APRIL 16 — The recent banning of two books published by Gerakbudaya, Memoir Shamsiah Fakeh: Dari Awas ke Rejimen ke-10 and Komrad Asi (Rejimen 10): Dalam Denyut Nihilisme Sejarah, is deeply unsettling. 

As an educator, it feels personal. It raises a question that is hard to ignore, what happens when access to knowledge and difficult parts of our past is taken away?

These are not just books. They are attempts to tell a version of Malaysia’s past that is not always comfortable. 

The cover of ‘Memoir Shamsiah Fakeh: Dari Awas ke Rejimen ke-10’. — Screengrab via Gerakbudaya website
 
They engage with narratives linked to the Malayan Communist Party, including the life of Shamsiah Fakeh, a figure who does not sit easily within our official narratives. 

She was many things at once, a nationalist, a woman navigating male-dominated political spaces, and someone associated with a movement that remains deeply sensitive in Malaysia’s historical memory.

That discomfort is precisely why such works matter.

History, if we are honest about it, is rarely clean. It is layered with contradictions, silences, and competing interpretations. 

Yet it is through this messiness that we begin to understand the complexity of nation-building. 

The author argues that banning controversial books narrows Malaysia’s understanding of its complex past, weakens critical thinking, and reflects fear of open historical debate. — Unsplash pic

When we remove certain narratives because they are inconvenient or unsettling, we are not protecting history. We are simplifying it.

In Malaysia, book banning is not new. Over the years, various titles have been restricted under broad categories such as public order, morality, or national security. 

But what strikes me, especially when looking at the “Hall of Banned” compiled by Gerakbudaya, is how wide-ranging these bans are. 

Books about May 13, reformasi, corruption, governance, sexuality, and religion all appear on the same list. They do not share a single theme. What they share is that they ask difficult questions.

That is perhaps what makes them vulnerable.

When books like Rebirth: Reformasi, Resistance, and Hope in New Malaysia are restricted for political critique, and others like Gay is OK! A Christian Perspective are banned on moral grounds, it becomes clear that the issue is not about one specific concern. 

It is about drawing boundaries around what can be discussed. And those boundaries are not always clear. They shift, sometimes quietly, sometimes abruptly.

For writers, publishers, and educators, this creates a certain unease. It is not always the explicit ban that shapes behaviour, but the possibility of one. 

You begin to wonder which topics might be too sensitive, which perspectives might invite scrutiny. Over time, this anticipation can be just as powerful as regulation itself.

The banning of the Gerakbudaya titles sits within this broader pattern, but it also touches something deeper. 

It is about history, and more specifically, about who gets to tell it. The story of the Malayan Communist Party has long been framed in a particular way, often centred on security and threat. 

But history is never just one story. Figures like Shamsiah Fakeh complicate that narrative. They force us to see the past not as a single, settled account, but as something contested and evolving.

To read about her is to understand that Malaysia’s past was shaped by multiple actors, not all of whom fit neatly into categories of hero or villain.

When access to such stories is restricted, something shifts. Students, readers, and the public are left with a narrower field of vision. 

History becomes less about inquiry and more about acceptance. And over time, this shapes how we think, not just about the past, but about the present and the future as well.

I often think about what this means in the classroom. How do we encourage critical thinking if certain materials are out of reach? How do we ask students to engage with complexity when the sources themselves are limited? 

Education, at its core, is about asking questions, sometimes uncomfortable ones. When those questions become harder to ask, something fundamental is lost.

And perhaps that is the most concerning outcome. A society that does not engage with its difficult histories does not resolve them. It carries them forward, often in ways that are less visible but no less significant.

A confident Malaysia should not need to fear books. It should trust Malaysians to read critically, to question what they encounter, and to disagree where necessary. 

Understanding a perspective does not mean agreeing with it. It simply means taking the past seriously enough to engage with it.

Malaysia’s history is not singular. It is made up of many voices, some of which sit uneasily with one another. 

From colonial resistance to post-independence politics, from official narratives to marginalised experiences, these layers are part of how the nation came to be. 

To remove parts of that story is not to build unity. It is to construct a version of history that is incomplete, and therefore fragile.

So when books are banned, the issue is about what kind of relationship Malaysia wants to have with its own past. 

Whether it is a relationship shaped by openness and critical engagement, or one defined by caution and control.

Because when books are banned, history does not disappear. It is rewritten, narrowed, and eventually remembered only in the ways we are allowed to see.

* Khoo Ying Hooi, PhD is an associate professor at Universiti Malaya. - Malay Mail, 16/4/2026

 

Shamsiah Fakeh And L. Ramasamy — Get To Know The 2 Historical Figures Whose Books Are Now Banned In Malaysia

Learn who Shamsiah Fakeh and Komrad Asi aka L. Ramasamy were, and why their books were banned by the Malaysian government.


Malaysian publisher Gerakbudaya will challenge the Home Ministry’s recent ban for two of its titles, deemed “unlawful” under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.

The two memoirs feature — Shamsiah Fakeh and Komrad Asi (real name L. Ramasam) — now deceased figures who were once members of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM).

According to Gerakbudaya’s public statement, — Memoir Shamsiah Fakeh: Dari Awas ke Rejimen ke-10 and Komrad Asi (Rejimen 10): Dalam Denyut Nihilisme Sejarah — have been in print for some years, with the former title having underwent three prior reprints to date.

“These two books are not dangerous texts; they merely tell the story of ordinary citizens who fought for our country’s freedom, not only from the colonial system but also from the colonial mindset,” Gerakbudaya said.

Shamsiah Fakeh’s self-authored memoir has been in the public domain for 22 years after its first publication by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in 2004. Gerakbudaya published Komrad Asi’s memoir in 2022.

The sudden ban has prompted criticism from some Malaysian writers and activists, who are questioning the basis of the Home Ministry’s decision and calling for greater transparency over how the prohibition was imposed.

Always credit Eksentrika for this article. 

Memoir Shamsiah Fakeh: Dari Awas ke Rejimen ke-10 and Komrad Asi (Rejimen 10): Dalam Denyut Nihilisme Sejarah are two books banned in 2026.
Memoir Shamsiah Fakeh: Dari Awas ke Rejimen ke-10 and Komrad Asi (Rejimen 10): Dalam Denyut Nihilisme Sejarah are two books banned in 2026. IMAGE: Gerakbudaya

Always credit Eksentrika for this article. 

Urgent concerns on Malaysia’s freedom of expression

In a press statement, PEN Malaysia strongly condemned the ban, stating that the prohibition of the two books 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,” PEN Malaysia said, adding that it will be engaging the home ministry.

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

In a letter to Free Malaysia Today, former journalist Martin Vengadesan, questioned the ban of the books.

“I have to question the logic behind banning books that have been in circulation for many years. As a reporter with The Star, I interviewed the late Shamsiah in 2008, a few months before her passing. I read her memoir as part of my preparation for the interview, and her story is a most fascinating one that sheds light on forgotten eras of our history.”

Always credit Eksentrika for this article. 

Who is Shamsiah Fakeh and Komrad Asi?

Always credit Eksentrika for this article. 

Shamsiah Fakeh and Komrad Asi
Shamsiah Fakeh (left) and Komrad Asi (middle). IMAGE: Wikipedia and Gerakbudaya

Always credit Eksentrika for this article. 

Shamsiah Fakeh was a nationalist, feminist, and former leader of Angkatan Wanita Sedar (AWAS), the first nationalist women’s organisation in Malaya.

Her memoir offers a rare first-person account of anti-colonial struggle from a woman associated with the 10th Regiment, the predominantly Malay regiment linked to the Malayan Communist Party. She writes of the pain of losing her children in the jungle and the decades of exile in China. For many, her book is a vital piece of the “Malaysian puzzle,” offering a female perspective on a history usually told by men in uniform.

Komrad Asi (Rejimen 10): Dalam Denyut Nihilisme Sejarah is a more recent addition, published by Gerakbudaya in 2022. Written by researcher Aziz Suriani, the book shifts the lens toward the “marginalised of the marginalised.”

It follows the life of Asi (real name L. Ramasam), an Indian child from a colonial rubber estate who became a courier for the 10th Regiment. Through Asi’s eyes, we see a side of the insurgency that official history textbooks often omit: the involvement of the Indian working class and the complex socio-economic grievances that drove them toward the left.

Taken together, both books unsettle the tidy versions of history often found in official narratives.

Challenging the ban

In its statement, Gerakbudaya said it will challenge the ban of the two books in Malaysian courts.

“The books chronicling their lives may have been banned, but their stories will remain with us,” it said.

The publisher is requesting readers to share messages of solidarity in response to the sudden ban here.

“We may be sharing the collected messages on our social media, so we kindly request that you avoid including any identifying information,” Gerakbudaya added.

As of 15 March 2026, Gerakbudaya has listed some 3,166 of its published books that were banned by the Malaysian government. The latest two titles take the tally to 3,168 books. - Eksentrika

 

Printing Presses and Publications Act

Malaysia: Reverse ban and repeal Printing Presses and Publications Act - Media

The two books recently banned in Malaysia. Photo courtesy Gerakbudaya

On 15 April, book publisher and distributor Gerakbudaya received a notice from Malaysia’s Ministry of Home Affairs informing it of a ban on two of their books, Memoir Shamsiah Fakeh: Dari AWAS ke Regimen ke-10 (Shamsiah Fakeh’s Memoir: From AWAS to the 10th Regiment) and Komrad Asi Regimen 10: Dalam DenyutNihilisme Sejarah (Comrade Asi Regiment 10: In the Pulse of Historical Nihilism). Both books recount the struggles of the Malayan Communist Party in their fight against British colonialism for full independence. According to Gerakbudaya, the ban was imposed under Sections 7(1)1, Section 8(1)2 and Section 8(2)3 of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA). The ban is unnecessary and disproportionate, and ARTICLE 19 calls on the government to immediately lift the ban and repeal the PPPA. 

This arbitrary action from the Ministry of Home Affairs represents yet another instance of this draconian Act being used to restrict access to information in a manner that contravenes international human rights standards.

‘The continued reliance on the PPPA to suppress historical and political narratives that are indispensable to a healthy democracy is deeply troubling. Removing parts of history – regardless of how uncomfortable or controversial they may be – not only limits our access to information but also shuts down our ability to recognise and understand different viewpoints.  To truly progress as a nation, we must be able to learn from all sides of our history, rather than being confined to a narrative sanctioned by the authorities for us. Malaysia’s history was not created by single actors, but shaped by many, including people like Shamsiah Fakeh. Shamsiah Fakeh is recognised as one of Malaysia’s most prominent feminist and leftist women’s leaders who contributed to the struggle against colonialism and the fight for independence from the British. Banning her memoirs is an attempt to diminish the important role of women in Malaysia’s history,’ said Nalini Elumalai, ARTICLE 19’s Senior Malaysia Programme Officer.

ARTICLE 19 has repeatedly warned that the PPPA is incompatible with international human rights law and standards relating to freedom of expression. The law gives sweeping discretion to the Minister of Home Affairs to ban publications, opening the door to arbitrary and discriminatory application of the law.  

‘As long as this law remains on the books, it will continue to enable arbitrary censorship and suppress the free exchange of ideas – even erasing critical sections of history. We urge the Malaysian government to immediately reverse the ban and take concrete steps to repeal the PPPA. Such steps are vital to safeguarding freedom of expression and ensuring that all individuals can access, share, and engage with information without fear of repercussions,’ added Nalini.

 

 

 

 

  • 1
    Section 7(1) gives the Minister of Home Affairs ‘absolute discretion’ to ban any publication deemed undesirable if it poses a threat to public order, morality, security, or the national interest, or likely to alarm public opinion or to be contrary to any law.
  • 2
    Section 8(1) makes it an offence for any person to possess a prohibited publication without lawful excuse, punishable by a fine of up to 5,000 ringgit.
  • 3
    Section 8(2) states that anyone involved in printing, importing, distributing, or selling such publications can face imprisonment for up to three years, a fine of up to 20,000 ringgit, or both. - ARTICLE 19