The author of the banned Malay romance novel ‘Perempuan Nan Bercinta’, Faisal Tehrani is contemplating to distribute his book in Indonesia and Singapore.
“The local literary scene is almost dead. The National Writers Association (PENA) has organised competitions but it only creates a buzz among themselves,” Faisal said during an exclusive interview at his office.
“The independent literary market is much more vibrant. Why shouldn’t I take advantage of this?
“I will be meeting up with my lawyer next week to discuss and explore the matter further,” said the 39-year old academician who is based at the Malay World and Civilisation Institute in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
He said this when asked whether he would consider publishing and distributing his novel overseas as his novel was banned by the Malaysian government.
The novel ‘Perempuan Nan Bercinta’ was banned by the Home Ministry on April 9 on the basis that it is “likely to be prejudicial to public order” under Section 7(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
In a subsequent statement, the ministry alleged that the novel ridiculed the hadith on the subject of discrimination against women.
The ministry also claimed that the novel portrayed excessive devotion to the Ahlul Bait (family of Prophet Muhammad), was in disagreement with the Sunni’s accepted rules of thought and indirectly encouraged protests against the Sunni’s principles of ‘freedom of thought’ and ‘personal choice’.
The novel was published by the Institut Terjemahan dan Buku Malaysia (ITBM) and printed by the Percetakan Nasional Malaysia in 2012. It was launched by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
Faisal, whose real name is Faizal Musa, revealed that publishers in Indonesia have already shown interest and were keen to translate and publish the novel in the Indonesian language.
‘Selective persecution?’
On another matter, Faisal admitted that he felt marginalised after his novel was banned.
“None of the National Laureate be it Baha Zain, A Samad Said or the rest have come forward to condemn the ban,” he said.
Faisal accused the authorities of selective persecution over their ban decision.
“I bought three Shia related books during the recent Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair. It was sold openly.”
“Another academician from this university has written three books with shia contents and yet no action has been taken against the publications,” he explained.
He also revealed that he felt discriminated against within the faculty but declined to elaborate further.
“This will not dampen or deter my passion to continue writing about the marginalised.
/129