KUALA LUMPUR: The Home Ministry has revoked the ban on the trilingual comic book titled "Belt and Road Initiative for Win-Winism" authored by former DAP member Hew Kuan Yau, also known as Superman Hew.
The revocation was carried in a federal government gazette dated Aug 12 following an order signed by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail on Aug 6.
According to the gazette, the revocation of the ban involved the publishing of the comic in three languages namely in Bahasa Melayu, English and Mandarin.
"In exercise of the powers conferred by subsection 7(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, the Minister revokes the Printing Presses and Publications (Control of Undesirable Publications) (No. 3) Order 2019 (P.U. (A) 288/2019) which has been published in the Gazette on 23 October 2019 which prohibits the printing, importation, production, reproduction, publishing, sale, issue, circulation, distribution or possession of publications specified in the Schedule," the gazette reads.
It was reported on Dec 8, 2022 that the federal government failed to get leave from the Federal Court to reinstate a ban on the comic book.
Lawyer Vince Tan Hoo Seh, who represented Hew, said the federal court judge did not find any novel issues or that the questions raised by the government were of public importance to justify its bid to reinstate the ban.
The Home Ministry on Oct 23, 2019 banned the 164-page comic book on the grounds that it promotes communism and socialism as well as containing factual errors.
The ban was made under Section 8(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
Under the law, any act of printing, importing, reproducing, publishing, selling, distributing, or owning the book will be permanently forbidden in the country.