Home minister orders cops to probe 'coat of arms' on book cover
The Home Ministry has ordered the police to probe a party which was said to have duplicated the national coat of arms.
Its minister, Hamzah Zainudin said it is an offence to imitate the coat of arms under Section 3(1)(a) of the Emblems and Names Act 1963.
The Home Ministry has ordered the police to probe a party which was said to have duplicated the national coat of arms.
Its minister, Hamzah Zainudin said it is an offence to imitate the coat of arms under Section 3(1)(a) of the Emblems and Names Act 1963.
"I have instructed the police to carry out the investigation and to take stern action immediately.
"The government will not compromise with any party who performed this unpatriotic and irresponsible act," Hamzah said in his Facebook posting today.
Section 3 of the act refers to the prohibition of improper use of emblems, names and pictorial representations.
The subsection reads:
"(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, no person shall, except with the written permission of the Minister.
"(a) use any specified name or specified emblem, or any colourable imitation thereof, for the purpose of any trade, business, calling or profession."
While Hamzah did not name the alleged party, he was believed to be referring to the case involving the controversial cover of a book entitled "Rebirth: Reformasi, Resistance, and Hope in New Malaysia".
The book cover made its rounds on social media, and some netizens said that it insulted the national coat of arms.
Meanwhile, Umno Youth had filed a police report at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters on the matter.
Federal Territory Umno youth chief Mohamed Nizham Abdullah Hamidi filed a report around 1pm today.
Umno Youth exco member Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris or Papagomo, PAS Youth exco member Muhammad Faizzuddin Mohd Zai, MCA Youth exco member Lim Soon Pin, and MIC Youth secretary G Theeageesh were also present.
Nizham said that the book cover undermined the national coat of arms and painted a bad image of the country to the readers.
In the report, he said he suspected that the book cover was designed as such to not only undermine the coat of arms but the act was also politically motivated as well as to incite hatred towards the country.
Faizzuddin said the incident is "an early attempt to threaten national sovereignty (percubaan awal untuk memberikan ancaman kepada negara)", while Theeageesh urged MIC members nationwide to lodge police reports on the issue.
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
This action cannot be undone.