LETTER | Persatuan Penulis Berbilang Bahasa (Pen Malaysia) strongly condemns the banning of “Memoir Shamsiah Fakeh: From Awas to the 10th Regiment” and “Comrade Asi (10th Regiment): In the Pulse of Historical Nihilism” by the Home Ministry.

This action represents a serious regression in Malaysia’s already fragile commitment to intellectual freedom and democratic discourse.

The prohibition of these works raises urgent concerns about freedom of expression in Malaysia. Books are not weapons; they are repositories of evidence-based research, debate, and critical thought. To suppress them is to deny society the right to engage with its own past in all its complexity.

The fact that one of the banned titles has been in circulation for decades - reprinted, studied, and publicly available - makes this decision particularly troubling. It exposes the absence of any clear, consistent, or transparent standard operating procedure governing book bans.

When materials can be removed arbitrarily after years of acceptance, it undermines public trust in institutions and raises questions about the motivations behind such decisions.

Pen Malaysia is especially concerned by the growing pattern of retrospective censorship.

The removal of long-standing publications from shelves suggests not a measured regulatory process, but a reactionary impulse to control narratives.

We must ask: why is there a need to bury historical evidence? The figures and movements discussed in these books are part of Malaysia’s contested past. Engaging with them critically does not weaken the nation but strengthens it.

The banning of these works contributes to what can only be described as a form of historical nihilism, where inconvenient truths are suppressed, and the public is denied access to diverse perspectives.

Such actions flatten history into a single, state-sanctioned narrative, depriving citizens of the intellectual tools necessary for informed engagement.

Lift ban immediately

Pen Malaysia calls on the authorities to immediately lift the bans and to establish a transparent, accountable framework for any future restrictions on publications. Decisions that affect the public’s right to read must be guided by clear principles, subject to scrutiny, and open to challenge.

Pen Malaysia supports the legal action undertaken by Gerakbudaya in response to this ban, while emphasising that such action should never have been necessary had the Home Ministry acted with clarity, consistency, and respect for intellectual freedom in the first place.

We stand in solidarity with publishers, writers, and readers in defending the freedom to think, to write, and to articulate.

Pen Malaysia will formally seek an engagement with the Home Ministry, including requesting an appointment with Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to discuss the urgent need for a clear, transparent, and accountable standard operating procedure governing the banning of books.

We further propose that this process include meaningful consultation with writers, publishers, and key stakeholders from the literary world.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.