opinion

Ban the banning spree

Khoo Ying Hooi

Malaysia hit an all-time low when the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said conducting a course on Marxism is illegal.

Are we not allowed to learn about Marxism because by exposing ourselves to the idea, we might become Marxist?

Last month, the Shah Alam High Court upheld the government’s decision to ban Bersih 4 t-shirts and related printed materials. Then came the block to access news portal The Malaysian Insider (TMI), and now an ideology that has been in existence since the mid-19th century is also banned. How absurd can that be?

It seems like banning things has become a usual affair.

In responding to the recent criticism from The United States government on the blocking of access to The Malaysian Insider, Wisma Putra in its statement said the decision to block access to the portal was to fulfill the government’s responsibility in maintaining “peace, stability and harmony".

Banning ideas or information does not contribute towards maintaining peace, stability and harmony. Instead, the recent ban on the crash course on Marxism is alarming and worrying.

It particularly concerns me in my role as an educator. In various subjects, especially related to the field of political science, international relations or political philosophy, we cannot escape from discussing Marxism.

Labelling it as a dangerous idea, the authorities have decided that the crash course on Marxism violates the law. So, it was not for the people to decide whether it was worthy of their time to attend the course, it was for them.

It may seem ironic that in this information age, we still need to deal with the discussion on censorship and banning. The Internet has given us access to almost everything from banned books and movies to “secret” documents in Wikileaks.

Yet, words and thoughts are still banned.

All these moves just further strengthens the logic that the country is clearly troubled to have their ideas challenged and questioned, that they could risk to be weakened and their power diminished.

A vibrant and creative society is a place where open discussion can take place freely. Similarly in a class, in order to develop critical thinking among students, debates should always be allowed, even if we may not agree with the arguments.

The banning of a course like this has long-term consequence. Look, a whole generation of students are being denied the intellectual challenge of debating conflicting views. If this prolongs, it is a deeply worrying development as it leaves people afraid to express their views.

An open society requires people to have the courage to argue against ideas they disagree with or even find offensive. But what we could see now is, a generation is denied the opportunity to test their opinions against the views of those they don’t agree with.

The authorities should stop treating our people as children, not allowing them to make their own decisions.

If such a banning spree continues, how do we expect to improve as a nation? How is it possible for us to compete with others? None of that is good for any developing society.

You don’t ban an ideology. Any form of banning just makes you look shallow. Moreover, why not debate about it rather than to ban the idea?

This reminds me of the Chinese emperor, Qin Shi Huang who ordered the burning of books and burying of scholars in order to suppress intellectual discourse to unify thought and political opinion. The acts are a sign of Qin’s desire to isolate China from the outside world, especially ideas.

But in today’s world, such banning contradicts what should be a core purpose of our education, that is to develop a young generation of creative minds.

Now, we are constantly being told that one simply cannot have certain thoughts, especially thoughts that are different from the one dictated by the country.

It is unacceptable to bar ideas or ideologies simply because the authorities did not agree with or approve of them.

Like it or not, information is free. In the Internet age, every tweet and every Facebook post is instantly available.

Voltaire is credited with this sentiment: “I may not like what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

I totally agree. The government’s job is not to decide what’s right or wrong for us.

We need to stop this banning spree and allow some space for the people to breathe. So, dear government, please focus on what’s important and ban the bans. – March 7, 2016.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer, organisation or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.