Home Ministry stops sale of ‘Where Did I Come From’ book by Peter Mayle

(The Star) – The Home Ministry has asked bookstores to immediately stop the sale of Peter Mayle’s book Where Did I Come From’, a book explaining the facts of life.

Ministry Deputy Secretary General Datuk Abdul Rahim Mohd Radzi said Tuesday they had started studying the content of the book and sales had to stop until a decision was made.

“If the contents are found have elements that could harm the moral of the community, we would ban it,” he said in a statement.

Abdul Rahim said the ministry was taking action under Section 7, Subsection 1 of the Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984 .

The book, published in 1984, describes the reproductive process from intercourse to birth.

It is heavily illustrated and most reveiewers have said that it was useful but some reviewers have commented that it had too much information about love making.

Peter Mayle is a British author famous for his series of books detailing life in Provence, France, according to Wikipedia.

He spent fifteen years in the advertising industry before leaving the business in 1975 to write educational books, including a series on sex education for children and young people.

His books have been translated to more than twenty languages.

Umno Youth Community Complaints Bureau chairman Datuk Muhd Khairun Aseh said the wing had received many complaints from the public regarding on the matter.

“The book was easily available at the children’s section at several book stores but the degree of obscenity inside the book was too much,” he said.

He said the book had cartoon illustrations of naked male and female bodies complete with genitalia.

“It clearly indicates the private parts of human beings and specific details of how two person are making love,” he said.

He also noted that the book described the act of sexual intercourse and how the male and female genitalia functioned.

“The book is written in simple language and was placed on shelves for children under the age of 12.

“This is a violation of Section 292 of the Penal Code, which deals with distribution or sale of pornographic materials. We believe that some 200 million copies of the book has been printed since it was published in 1997,” he said.

Asked if the book was meant for educational purposes, Muhd Khairun said although it might be suitable for children at the writer’s country of origin, it was still not suitable in Malaysia.