The government is drafting amendments to the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 to maintain its relevance in the age of information and communication technology, said Home Ministry secretary-general Aseh Che Mat.

He said the amendments will expand the PPPA to include electronic publications as suggested in parliament last year.

"The act was last amended in 1987 and has become increasingly irrelevant in the age of information and communication technology (ICT)," he was quoted as saying by Chinese daily Sin Chew Jit Poh today.

According to the daily, Aseh said this at a meeting yesterday with some 40 high-ranking officials and editors from newspapers of different languages at his office in Putrajaya.

Aseh also said feedback from the local media is important to help the government ensure that the amendments to the act are acceptable to the public.

The PPPA stipulates that all periodical publications must apply for a permit annually.

Any publication without the permit can be charged and its publisher can face a three-year jail term and a maximum fine of RM20,000 if convicted in court.

The permit application is handled by a special Unit 'C' which oversees control over publication, Quranic texts and film censorship.

The unit is supervised by deputy home ministers Zainal Abidin Zin and Chor Chee Heung.

Letters from ministry

Last July, Minister in Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim said the government was drafting content guidelines for Internet publications as they had been abused by certain quarters to incite social unrest and cause nuisance.

Aseh said Unit 'C' last year had issued 10 letters of advice, five warnings, and one show-cause letter to the dailies in the country.

As for this year, he said, two letters of advice and two warnings have been issued, while one daily had been asked to show cause why it should not be suspended.

Aseh added the issuance of these letters could be avoided if there was good communication between the ministry and the media.

As of end of last year, the Home Ministry had issued 2,058 publishing permits, including 70 to all dailies in the country 39 in the peninsula, 14 in Sabah, and 17 in Sarawak.

For the past decade, 1996 saw the peak of publication activity in the country with up to 7,170 permits issued that year. This was an increase of 1,950 compared to the year before.

However, the figure later dropped to only 2,036 in 1997; 1,927 in 1998; 1,863 in 1999 and 2,141 in 2000.