Censorship in Malaysia has taken itself to an extreme whereby almost anything that is not in the favour of the Government would see itself charged through the various censorship laws available for their use. The article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17112635, talks about a book titled 'Where did I come from?' written by Peter Mayle that is banned by the Malaysian government for being explicitly talking about sex. The children's book that is to help parents educate their young children about sex and contraception is said to be too visually explicit by the Malaysian Government. If the book was really banned, a fine up to RM 20, 000 could be implied upon any who distributes or sells the book based on the Printing Presses and Publication Act of 1984.

In my opinion, the question of what should or should not be censored comes to mind. According to Lent (1974), Malaysia's press is controlled by the legislations and ownerships of media which. This leads to the passing of the Printing Presses and Publication Act of 1984 that has strict regulations on the print media.
The Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984 states that any publication that is to produce materials that are obscene or otherwise against public decency shall be guilty to a fine of up to RM20, 000 or no more than three years jail sentence. What is interesting is that, the moral responsibility of parents to educate their young about sex and contraception is in a knot with the legislation at hand. Cornwell & Welbourn, 2000 cited in Izugbara 2007, states that sex education within a home is necessary for children to get accurate and adequate information. Therefore, parents either use other mediums to teach their children on sex or they shy away from the topic.

To conclude, censorship holds a strong power in Malaysia as it determines what is fed to the public. The role of media to inform is now controlled by what the Government wants to inform the public about.

References

Lent J.A 1974, 'Malaysia's guided media', Index on Censorship, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 65 - 75, viewed 1 June 2012, <http://ioc.sagepub.com.ezlibproxy.unisa.edu.au/content/3/4/65.full.pdf+html>

Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984 (Cwlth)

Izugbara, C.O 2007, 'Home-based sexuality education : nigerian parents discussing sex with their children', Youth & Society, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 575 - 600, viewed 1 June 2012, <http://yas.sagepub.com.ezlibproxy.unisa.edu.au/content/39/4/575.full.pdf+html>