Malaysia 'bans' Peter Mayle book ‘Where did I come from?’

               (Source: news.bbcimg.co.uk, 2012)                     (Source: images.betterworldbooks.com, 2000)

The book "Where did I come from?" by Peter Mayle is banned from sale in Malaysia. The purpose of the illustrated book is to help parents explain sex eduction to children. The book will be totally banned if found to contain harmful elements to public moral and corrupt minds (BBC News, 2012). In my opinion, books like are necessary in today's modern world, however the graphics of the book need to be omitted or obscured the parts that are deemed offensive to suit the conservative cultures of Malaysia Muslim.

 

Umno Youth’s, Datuk Muhd Khairun Aseh, was apparently the first who noted the book and lodged a complaint, prompting the government to order the book to be removed from shelves for investigation (China Daily, 2012).

The ministry further obtained booksellers country co-operation to cease sales immediately. The ministry is taking action under the Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984. The Home Ministry said anyone convicted of circulating and distributing the book would be fined 20,000 ringgit ($6,612) or jailed three years or both. (China Daily, 2012)

Although, I believe the book was meant for educational purposes, but the graphics are too offensive to the predominantly Muslim community as according to (Kimmelman, 2006). An official complained that the degree of obscenity in the book was too much and is a violation of Section 292 of the Penal Code, which deals with distribution or sale of pornographic materials (Chong, 2012). This reflects the immaturity of one’s view of sex but to some others it is harmless to expose the children young about the facts of life. Nevertheless, the action taken by the ministry is to protect the public interest and morality.

Publications which are deemed sensitive topics are regullarly banned. The book entitled "Islamic Sex" , a sex manual book was banned because its content infringed censorship laws.

In conclusion, I agree with the ban if it offends the conservative cultures of Muslim community. For in any country you have to abide by the rules and regulations, but there is also Internet.

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Reference:

·         BBC News 2012, Malaysia ‘bans’ Peter Mayle book Where did I come from?, BBC News, viewed 10^th June 2012, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17112635.

·         ChinaDailyUSA 2012, Malaysia Bans Children Sex Education Book, China Daily USA, viewed 10^th June 2012, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/usa/world/2012-02/23/content_14678442.htm.

·         Chong, D 2012, Home Ministry shelves children’s book on sex education, The Malaysian Insider, viewed 10^th June 2012, http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/home-ministry-shelves-childrens-book-on-sex-education.

·         Sweeny, R 2007 ‘Adding Insult to Imagery? Art Education and Censorship’ Art Education, vol. 60, no. 5, pp. 45-50.