“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

Article 19, United Nations Declaration of Universal Human Rights

I don’t really agree in any form of censorship. The only form of censorship that I’m in favor of is what I would like to call as ‘voluntarily-self-imposed-censorship’, which means an individual has the right to censor whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want and free to do so (if they chose to do so) for their own reasons, this, without any intervention of external authority. For instance, I don’t howl obsceneties around my parents because for me, it’s rude. But it’s the other way around when I’m with my friends. Another story for another day.

Censorship, as far as I understand is no more or less than an apparatus of mind and thought control. Mao knew it and so does the Nazi and Russian Bolsheviks in many cases throughout their oppressive regime. They practice censorship in so many ways imaginable, from suppressing thoughts and intellectuals, secret-police to biblioclasm to name a few. Orwell’s ‘1984’ and Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ is few examples of how censorship is used to reduce and keep the populace stupid, controllable and docile. Yes, I do realize there are many parents want to ‘protect’ their children or the gullible and I appreciate that. I am more than happy to acknowledge their right to do so, but not to impose those for anyone else. For me, education is the solution for this kind of problem, not censorship. If you don’t teach your children on how to think for themselves and what standards to have in life, no amount of censorship is going to save them. Furthermore, who is the best in position to sets the standard? The corrupted despotic government? Heh. 

Censorship is cruel and was meant to keep the populace in the dark. I believe that most mature-minded individuals should be able to listen to, read, watch, download and say whatever they want. The Internet, in this case, should be a natural place, where all content, services, and websites are treated equally because the way I look at it, information by its God-given nature is free, and that communication shouldn’t be restricted. The Internet should also be an open space where sharing and expression of ideas and opinions, however shocking, controversial, contradictory or divergent they are. This ability will empowers individuals to be more critical and determine their own destinies; justice and fairness is possible only when the influential cannot force others to remain silent.

Today, our government block ten websites and refused our (already limited) rights, what will happen next? What if in someday in the future, they take our most basic needs and resources. What happens if we wake up one day, and we find out that they decided to externalize our water supply and charge us for it, even that every drop which fell from the sky! Absurd? Illogical? Hey, remember what happened in 2000 at Cochabamba? Of course most of you don’t. You care more about your iPhone, your favorite Maharaja Lawak and what you gonna eat for lunch tomorrow. Because they’ve done it now, there’s no guarantee they won’t do it in the future. Remember, this is not just a case of Internet censorship by the government per se, it’s not about finding alternatives for the blocked sites, it’s not about why most of Malaysian ‘artists’ and ‘filmmakers’ have a low income (ehem, quality), it’s way more than that. If you think it is, maybe it’s time for you to recheck your sets of belief and shake off your highly sedated soma-nic lifestyle. You’ve been asleep for all this time.

People are either ignorant, apathetic or simply arrogant. And Malaysians in particular, as far as I’m concern, are quite submissive, docile, and highly-domesticated people who rarely truly speak out. They’re afraid, they’re afraid that if they speak up, they will be fined or jailed. I, for once, call for all Malaysians to stand up for our freedom of choice and what’s ours. We can always start small no matter how insignificant it is to others. Remember what Gandhi did against the salt tax imposed by the British in 1930? Look how little it took for him to work against that oppressive laws, all that he did was walk to the beach, pick up the salt and say nature gives it for free. Yes, most of us are in no way similar like Gandhi himself, nor do we have the qualities and determination he has, but it’s not just the action itself that we must cherish, it’s the idea and concept that we must celebrate and protect.

Maybe it’s time for us, Malaysians, to have our own Salt Satyagraha ourself.¹

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_{Disclaimer: ¹ This article has no political significance whatsoever and has nothing to do with any upcoming political rally scheduled in Malaysia. The writer believe in individual liberty without conventional political thoughts or authorities imposed. Self-government rather than the government of some men by others.}