Heather in Neverland Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 So I ordered some items for christmas presents for my kids that I cannot get here and I sent them to my mom in Michigan so she could then send them to me in Malaysia. In the box was two board games (Settlers of Catan being one of them and I am so excited but I digress), 2 ipods, 1 xbox game, and some christmas movies. Believe it or not you cannot buy a.)non-pirated movies anywhere on this island...pirated movies are of such good quality here and so cheap they literally have put legitimate DVD sellers out of business and you cannot get b.) christmas movies...which makes sense since this is a muslim country. So I was a little behind schedule in getting presents this year and had my mom fedex the package the fastest they could bring it and I paid an unspeakable amount in shipping to make sure the gifts made it before christmas. And then..... Nothing. I track the package and find out it has been sitting at the local post office for a week. I call them to find out why it has not been delivered and I am told they are holding it because they are scanning the DVDs for "christian" content. Seriously. They do not censor violence or foul language in movies but christian content is OUT. So I said fine, keep the movies, but I need the other gifts, they are for christmas!!! They said "No can la". So I complained to my mom about it. Guess what she did? She wrote a scathing email to the U.S. Embassy here about the post office holding my package indefinitely and..... Later that day the post office delivered my package to me without scanning anything. GO MOM!!!!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainbowSprinkles Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 That's awesome! Have a nice Christmas :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Go, Mom! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 :ack2: Am I understanding this correctly? You had your mom send you illegal stuff and then she called the Embassy complaining about it? Wouldn't you just want to keep your head down until your immigration issues are straightened out? :leaving: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 (edited) :ack2: Am I understanding this correctly? You had your mom send you illegal stuff and then she called the Embassy complaining about it? Wouldn't you just want to keep your head down until your immigration issues are straightened out? :leaving: I think the only thing in her package that might be illegal in that country would have been the non pirated Christmas movies. Edited December 21, 2010 by kwiech Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 :ack2: Am I understanding this correctly? You had your mom send you illegal stuff and then she called the Embassy complaining about it? Wouldn't you just want to keep your head down until your immigration issues are straightened out? :leaving: I don't think they are "illegal." I just think they are not available because who would buy them? Supply and Demand. Now, about the Christian content...that i am unsure about....BUT isn't the school Heather works at a Christian school? Gotta love that mom of hers! Maybe she can work with the embassy about getting your sweet baby home as well. Merry Christmas Heather. Enjoy your many blessings! Faithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 :ack2: Am I understanding this correctly? You had your mom send you illegal stuff and then she called the Embassy complaining about it? Wouldn't you just want to keep your head down until your immigration issues are straightened out? :leaving: I don't think she meant it was illegal, just unavailable. You know, like if you have a favorite Christmas candy that isn't sold in stores where you are or you want "real" Mexican food or something--so you have someone send it to you. :001_smile: Heather, your Mom sounds awesome! I hope you guys have a great Christmas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Heather, you can't have anything with Christian content delivered even for your own personal use or for use at the school? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 (edited) Christian materials are illegal in Malaysia unless they are labeled "for non-Muslims only." Proselytizing is strictly forbidden in Malaysia and that's the reason for the requirement. It may seem silly to hold a package for such a reason, I agree; I am not completely anti-civil-disobedience, but I would worry about how it might impact my family. eta sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Malaysia Christian literature are required by law to carry a caption "for non-Muslims only" http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2009/127277.htm The Constitution provides for freedom of religion. Article 11 states, "Every person has the right to profess and practice his religion," but also gives state and federal governments the power to "control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam." Article 3 of the Constitution states, "Islam is the religion of the Federation" and that "Parliament may by law make provisions for regulating Islamic religious affairs." Article 160 of the Constitution defines ethnic Malays as Muslim. Civil courts generally ceded authority to Shari'a courts on cases concerning conversion from Islam, and the latter remained reluctant to allow for such conversions. Other laws and policies placed some restrictions on religious freedom. The Government restricts distribution of Malay-language Christian materials in peninsular Malaysia and forbids the proselytizing of Muslims by non-Muslims. The Government bans and confiscates religious materials it finds deviant or offensive. The Government restricts the distribution in peninsular Malaysia of Malay-language translations of the Bible and other printed materials, as well as Christian tapes. Since 2005 a policy initiated by the Prime Minister requires that Malay-language Bibles must have the words "Not for Muslims" printed on the cover and may be distributed only in churches and Christian bookshops. The distribution of Malay-language Christian materials faced fewer restrictions in East Malaysia. So, maybe they were checking to make sure the materials were within the law? Edited December 21, 2010 by Mrs Mungo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Christian materials are illegal in Malaysia unless they are labeled "for non-Muslims only." Proselytizing is strictly forbidden in Malaysia and that's the reason for the requirement. It may seem silly to hold a package for such a reason, I agree; I am not completely anti-civil-disobedience, but I would worry about how it might impact my family. I understand that proselytizing is illegal, but is there some way her package could have been labeled "for non-Muslims only" to get it past the PO? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 I understand that proselytizing is illegal, but is there some way her package could have been labeled "for non-Muslims only" to get it past the PO? She could probably print out a sticker and slap it on the video case. That *should* do the trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom4him Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 So I complained to my mom about it. Guess what she did? She wrote a scathing email to the U.S. Embassy here about the post office holding my package indefinitely and..... Later that day the post office delivered my package to me without scanning anything. GO MOM!!!!! :D :hurray::hurray::hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted December 21, 2010 Author Share Posted December 21, 2010 :ack2: Am I understanding this correctly? You had your mom send you illegal stuff and then she called the Embassy complaining about it? Wouldn't you just want to keep your head down until your immigration issues are straightened out? :leaving: No that is not correct. Nothing in my box is ILLEGAL in this country. I just had to buy the DVDs from amazon because they do not sell them here. I have to pay customs/duty fees but there is nothing illegal. That is why I was upset... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Your mom ROCKS!!! Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted December 21, 2010 Author Share Posted December 21, 2010 Christian materials are illegal in Malaysia unless they are labeled "for non-Muslims only." Proselytizing is strictly forbidden in Malaysia and that's the reason for the requirement. It may seem silly to hold a package for such a reason, I agree; I am not completely anti-civil-disobedience, but I would worry about how it might impact my family. We can and do order christian books, bibles, etc all the time. These aren't explicitly christian movies...they are christmas movies...like Miracle on 34th street and A Christmas Story and Elf and The Christmas Shoes, etc. But because it is about christmas I guess they thought there might be something subversive going on? My dh's theory is that they wanted to "scan" them so they could pirate them and sell them. :D Movie piracy is huge business here. They even have stores at the big malls that sell pirated DVDs. What's funnier is that the pirated DVD businesses now advertise why their pirated DVDs are better than the other guy's pirated DVDs. Honor among thieves? I have to say that I feel like I am becoming desensitized in some ways to government corruption here since it is so pervasive. If you get pulled over for any reason the cop will automatically ask for a bribe. And we know a local here who's son was arrested for murder (yes he is guilty). They paid the cops RM10,000 (which is about $3300 USD) and the cops covered it up. seriously. When we first moved here my kindle broke so I shipped it to the US to be fixed and they shipped it back. The guy at the post office told me I had to pay $300 USD in custom fees even though on the actual fee slip it was only about $50. He was just trying to line his own pockets. So the idea that they would hold our package for trumped up reasons planning to charge us extra "fees" is not far-fetched. at. all. In fact, a local told us we should offer the government officials a bribe to get Natalie's immigration paperwork through. I am sorry but I refuse to pay a bribe for any reason. So I guess we will just have to wait it out. But my mom took care of things so this time we win. Chalk one up for the good guys. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 We can and do order christian books, bibles, etc all the time. These aren't explicitly christian movies...they are christmas movies...like Miracle on 34th street and A Christmas Story and Elf and The Christmas Shoes, etc. But because it is about christmas I guess they thought there might be something subversive going on? I would bet with the cultural barrier, it's a difficult call for them. My dh's theory is that they wanted to "scan" them so they could pirate them and sell them. :D Movie piracy is huge business here. It is in a lot of countries, especially Asia. It's entirely possible they were planning on copying the movies. I have to say that I feel like I am becoming desensitized in some ways to government corruption here since it is so pervasive. If you get pulled over for any reason the cop will automatically ask for a bribe. It really is crazy how things work in some countries. At least you got your package and can pass the gifts on to your kids in this case!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Heather, that's hilarious. Your mom rocks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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