Book seizure: 'Give your officers pocket money,' publisher tells Saifuddin

Summary

• Home Ministry's enforcement officers seize two books from local publisher Fixi without payment.

• Fixi suggests that Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail provide his officers with "pocket money" to purchase books for “review”, as the seizures inconvenience staff and result in loss of sales.

• DAP Youth chief Woo Kah Leong warns the government not to turn Malaysia into a police state.

A group of Home Ministry enforcement officers has seized two books from local publisher Fixi, purportedly to "review" the content of the books.

In a Facebook posting today, Fixi said four enforcement officers visited its bookstore at Sunway Putra Mall in Kuala Lumpur at around 7.30pm and seized Ismi Fa Ismail’s books, “Jelik” and “Jelik: 2”.

"They didn’t pay for them. They just took the two books and left some documents," Fixi said.

The publisher added that this is not the first time Home Ministry officers have come to a bookstore to carry out such seizures.

"The process inconveniences our staff, who should be serving paying customers instead.

"So, here’s our suggestion to Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail: Please give your officers some pocket money. Each book costs only RM28, so that’s RM56 in total.

"Once they’ve bought the books, they can 'review' them as much as they like. And we wouldn’t feel so bad about losing RM56 in sales that day," it said, adding that bookstores do not make large profits.

When contacted, Fixi founder Amir Muhammad also confirmed the raid and book seizure.

According to him, this is not the first time the Home Ministry has taken such action against bookstores.

In August 2023, the Home Ministry raided the Toko Buku Rakyat at Wisma Central, Kuala Lumpur - owned by author Benz Ali - and seized two books.

Freedom of publication

In an immediate response, DAP Youth chief Woo Kah Leong urged the government to respect freedom of publication and not to turn Malaysia into a police state.

He said freedom of publication and thought are foundational elements of any open society.

He reminded the Home Ministry that a government must respond to dissent through policymaking and facts - not through bans, seizures, or interference with the publishing industry.

"Democracy doesn’t only exist during elections. A truly democratic system must ensure that people can read, express, and think freely in their daily lives, without the constant fear of enforcement officers turning up at their doorstep," he said.

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