On 9 Dec 2008 I joined a group from Sisters in Islam, as well as other NGOs to deliver almost 1000 protest postcards to the Ministry of Home Affairs at Putra Jaya.
These postcards are in protest at book banning in Malaysia. The campaign was set up by SIS after 2 books were banned in Aug, and taken from the bookshops without any warning or explanation. One book is by Prof. Norani Othman and published by Sisters in Islam, and had been on sale for 3 years before being banned.
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| the boxes of postcards |
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| namecards |
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| Che Din |
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| poster |
See also Sharon Bakar's blog NGO's Protest Book Banning in Malaysia Dec 10 2008 and also her blog entry 20 Aug 2008.
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THE STAR
Wednesday December 10, 2008
NGOs protest against book ban with 1,000 signed postcards
PUTRAJAYA: A group of 10 non-governmental organisations including Sisters in Islam, Suaram and representatives from the Bar Council handed some 1,000 postcards protesting against the banning of books to the Home Ministry here.
SIS senior programme manager Maria Chin Abdullah said the postcards were collected from September and bore the signatures of people voicing their protest over the ban.
“We are concerned because the guidelines leading to the ban of books are vague and the decision by the Government is often arbitrary. Some of the banned books have also been published and widely sold in stores for some time but then, the Government decides to confiscate them.
“Similarly, we didn’t even know the books were banned until we read about it in the newspapers,” she told reporters here yesterday, pointing to a book published by SIS — Muslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism — as an example.
“We want the ministry to call for a consultation with all the parties involved in the publication of books to resolve this matter. Banning books has a negative effect on information and intellectual development,” she pointed out.
Maria said the non-governmental bodies also wanted to know if writers would be compensated for losses suffered when their books are damaged or destroyed in the confiscation process.
The SIS book was edited by Prof Norani Othman from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, who was also present.
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© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission
Great job you have done there. Don't waste time with them anymore. Just change the goverment in the next election. If you are put in ISA Kamunting, just let me know. Your relatives and friends can stay in my house nearby free of charge. And they can visit you everyday.
ReplyDeleteAh, that's nice to know that I will be able to get visitors easily :-)
ReplyDeleteThey said, it's not what you know, it's whom you know.
ReplyDelete