Belt & Road comic banned

Ministry: Book promotes communism and is a threat to public order

PUTRAJAYA: The government has banned the Belt & Road Initiative For Win-Winism comic book.

The Home Ministry gazetted a prohibition order on the comic book, saying that the publication was found to have content that may “endanger public order and security” and also “distort the mind of the public”.

The prohibition order gazette under Section 7(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 specifies that “the printing, importation, reproduction, publication, sale, production, circulation, distribution or possession of the publication is strictly prohibited in Malaysia”.

“The content of this publication promotes the ideology of communism and socialism, the spread of false and confusing facts on communists, and invokes support and sympathy towards the communism cause.

“It could also raise doubts among readers, especially the younger generation towards the history of Malaysia, which proceeds to question the efforts of former leaders who fought for the country’s independence.

“The content of this publication is deemed to be insensitive towards Malaysians of multiracial and multireligious backgrounds, and it is a worry that it could disrupt the harmony and unity of the people in this country,” said the Home Ministry in a statement.

“Any individual perpetrating the act could be jailed not exceeding three years or fined not exceeding RM20,000 or both if found guilty as stipulated under Section 8(2) Act 301.”

The prohibition order applies to all three languages that the comic book is published in: English, Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese.

The comic book was produced by Hew Kuan Yau (pic), a former DAP member and the curator of Asian Comic Cultural Museum, in collaboration with local artist Chong Po Ling.

The publication courted controversy after it was found to have been distributed in schools around the country.

MCA secretary-general Datuk Chong Sin Woon recently criticised the action of distributing the comic book to national secondary schools as well as national-type secondary schools, saying that its content “poisons the minds of our students”.

He also slammed the politically laced content of the book, saying that it placed DAP on a pedestal and insulted Barisan Nasional.