The Malaysian distributor of communist leader Chin Peng's oral memoirs expressed surprise and bewilderment over the Home Ministry's order to take the book off the shelves, pending a decision on whether it should be banned.

This is because the publisher, Media Masters, had sent copies of the book to Bukit Aman, and even the prime minister and deputy prime minister, before making the decision to distribute the book in Malaysia, said Horizon Books executive Phillip Harold.

Seventeen copies of 'Chin Peng: My Side of History', released in Malaysia last Friday, were seized by Home Ministry officials on Wednesday from the MPH Bookstores outlet at Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur.

Another 1,000 copies of the book was stopped by Johor Customs last week as it was brought into the country from Singapore.

"We only knew that the authorities found it sensitive when MPH called to inform us that the Home Ministry had taken all the copies with them, and requested that all other outlets remove the book from their shelves," Harold said, when contacted today.

"We had no idea the book was going to be so controversial. Media Masters have published many popular books before, with no problem."

When contacted, Home Ministry head of the publications control unit Abdul Rahim Mohd Radzi declined to comment on the matter.

Visit planned

Prior to the seizure, local historical body Perak Academy had been in the midst of planning Chin Peng's to visit Malaysia - from his current home base in Haadyai, southern Thailand - in order to promote the book, said Harold.

However, a Perak Academy spokesperson said the plan is now on hold pending a decision by the ministry. (Perak Academy patron Lim Keng Kay is a brother of Gerakan president Lim Keng Yaik.)

Harold also said he had contacted ministry officials, who explained that the book has not been officially banned.

"They said they wanted to review the contents to see if there was anything sensitive. But they did say: 'By the way, the book is very interesting,'" he said.

He clarified that Johor customs officials were wrong in claiming that the book has been banned. They had cited this as the reason for holding back some 1,000 copies at the Malaysia-Singapore border last week.

'Historical account'

A spokesperson for MPH also said the ministry's action was unexpected.

"Usually, if we note a title that is controversial, we do not order the book. Certainly there was nothing this time around to indicate that the book would be controversial, as we were assured it was written strictly as a historical account," she said.

"We were assured by the distributor that it had received collaboration from local authorities as well as local associations like the Perak Academy, which is a historical society."

Ian Ward, a co-author and managing director of Media Masters, was quoted in The Sun today as saying that he was unaware that permission was required from the authorities before the book could be distributed.

Chin Peng, a nom de guerre of Ong Boon Hua, 79, was the 11th secretary-general of the once powerful Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) which fought against British colonialism, the Japanese occupation and the newly independent governments of both Malaysia and Singapore for over half a century.

The party's armed struggle, which began in June 1948, ended with a peace agreement signed between CPM and the governments of Malaysia and Thailand in 1989.

During the communist insurgency, the government offered an award of up to RM200,000 for the capture of Chin Peng - the country's most wanted man for 40 years - dead or alive.

Life and times of Chin Peng