saturday Night Fever (1977) - passed for DVD release Cannibal Holocaust (1980) Scarface (1983) Pet Sematary (1989) The Piano (1993) Schindler's List (1993) - was initially banned for being too sympathetic towards Jews. This film was passed in 2004 for DVD release by Berjaya HVN Babe (1995) - passed for VHS release by Berjaya HVN in 1996 Showgirls (1995) - passed for DVD release Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight (1995) Last Man Standing (1996) Boogie Nights (1997) - passed for DVD release Orgazmo (1997) - strong sex related themes Babe: Pig in the City (1998)- passed for VCD release by Berjaya HVN Blade (1998) The Prince of Egypt (1998) - was initially banned so as not to offend the country's majority Muslim population. The reason given by chairman of the Film Censorship Board was: "We found it insensitive for religious and moral reasons. Because of the many races in Malaysia, religion is a very sensitive issue." It was passed for VCD and DVD release by Berjaya HVN Saving Private Ryan (1998) - passed for VCD and DVD release by Berjaya HVN Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) - contains too much sexual innuendo. Later passed for VideoCD and DVD release by Sunny Film Productions. American Pie (1999) - passed for DVD release South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) Fiza (2001) Zoolander (2001) - banned because of a plot line in which an assassination attempt is made on the Malaysian prime minister. Auto Focus (2002) - passed for VCD release from MediaMax.com Sdn Bhd. Queen of the Damned (2002) Pinocchio (2002) Bruce Almighty (2003) - passed for VCD and DVD release by Berjaya HVN Daredevil (2003) - passed for VCD and DVD release Homerun (2003)

Freddy vs. Jason (2003) Underworld (2003) Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) - passed for DVD release by Berjaya HVN The Girl Next Door (2004) The Passion of the Christ (2004) - prohibited for non-Christian viewers Sideways (2004) Team America: World Police (2004) Saw (2004) Sin City (2005) Hustle & Flow (2005) The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) Saw II (2005) Inside Deep Throat (2005) Hard Candy (2005) Hostel (2005) Rent (2005) Brokeback Mountain (2006) See No Evil (2006) United 93 (2006) How to Eat Fried Worms (2006) Saw III (2006) Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters (2007) Hostel: Part II (2007) Halloween (2007) Saw IV (2007)

Plays banned

• The play The Vagina Monologues has been banned. Authorities in Kuala Lumpur have ruled that the show cannot return because of "complaints from a number of people".

Television shows banned

Among the titles that were blacklisted include:

• "The Queen Bee" episode on Ally McBeal
• "The Video Tape" and "But I'm A Cheerleader", two Friends episodes^[23]

References

External links

• Pulpmovie's Gagwatch
• List of banned books in Malaysia

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