Darwin's banned

Found at Elizabeth Wong's blog, reporting on the latest gazetted list of banned books, Darwin's 2nd edition of The Origin of Species has been banned. However, what's on the ministry's list is a translated Indonesian version.

Two weeks ago, CIJ’s Sonia called up to check if it was indeed Darwin’s The Origin of Species on the gazetted list of banned book. Preferring to err on the side of caution and referring to the author’s name in the gazette - ‘F.susilohardo Basuki Hernowo‘ (line item 51) - I told her it was most probably some Indonesian Christian book.

Last night, a foreign correspondent telephoned to make the same inquiry. After the conversation, I thought it best to have this checked out with some friends.
This morning, well, one should by now anticipate the not-so-stunning news.

Yes, it’s Darwin.
~extract from Darwin Banned, Elizabeth Wong

Independent's Banned Books.

UK's Independent is coming out with a lovely collection of specially published and packaged Banned Books:

Banned Books is an exclusive collection of 25 cutting-edge titles, censored classics and literary landmarks by authors including Ernest Hemingway, Vladimir Nabokov, Franz Kafka, Andre Gide, Maya Angelou, William Burroughs, Kurt Vonnegut, Henry Miller and Ray Bradbury, specially published and packaged for Independent readers.

The covers look lovely! Too bad we might not see them over here, as their distribution is intentionally kept limited.

Censorship in UKM?

I learned about Shamsiah Fakeh's memoir when I was at the IIU seminar recently and Prof. Dr Ruzy Suliza Hashim was talking about the paucity of memoirs written by Malaysian women. She referred to Shamsiah Fakeh's book as one very important example: the author was former head of Communist Party Malaysia's Women's Wing. Dr. Ruzy mentioned that the book was now banned, and of course I was curious to hear another Malaysian banned book story.

But this time there's a twist - it isn't the KKDN (Ministry of Home Affairs) that's the villain of the piece, it was the Minister of Information who ordered the publisher UKM (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) to withdraw the book from sale.

I realised when I started to read about the book online that I'm coming to the story rather late, but I'm unapologetic because I'm fathoming this banned book business out for myself and laying out all the pieces to try to see the whole story.

What is clear from recent bannings of works by and about prominent communists (recent examples being Amir Muhammad's film and the book about the Kathigasu family which still remains in KKDN limbo) is that alternative views of The Emergency are not permitted to become part of the official historical discourse.

This article from 2005 in online newspaper Malaysiakini (you need to be a subscriber to access the piece in its entirety) mentions:

... hostile critics who mounted a media campaign in the Umno-controlled Utusan Malaysia ...

So the deciders of what can and cannot be read or seen appear to be the Malay Language press, which then puts pressure on the government. In Amir's case, of course, it was Berita Harian who stirred the whole controversy up after his film had already been given the green light.

The Malaysiankini article continues:

Nowadays, it has become a fashion for many Malaysians to read what the conservative or even reactionary elites do not like to read or would not like them to read. It augurs well for the opening up of the Malaysian minds and challenging the secular monopoly of truth, including holy ones, by Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian, RTM and some of their fellow scribes in the universities and think-tanks.

However, the memoirs are published only in the context of a series of other memoirs, including those of the very anti-communist Ghazali Shafie, a former Malaysian foreign as well as home minister in the 1970s and also a former British agent of special operations with the anti-Japanese Force 136.

Indeed, whether one finally agrees with Ibrahim Chik or Shamsiah Fakeh or not, the mere publications of their memoirs are indeed intellectually courageous acts which must be commended by all right-minded persons. The question that remains now is whether there would be rational and fair-minded public discussions on the contents of the memoirs.

Apparently not.

The UKM authorities were apparently pressured to withdraw sales of Shamsiah Fakeh's book. (Wouldn't one expect a bit more guardianship of knowledge from a university publisher??)

Meanwhile pirated copies of the book are circulating. It's a tough job to keep a good book down ... and intellectuals in the dark.

Take the Banned Book Challenge!

A library in Canada is encouraging readers everywhere to read banned books by issuing this challenge:

Take the Banned Book Challenge
Set a goal for yourself to read as many banned or challenged books as you wish between February 26 (Freedom to Read Week) and June 30, 2007. Visit the Pelham Public Library’s Fahrenheit 451: Banned Book Blog to set your goal and report on your progress.

So what do you plan to read? I might just start with Fahrenheit 451 myself.