CHAPTERtwo

Books and Publishing Industry in

Malaysia
 Chapter 2 Books and Publishing Industry in Malaysia
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After completing this lesson, the student will be able to

 Understand the book publishing industry scenario in Malaysia

 Identify the types of publishers
 Describe the scholarly and journal publishing
 Describe book trade organizations in Malaysia

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2.1 Introduction

 Malaysia has a natural resources-rich land area of 329,847 square

kilometers, the 66th largest country in the world. On independence, many
predicted that Malaysia’s multi-ethnic society would collapse.

 Malaysia has not only survived, but has also prospered, with its economy
registering one of the highest growth rates in the world. Today Malaysians are
bristling with self-confidence as they march towards the vision of a fully
developed nation by 2020.

 The book industry in Malaysia, like most other sectors, has also benefitted
from the nation’s economic boom. Almost every aspect of the book industry
output of local book publishers, number and quality of retail outlets,
representation of overseas publishers in the local market, participation in
international trade fairs, and governmental support for the industry has
witnessed very positive and encouraging figures.

 For example, the average daily output of new titles in 1966 was less than 2;
currently, it is nearly 20. At the international level, the size of the national
stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair never exceeded 4 square meters up to the
mid-1980s; in 1995, the national stand covered an area of 50 square meters.

 The main feature of Malaysia’s book publishing industry is that it is primarily

domestic market focused, with school textbooks/revision guides/model
answer books publishing constituting the major area of publishing.

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2.2 Types of Publishers

 Religious Materials Publishers

 Professional Materials Publishers

 Academic Materials Publishers

2.2.1 Religious Materials Publishers

Examples of publishers:

a) Pustaka Salam

b) Hizbi

c) Darul Nu’man

d) Pustaka Fajar

e) Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka

f) Jabatan Kemajuan Islam (JAKIM) JPM

g) Pustaka Aman

h) GC Edar, etc.

Among the types of religious materials

i. How to & Guide

ii. Tafsir Hadith & Al-Quran

iii. Other areas of interest

iv. Mostly translated from Arabic or English

v. Books written by great scholars such as Syed Quth, Fathi Yakan, etc.

vi. It is suspected that the publishers didn’t pay royalty to the original
authors or publishers

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2.2.2 Professional Materials Publishers

 For the professionals and related to their professions

 In Malaysia, this type of publishing is not done in the great scale

 Only Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), University Publishers and

the western-based companies such as Fajar Bakti and Longman
publish this type of materials

2.2.3 Academic Materials Publishers

 Not profit oriented

 University publishers

 Research Institutions

 Government think tanks such as Institute of Strategic and International

Studies (ISIS), Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM),
Institut kajian Dasar (IKD), etc

 Academic Publishing the world over has a direct link to peer

assessment and recognition

 Almost always, an academic manuscript received from an academic is

sent to another academic in the same field for assessment or
evaluation based on definite criteria

 It is only on confirmation that these criteria are met that the production
process in initiated to produce a book

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2.3 Scholarly Publishing

 Scholarly publishing or academic publishing in Malaysia began with the

establishment of the first research institute in the country, the Institute for
Medical Research (IMR), in 1900.

 The earliest published works were research reports, but as universities and
other research institutes were founded and research activities increased,
scholarly publishing grew in scope and importance.

 Today scholarly publications emanate from four main sources: Dewan

Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), the university presses, various research
institutes, and several government departments.

 These bodies now publish a diverse range of journals, bulletins, monographs,

and papers, and the list keeps growing, although still merely scratching the
surface of the proverbial publications barrel.

 Computers and telecommunications are changing the ways in which scholars

communicate with each other. Some day in the future a scholar may be better
served by sitting at a personal computer connected to a communications
network than by making a visit to a library. From the personal computer the
scholar will be able to consult documents that are stored on computer around
the world.

 Not every scholar considers this scenario desirable; not everybody believes it
to be technically, economically, or legally feasible; nobody expects an
overnight transformation.

 Printed documents are so much part of scholarship that their dominant role
cannot change except gradually, but many normally cautious people believe
that some important uses of printing may be replaced by electronic
information within comparatively few years.

 The scholarly works published are of two kinds; textbooks and reference
materials.

 Textbooks are either original works or translations, and reference materials

include monographs, journals, occasional papers, research papers, and
mimeographs.

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You have now reached the stage where you should be able to discuss the content of the
topic with your group.

 Discuss the role of scholarly or academic publishing in Malaysia

2.4 Journal Publishing

 Most academic work is published in journal articles, books or thesis forms

 Most established academic disciplines have their own journals. For example
in medicine, dentistry, law, education, information science, etc.

 Most scientific and scholarly journals are based on some form of peer review
or editorial refereeing to quality texts for publications

 A peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular

academic discipline is published

 Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for
scrutiny of new research, and the critique of the existing research

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2.5 Law and the Book Industry

a) Internal Security Act (ISA)

i. This act is aimed at a variety of activities considered as threats to

national security.

ii. Under this act, book can be banned. Being a multi-ethnic and multi-
religious nation, Malaysia has to be highly sensitive to publications
that can contribute to the outbreak of racial riots and religious
conflicts. Books that fall under this category of publications are
banned. This decision is made only after the books have become
available.

iii. In other words, prior clearance from the Home Affairs Ministry is not
required. In the case of imported books, if particular titles in the
invoice arouse the suspicion of the inspecting customs officer, then
sample copies have to be submitted for examination.

iv. Up to 1980’s, a lot of the books banned came under the “communist
propaganda” category. The current focus is more on books that touch
on racial and religious sensitivities.

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b) Deposit of Library Materials Act, 1986

i. This act replaced The Preservation of Books Act, 1966.

ii. The main aim of this act is to ensure that all materials published in the
country are “preserved” for current and future use.

iii. Under this Act, it is mandatory for all publishers (private companies,
individuals, government departments and agencies, research
institutes, etc.) to submit 5 copies of all printed materials (e.g., books,
journals, newsletters, maps, newspapers) and 2 copies of non-printed
materials (e.g., CD-ROM, audio and video recordings,
cinematographic films) to the National Library.

iv. A penalty can be imposed for failure to submit. Reminder letters from
the National Library and increasing awareness of this requirement
have ensured a high degree of compliance.

v. In the past, it was difficult for the national Library to monitor the
numerous titles published in the country. Now, with more
organizations using the ISBN (which is issued by the National Library),
it has become easier to monitor and take follow-up actions.

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c) Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984

i. This is important act which everyone in the book industry must

understand and comply with. Though book publishing, importing,
wholesaling and retailing do not require government licenses, there
are important provisions relating to “undesirable publications” which
affect the book industry.

ii. Under this Act, such publications are those prejudicial to public order,
morality, security, the relationship with any foreign country or
government, or which is likely to alarm public opinion, or which is
country to any law or is otherwise prejudicial to public interest or
national interest. Any person who publishes, imports, or distributes
such publications can be fined up to US$8000 or jailed for 3 years.

iii. This Act is currently being viewed to tighten some of the provisions.
For example, those involved in selling pornographic materials are
allegedly making big profits from this business and many have
returned to this business after paying the fines. There is a proposal to
increase the fine to the maximum amount and jail sentence to 5 years.

d) Copyright Act 1987

i. This is a comprehensive Act covering numerous aspects relating to

copyright protection for published editions and other creative works.

ii. This Act provides copyright protection for 50 years for published
editions from the beginning of the calendar year following the year in
which the edition was first published. Under this Act, copyright is
considered as movable property which can be transferred by
assignment or by operation of law. Penalties under this Act for
copyright offences are severe.

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iii. A fine not exceeding US$4000 for each infringing copy, or

imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or both, can be
imposed on first offenders. For any subsequent offence, a fine not
exceeding US$8000 for each infringing copy, or imprisonment for a
term not exceeding 10 years, or both, can be imposed.

iv. Book piracy in Malaysia has declined over the years. Today, it is no
longer considered a serious enforcement matter, though reports of
infringement do surface once in a while. There is widespread feeling,
however, that book piracy is quite widespread in the area of Islamic
publications.

v. The Malaysian book market for this type of publication is currently

enjoying a boom. One can pick up several Islamic books in retail
stores and from roadside vendors without proper copyright credit in
the books or claims of permission to reprint. As the original owners
have not lodged reports with the ministry, it is difficult to take action
against this kind of illegal activity.

vi. Book piracy can take a variety of forms. Today, photostating of entire
books is considered an important problem area requiring action. This
type of book piracy is big business for several photostating shops. In
particular, expensive tertiary-level student textbooks and reference
books attract this type of piracy.

vii. To deal with this problems, three book trade associations (MAPOBA,
MBIA, IKATAN) have formed a private limited company, Copyright
Clearance Centre Malaysia Sdn Bhd, to license photostating
companies to collect royalties on behalf of publishers. Because of
various difficulties, this company has yet to start its activities.
viii. Other legislation relevant to the book industry include the Trade Marks
Act 1976, Trade Description Act 1972 and Cheap Sale Price
Regulations 1987. In some instances, it would be easier to take action
under the Trade Marks or Trade Descriptions Act for copyright
infringement. For those planning to hold book warehouse or retail
sales, familiarity and compliance with the regulations concerning them
are required.

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e) The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

i. The DMCA was forged to protect the various entertainment industries.

It proposed a set of very severe penalties on those who would get
caught copying digital materials. If you read the FBI warning on a
made for home entertainment DVD you will see threats of fines in the
hundreds of thousands of dollars for unlicensed copying of the film.
This threat has appeared so many times in so many places that the
threat is not taken seriously by most people, but to those few who are
singled out as examples by the legal machinery of the film industry, it
can be quite intimidating. As Cass (2010) reports:

ii. Piracy of copyrighted work is rampant on the Internet. The plague of

“scraper sites” is just one example: they copy content belonging to
other sites in hopes of snagging readers – and advertising revenue
from automated networks such as Google’s AdSense. In the United
States, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) lets copyright
holders protect themselves by sending online service providers a
“takedown notice” if one of the providers’ users uploads content
belonging to the rights holder.

iii. As long as the provider removes the offending material in a timely

manner, they cannot be considered as partners to intellectual piracy.
Any links to sites providing illegal content can be ordered removed
(Cass, 2010).

iv. There is nothing automatic about spotting copyright infringement. The

holder of the copyright, once they have spotted an infringement, must
then serve notice on the infringer. Companies such as Attributor in
California, have methods to “crawl the internet” for their clients,
looking for copyright violators. Attributor can act on behalf of its client
and ask the poster of the information to attribute the item properly, or
in more extreme circumstances ask them to take the offending article
off-line (Cass, 2010).

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f) Digital rights management (DRM)

i. Digital rights management (DRM) can be difficult to deal with as well.

Obtaining a specific e-book and trying to mount it on several devices
can be a disturbing experience. DRM technology is specifically geared
to prevent you from using the original material, whether it is music, film
or e-book on more than one device.

ii. Publishers are already claiming losses of $600 million dollars due to e-
book piracy (Masnick, 2009), but these claims are probably
outrageously inaccurate. Consumers buying habits must be changed.
The best way to do this is to get a potential e-book customer
accustomed to buying from a legitimate source. Customers should be
allowed to move a legally purchased object from machine to machine,
even if it only allows usage on one machine at a time.

iii. There is also the issue of up-to-date content. When an unscrupulous

person downloads e-content is usually one time per object. In other
words, there is usually no need to update that content from the same
source. Technology e-books must constantly be updated as content
changes. This can become an ongoing service and can be extremely
valuable to the purchaser.

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2.6 Great Books and Popular Literature

 Many books have changed peoples’ mind and becoming the proud of a nation

 Books are also cultural heritage of a country

 For examples, Mega trends 2000 (John Nasbit), The age of paradox, Power
shift, War and anti war (Alvin Tofler)

 In Malaysian context – Sejarah Melayu, Salina, Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan,

Hujan Pagi, Revolusi Mental, The Malay Dilemma

 All that mankind has done, thought, gained or been; it is lying as in magic
preservation in the pages of books

You have now reached the stage where you should be able to discuss the content of the
topic with your group.

 Identify one title of great book that you know and discuss its contribution in changing
people’s mind.

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2.7 Book Trade Organizations

a) National Book Industry Council

Formerly known as the National Book Trade Council, it is an informal set-up

composed of representatives from various book trade associations. It meets
to discuss matters of mutual interest amongst the trade associations and
organizes the annual book trade convention. These conventions have
substantives themes with presentations by representatives from within and
outside the book industry. They are held at different locations each year and
have served important social objectives by bringing together members of the
book industry in very relaxed settings.

b) Malaysian Book Importers Association (MBIA)

Established in 1980, it represents book wholesalers and distributors. It has a

membership of 56 companies. Of these, 30 are full members and 26 are
associate members. Nearly, all companies involved in book wholesaling and
distribution are members.

c) Malaysian Booksellers Association (MBA)

With 112 companies as members, the MBA represents the book retailers in
the country. Established in 1969, it is the oldest book trade association.
Together with the MBA, it fixes the conversion rates for the sale of imported
books.

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d) Malaysian Book Publishers Association (MABOPA)

With 74 publishers as members, MABOPA represents the interests of the

local book publishing industry. Its representatives participate in various
dialogue sessions with the Ministry of Finance, Trade, and Consumer Affairs.
Among the issues that MABOPA has continuously addressed are those
relating to textbook publishing, fair trade practices in the book industry,
discount structures, copyright, piracy, and governmental support for the
industry.

e) National Bumiputra Book Publishers Association

With 47 Bumiputra owned companies as members, IKATAN represents the

specialized interests of Bumiputra businessmen in the book industry. It has
been active in governmental forums seeking greater governmental support for
its members. The government has responded positively and many have
benefited considerably from the government dictated textbook publishing
program.

f) Malaysian Book Contractors Association

It has 29 companies as members. They are all Bumiputra companies

registered with the Ministry of Finance as book suppliers to government
departments and agencies, and public libraries. All companies seeking to
supply books to governments departments and agencies in excess required
to register with the Ministry.

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g) National Book Development Council (MBKM)

This council is part of the Ministry of Education. The Council is composed of

representatives from various book trade associations, other related
associations, and relevant government departments and agencies. It activities
include holding seminars and forums, organizing the National Book Awards,
coordinating book fair activities, participating in dialogue sessions with
relevant government bodies, and supporting research activities.

In addition to the above, there are other associations whose activities directly
or indirectly affect the development of the book industry. Among these are
Malaysian Reading Association (MRA), National Writers Association
(GAPENA), Malaysian Academic Publishers Association (PAPIM).

National Book Council of Malaysia established under the Ministry of

Education in 1968, the council is a professional and advisory body in book
development in Malaysia, which has the full support of the government and
the private sectors that are involved in the development of the book for social
and national interests. As a non-profit making body, its sources of income are
mainly from occasional government grants and from private donation.

The council works on a voluntary basis. Its strength and support come from
members, both the public as well as the private sector. But the administrative
function is provided by a professional secretariat in the Ministry of Education.
Among other things, the council’s main objectives are to promote
professionalism in the book industry, co-ordinate book development activities,
encourage reading habits and facilitate negotiations among the parties that
are involved in the production and consumption of books.

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2.8 Electronic Publishing in Malaysia

Source : taken from Google image

 In Malaysia, most of the major publishers have published their materials in the
CD-ROM formats as well as online publications (i.e., e-books and e-journals)

 However, the printed format is still dominant.

 Currently, the users of libraries and information centres are becoming more
and more familiar with electronic resources, such as reference works,
databases and electronic journals with full texts.

 These resources have been easily adapted to the digital format, and they
have been rapidly accepted and assimilated by the users.

 A few years ago, there were very few readers that could give documented
answers about the use and knowledge of e-books (IDPF, 2006). However,
nowadays more and more people know and handle these new formats.

 On the other hand, until very recently, e-book reading devices were almost
non-existent in the libraries, in view of the many deficiencies they presented.

 Currently, many of those deficiencies have been solved. Electronic books are
emerging as the last frontier that publishers, libraries and information centres
alike must cross in order to adapt their resources to the digital revolution.

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The impact of electronic publishing in libraries

 The impact of electronic publishing (e-publishing) on library collections,

services and administration is complex. There are no simple solutions to the
problems of managing the collection, archiving and access to e-publications
as well as including them in library services. There are, however, many good
usable solutions that libraries can learn from each other. No one needs to
recreate the wheel to cope with epublications.

 Many librarians feel that the technology to solve the problems and take
advantage of e-publishing is either currently available or clearly under
development. How the advent and increasing presence of e-publications will
impact the people who will read them may ultimately be of more importance
than what will do with the machines, the storage media or the delivery
mechanism. Therefore, emphasis in this special theme issue is more on the
humaninteraction aspects of e-publishing rather than on the technology or
delivery mechanisms.

 Problems and advantages confront libraries in the increasing availability of

electronic format publications delivered through the Internet as well as other
kinds of electronic delivery mechanism.

 The impact of electronic publishing (e-publishing) on library collections,

services and administration is complex. There are no simple solutions to the
problems of managing the collection, archiving and access to e-publications,
as well as including them in library services. There are, however, many good
usable solutions that libraries can learn from each other. No one needs to re-
create the wheel to cope with e-publications.

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 Problems in managing e-publications for libraries and their users include:

a) Providing access that matches the technological capabilities of both

library and user.

b) Providing access that satisfies the profit motive of commercial e-

publishers.

c) Collection development planning that requires knowledge of the

electronic delivery mechanisms, as well as the subject content of e-
publications.

d) Archiving e-publications in ways that avoid problems with electronic

media degradation.

 Some of the advantages to libraries and their users in solving these problems
and using the solutions in providing library services are:

a) Access is increased for more patrons to more publications than

individual libraries can acquire and store.

b) Collection development and cooperative collecting are simplified

because libraries can share central storage and retrieval facilities.

c) Preservation is made easier because of the relative ease of

duplication and archiving of electronic publications.

d) There are wonderful opportunities also for libraries to do their own e-

publishing through the Internet services such as e-mail and World
Wide Web.

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 Enter the Internet

In addition to individuals with the know-how to crack these files, there was an
even easier way to acquire these files. The internet has provided us with not
only a publishing technology, but also provided a home for entities such as
USENET and bitTorrent. USENET has actually been around much longer
than the world wide web.

It consists of many user groups that have banded together for their own
singular purposes. That is not to say that all individuals who frequent the
USENET sites are evil, but it is known to be a hot bed of file and interest
sharing. Torrents, on the other hand, work differently but are reviled as file
sharing neighborhoods just the same. To date, most of the digital rights
management types of software have not been very effective. Every time a
company comes out with a new type of digital rights management, someone
in the internet community will find a crack in the armor of the DRM and
publish it online for everyone to see. It is just like the constant battle between
the arms maker and the armorer, each one besting the other until a new and
more effective scheme can be hatched.

Source : taken from www.sxc.hu

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Impact of new technologies

An information message consists of three components:

1) information content that conveys the meaning of the message

2) information form that consists of two sub-components: information format is

the type of information such as text, mathematical models of numeric data;

information structure is the means of expression of information content such

as specific language used in the text, or types of graphs

3) information medium is the package in that information being captured and

communicated, whether on paper or electronic format.

 When reprography was first introduced, it challenged and threatened the

principle of intellectual property. When the computer became a powerful tool
for large volumes of information processing, the reference work along with the
abstracting and indexing sources, were the first to be converted into
electronic databases. It has taken longer for full text to go digital.

 This could be attributed to the unfriendliness of computer screens for reading

text. Though the acceptance of reading on monitors is on the increase, in
most cases the information is being printed and then read. The next
generation would certainly be more receptive to screen based text.

 In the electronic age the barriers between informal communications and

formal publications are disappearing. The communications cover papers
offered for publication, papers accepted for publication in a specific journal,
publications with paper numbers, a publication date, etc.

 The changes that are taking place in publishing are much more a revolution
than a transition. The development of electronic methods of communication
has been tremendously beneficial to the user community in facilitating the
rapid transfer of ideas between them, with no barriers, wherever in the world.

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 The emergence of the Internet as the

medium of scholarly messaging is
increasingly creating more profound
impact on the relationship between the
author and the reader. Major
developments include word processing,

text and pixel retrieval, storage, local and Source : taken from Google image
other networks, personal computers, the
workstation, laser printer, network computer, Internet, Intranets, Java, digital
broadcasting, etc. Many new products emerge based on hypertext and other
navigation systems with clickthrough facilities. Services like alerts, based on
personal profiles would come into existence. The information industry is
working on meta indexes and intelligent agents. Information could be
searched and presented in different layers, using standard generalized
markup language (SGML), that makes rich indexing. A new world for 3D
simulation, video and sound embedded documents would be possible due to
multimedia. Virtual reality allows for a new vision and could be used
extensively in design, production, education, telelearning and teleteaching.
The future would be InterCast, a combination of cable or digital broadcast
television with a telephone line for interactive communications.

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At this point you should be able to:

 Understand the book publishing industry scenario in Malaysia

 Identify the types of publishers

 Describe the scholarly and journal publishing

 Describe book trade organizations in Malaysia

a) To what extent has scholarly publishing promote the reading culture among
Malaysians?

b) What are the major threats and opportunities associated with electronic publishing?

c) Discuss how the National Book Development Council promotes reading and
publishing in Malaysia.

d) Elaborate the scholarly publishing challenges and opportunities in Malaysian

publishing scenario.

e) Discuss the importance of the copyright laws in protecting the publishing industry.

36 | P u b l i c a t i o n s a n d P r o d u c t i o n o f I n f o r m a t i o n M a t e r i a l s