Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow speaks to the press at the Komtar Building in George Town October 25, 2019. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin

GEORGE TOWN, Oct 25 — The Home Ministry was hasty in banning former DAP member Hew Kuan Yau’s Belt and Road Initiative for Win-Winism comic as communist propaganda, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said today.

“The authorities need to look at the real intentions behind the comic and look at it in detail before banning it,” the Penang DAP chief said in a press conference today.

He said the authorities initially wanted to invite historians to scrutinise the comic book but banned it as communist propaganda before this could be done.

Chow suggested there was ulterior motives in the swift ban.

“They should have asked experts to review the comic and get their views before banning it,” he said.

Chow said authorities should consider that Hew wanted to introduce China as an alternative to the US as a global superpower.

He noted that aside from curating for the Asia Comic Cultural Museum, Hew had also been the chief executive officer of the Malaysia China Business Council.

Chow claimed China was misunderstood politically and Hew meant only to highlight the country’s economic success.

He further claimed that China has thousands of self-made billionaires who made their fortunes through socialism despite being a superficially communist state.

“It was his intention to give an alternative introduction to China regarding its economic development,” he said.

The Home Ministry officially banned the comic as it was deemed to be inappropriate as it promotes “communism and socialism” as well as spreading confusing facts” on its struggle here in the country.

When asked about the state government’s financial support for the Asia Comic Cultural Museum, Chow said the museum itself was not banned.

He also said the museum did not belong to the state government, which only supported it by paying for its rental.

“The museum was set up in 2016 and chose to set up in ICT Mall at Level Two of Komtar during a time when the state government was taking steps to rejuvenate Komtar,” he said.

He said at the time, the state government was bringing in businesses to Komtar including The Top, ICT Mall and Tech Dome, and the state decided to support the museum when it chose to move there.

“It is a tourism product that is unique in Malaysia and even Asia, it is a comic museum that promotes creativity and animation where various events were held by famous comic artists there,” he said.

He said this was the reason why the state decided to collaborate with the museum by paying for their rental but stated that the state did not fund the exhibits or infrastructure in the museum.

“We only support in terms of rental and the rental goes to Penang Development Corporation, this is the only link between the state and the museum,” he said.

He said the state has an agreement with the museum to support it until December 2020.

The issue of the state’s support for the museum was discussed at the state exco meeting this morning, he added.