Muhyiddin: Government has ‘solid basis’ to ban comic

Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the government has concrete reasons to ban the publication of a controversial comic by Malaysia-China Business Council chief executive officer Hew Kuan Yau.

The minister said the decision was made after careful consideration and warned that action will be taken if the book is still found to be distributed.

“When we have gazetted (the ban), that means that appropriate action and seizures will be taken if it is still in circulation as the decision (to ban the book) was made after we have considered and studied it.

“There was definitely solid basis (to issue the ban) and not because of any sentiments or actions by any party (but) based on the content that has been distributed throughout the country and in schools,” he said to reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

Yesterday, the Home Ministry announced the blanket ban on all language versions of the book with the English title ‘Belt and Road Initiative for Win-Winism’. It is also available in Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese.

Among the reasons cited for the ban were promoting and spreading of erroneous facts about communist ideology.

Muhyiddin today said the matter was viewed seriously and that was why he wanted action to be taken as soon as possible.

“A ban was issued, which is better than (advising) people not to read it or to avoid using the book,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said his ministry would leave it to the Education Ministry to ensure copies of books are removed from schools.

The controversy first arose when it was revealed that the BM version of the book, created by Hew and published by the Penang-based Asia Comic Cultural Museum where he is the curator, had been sent to libraries in national and vernacular secondary schools for free.

The Education Ministry has repeatedly denied authorising the distribution of the books at schools and is investigating the matter.

Hew, a former DAP member known by the moniker “Superman”, said the book was to encourage school-going children to learn about China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

However, aside from the BRI, the publication also touched on hot button issues such as on the Uyghur Muslims in China.

Hew had claimed a copy had been presented to top Chinese leaders like China president Xi Jinping by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in April this year.

The Prime Minister’s Office, however, denied having any role in the presentation of the book to Xi. - Mkini