The police have detained Kean Wong, the editor of the book “Rebirth, Reformasi, Resistance and Hope”, which allegedly insulted Malaysia’s coat of arms. Wong has been under investigation since 2020 and was arrested while renewing his passport at the Immigration office in Kelana Jaya on October 16. Ivan Teng, Wong’s lawyer, stated that a one-day remand order was granted on October 17.
Teng further informed that the investigating officer expressed optimism about completing the investigations within a day. He mentioned that Wong could be released by the evening of October 17. Presently, the police can detain Wong until around noon on October 18, as per the remand order. The police requested the remand order to record Wong’s statement, collect data from his phones to retrieve messages from three years ago, and obtain fingerprints and photographs.
Teng remarked that these tasks could be realistically completed within two to three hours. He added that they were instructed to have money ready for bail if Wong is released on the same day. Teng further stated that they were awaiting investigation by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), who will be involved in the data collection process and obtaining Wong’s usernames and relevant passwords.
Despite the situation, Teng mentioned that Wong is in good spirits. The book in question faced backlash in June 2020 due to its cover, which allegedly insulted the Malaysian coat of arms. Internet users have called for action against the book, claiming that it insulted the Constitution and the Rukun Negara. The Bukit Aman CID’s Special Investigation Unit reportedly seized over 300 copies of the book, which was consequently banned by the Home Ministry on July 1, 2020.
