The secretary of the publications and Quranic texts control division, Che Din Yusoh, said the minister could use "absolute discretion" to gazette "undesirable publications" as banned under Section 7 of the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA).

At the same time, Section 9 empowers ministry officers at Malaysia's entry points to refuse the importation of "undesirable publications" that are deemed to threaten public order, morality, security or national interest, even if they have not been gazetted as banned.

Che Din was responding to enquiries from theSun regarding complaints by bookstore owners and distributors that some imported publications had not been allowed into the country.

Silverfish Books owner and director Raman Krishnan said he has been unable to stock up on several books because they were being denied entry into the country in Johor Baru.

These include books by Kahlil Gibran, Salman Rushdie's award-winning Midnight's Children and Shalimar the Clown, Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Memories of My Melancholy Whores, as well as classics such as Anthony Burgess' The Malayan Trilogy and Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

So far, the Silverfish Books website has listed a total of 109 titles which have, throughout the year, not been allowed entry into the country by road from Singapore through Johor Baru (see http://www.silverfishbooks.com/RestrictedBooks1.htm).

Che Din said he could not confirm if Silverfish Books' list of titles had been banned, noting that officers at each entry point might have different lists.

He said that sometimes, books were confiscated at entry point and only later gazetted as banned. The publishers may also be asked to return these books to the sender.

"As the country's moral guardian, we cannot let these books in," Che Din said, adding that most of these titles were offensive because of their sexual or violent content.

"Some children's books may also have offensive content and contravene conditions in the PPPA."

He said some classics also had to be banned because they contained liberal Western ideas that were "not conducive" to Malaysian society.

While some books on Silverfish Books' list suggest sexual content, others include Rebecca Wells' Divine Secrets of the Ya-ya Sisterhood, political biographies such as Mao: A Life, and educational books like An Introduction to Islam, How to Talk to Your Child About Sex and Breastfeeding Your Baby: Revised Edition.

Also affected are children's titles like Read-Aloud Children's Classics, SpongeBob and Squarepants, The Wiggles, Poems and Prayers for Children, and Dora's Fiesta Adventure ActivePoint Book Set.

"My book distributors say they can't supply these titles to me because they are being blocked by ministry officers in Johor Baru," Krishnan told theSun.

However, he said, the titles were not on the ministry's list of officially banned books (see www.mois.gov.my) that have been gazetted by the minister and that has been provided to book stores and distributors.

What's more, these titles are available at major bookstores, which get their supply of books by air through the KL International Airport.

"Nobody really knows if these books are banned. This seems to be an unofficial list that is arbitrarily determined by ministry officers in Johor Baru," Krishnan said, noting that not all of the books had to do with nudity or pornography.

"Some of these classics have been around for years and are used in schools and universities. If these books have been banned, why have they been banned?" he asked, lamenting the lack of consistency and transparency in the ministry's actions.

Book distributors, who declined to be named, said authors and titles were arbitrarily restricted every now and again. "Sometimes, the hardback is restricted but the softcover is allowed into the country," one distributor said.

Distributors said that when a title was confiscated by ministry officers in Johor Baru, a letter would be issued stating the book was "restricted" but without explaining why.

They said they did not appeal or challenge these decisions for fear of having other titles confiscated, too.

In a news report on Sunday, Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Fu Ah Kiow said distributors who were of the opinion that the restrictions were unfair could file an appeal with the ministry by sending the books to its headquarters in Putrajaya for review.