In this age and time, it is very difficult to comprehend the acts of banning whether it is in the form of books, movies, night clubs, etc. To my eyes, it is a crime to prevent information, views and opinions from flowing within a society. Why do we still fear information, ideas and developing social cultures that are said to be harmful to our society?

Are we Malaysians so weak that we can't judge what is right or wrong on our own, and will always require the authorities to interfere and impose a ban in the name of protecting the society? Why do we allow ourselves to grow so weak? Are the authorities using the powers they have to justify a ban to protect their own interests?

I feel stupid when I am watching a movie and suddenly, certain portions of the dialogue are 'silenced', making you wonder whether or not that particular word or sentence is going to corrupt society. Telling people what they can or cannot listen to, read and watch is not the way forward. Already we have ratings for the movies, so why are there still words missing from movies rated '18'? If all of these supposed influences are said to be bad, why are the advanced countries advanced, and we, being one of the leading producers of oil and gas, still lacking behind.

Suppression is like a ticking time bomb and when it can't contain itself any longer, it will explode. This is when simple matters becomes trivial and become issues for irrational debate when we just should be moving on with our lives.

We do want to achieve a developed country status by the year 2020, but suppressing information will only keep us behind. We should not be in fear of information, but embrace it, respect the source, evaluate it and only to put to practice if it is found to be useful. The government should not take the easy way out by just banning information. In the age of the Internet, one can only suppress so much. I find it very frustrating living in this 'banned' world.

It's not that we are living with a lower crime rate and lesser problems. We must train ourselves not to fear information. With every step taken for progress, we are exposing ourselves to more ideas, cultures and influences that is going to help us move forward. We have to accept all and think for ourselves. We can't keep blaming the society for every imperfection but must learn to accept both, the success and the failures.

Islam proclaims to be a way of life. As nave as I am in matters of religion, I interpret it as a struggle to acquire a balance both as a living soul and for the afterlife. The reason why I brought religion into this argument is that often enough, it is used as an excuse to carry out a ban. Sadly, when this happens, it creates a double step back.