Home Ministry returns Benz Ali’s book after four months

The Home Ministry has returned a book about Karl Marx, whose works gave rise to communist and socialist ideologies, that was confiscated four months ago, on Aug 18.

Benz Ali, owner of Toko Buku Rakyat bookstore in Kuala Lumpur, said the book titled “Marx the Revolutionary Educator” (Marx Sang Pendidik Revolusioner) written by Robin Smalls was returned to him yesterday afternoon by an official from the ministry.

However, he said the book titled “Masturbation Poetry Collection” (Koleksi Puisi Masturbasi) written by Benz himself was not returned as it was still under inspection.

“There was a slight change (with the time) when the Home Ministry came to the premise to confiscate (the books) and when they returned the confiscated books.

“However, confiscating books is still a reprehensible culture,” he said when contacted by Malaysiakini today.

‘We only took two books’

Previously, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail defended the seizure, which he said was made based on public complaints made against publications that allegedly contained elements that violated the law.

“The more accurate term is that we only went to ‘take’ two books, it’s not like we seized the whole store.

“The connotation was made that the whole store was seized while we acted on public complaints.

On Nov 23, Home Ministry enforcers confiscated eight Chinese-language books from the independent bookstore Gerakbudaya in Petaling Jaya, reportedly to facilitate investigations.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail

Five of the books appear to be part of a series about the history of the communist insurgency in Malaya and two others are memoirs by Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) members. It is unclear what the one remaining book is about.

The action prompted criticism from activists and political entities including PKR Youth and PSM, who urged the government to move on from its “Cold War guidelines”.

Meanwhile, Benz, whose real name is Amir Hamzah Akal Ali, stressed that “books should be discussed not confiscated”.

“Or if you want to make it illegal, the Home Ministry should buy the book, conduct an investigation then ban it.

“Don’t confiscate before you ban it,” he said. - Mkini