RM265,000 worth of banned Parabolic Dishes seized

Other than those of ASTRO's, satellite dishes are prohibited by law in Malaysia. Many quarters have tried in the past, to get the government - including those that were initiated by NGOs and some leaders from ruling government - to lift the ban on the use of such dishes in order to receive transmissions of information from foreign countries.

Daily Express - 16.6.2012

Latest on the Customs Department's crackdown on banned goods saw its officers confiscating 106 sets of parabolic satellite dishes worth RM180,000 and is the biggest such seizures in Sabah so far. According to current market price, the seized sets of dishes could worth RM265,000.


Media report

State Customs Deputy Director (Enforcement and Compliance), Hamzah Sundang told a media conference in Keningau Friday that the 2.20pm raid at a house in Jalan Masak here was made by a team lead by the District Customs Enforcement Officer, Michael Asik. He said the parabolic dish is a prohibited item listed under Schedule II of Custom Rule (Prohibition on Import) 2008 and would require an import permit from Sirim Berhad.

Those found in possession of a parabolic dish without valid permit could be charged under Section 135 (1)(d) of the Custom Act 1967, which provides a fine of not less than 10 times the value of the seized goods for the first offence and not more than 20 times the value of the goods or a jail term of not more than 3 years or both, if convicted.


Prohibition by Malaysian law

Schedule II (Prohibition on Import) 2008 : Goods can be imported only with an Import License.

Item 10
Apparatus or equipment to be attached to or connected to a Public Telecommunication network or system. Affected parties - all countries, SIRIM Berhad

Example: telephone sets, telephone sets for cellular network, base station, switching & routing apparatus, telephonic & telegraphic apparatus, walkie talkie, transceivers, radio telephonic receivers.

Item 11
All radio communication apparatus capable of being used for telecommunication in the frequency band lower than 3000 GHz or their motherboards except for:

1. receiver that is designed for use in the broadcasting services; and
2. radio communication apparatus having a valid licence issued by the 26 Telecommunication Authority of any country or an International Automatic Roaming (IAR) card issued by a licensed operator

Affected parties: All countries, SIRIM Berhad

Examples: transmission apparatus & transmission apparatus incorporating reception apparatus, radar apparatus, radio navigational aid, radio remote control apparatus


Why the ban?

Looking at the Schedule II of the (Prohibition of Imports) Order 2008, the reason for the prohibition can be speculated as not having the import permit necessary to bring in the apparatus, and possible quality control issues. Nothing else.

I read the short presentation on THE CUSTOMS IMPORT PROHIBITION ORDER 2008:- THE ROLE & FUNCTION OF CUSTOMS by Sirim-QAS and found no specific reason for the prohibition other than possible interference in the local communication system by such telecommunication apparatus. If you can get SIRIM to check on the quality of these dishes, you should be permitted to get them imported.


TheGreenMechanics' two cents:

The number of dishes and money involved in the latest crackdown gives us an impression that there could be more shipments of this popular household item that went undetected.

The monopolistic nature of ASTRO business model, coupled with the recent revision of fees/charges and the implementation of the 6% government service tax put ASTRO out of many people's reach and hence,   the difficulty in accessing information, especially to the rural folks. If people are hindered from their right to information, due to financial or legal reasons, they will find ways through the back door, as demonstrated by what is currently happening.

The key is 'Import Permit'. Under certain conditions, the law permits you and me to bring in such dishes. So,  why don't we relax the conditions a little bit and allow the people access to information. After all, the Malaysian government has never put any restriction to internet access in the country.


**UPDATE** - Another 90 satellite dishes worth RM225,000 were seized by Sabah Customs in Keningau on Monday. This makes a total of 196 confiscated parabola set. Total market worth is now RM490,000. (Source: Daily Express, 19-06-2012, page 4).

Parabolic Dishes Banned in Malaysia

The public is prohibited from using parabolic satellite dishes to receive transmission from foreign television stations because their content may have a negative impact on Malaysian viewers. This was what the Deputy Minister of the concerned ministry told the Dewan Rakyat recently.

The government has since, through the Customs Department confiscated 193 parabolic satellite dishes valued at RM200,000 in a major crackdown in Sabah. For the record, Sabah and Sarawak enjoyed unofficial freedom of use of such dishes for many years.

Needless to say, people were not happy with the Customs Department's sudden tough act, but for all the furors that followed the big scaled operation by the authority, let us understand that the ban has been there for very long time already. The ban was enforced in 1988 following the enactment of the Broadcasting Act 1988. All types of satellite dishes were prohibited then until amendment to the act was made in 1995 to allow satellite TV, ASTRO in particular, to come into service. Even then, parabolic dishes were legalised only after issuance of licence for very specific applications and upon fulfillment of certain standard equipment or device. Don't ask me what is standard and non-standard in this context.

Big satellite dish used by operator of Poring Hot Spring, Ranau, Sabah.

Section 239 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (ACT 558) states that an offence of "unlawful use, possession or supply of non-standard equipment or device" is punishable by not more than RM100,000 or imprisonment for a term not more than 2 years, or both.

I'm so unimpressed by the lack of enforcement. If there was no amendment to allow for the usage of such devices then take action and be consistent. Don't give leeway at pleasure and put the law in a mess by allowing the use of the devices depending on the situation. I haven't seen any clear guidelines and I believe this has encourage numerous unlawful installation of the banned device especially in Sabah.

I mentioned 'freedom of use' earlier. When you do not enforce the law and allow infringement to happen for so many years, and I say 20 years is very long, you are giving an impression that the law there just for show and probably to save your butts when things get out of control. Also, you are implying that that act of law is redundant. In the case of the issue at hand (satellite dishes), one set of instruction is there for Peninsula Malaysia and another for Sabah/Sarawak.

We seem to be not serious in doing our job putting the law at work.

ASTRO dish is only 60cm in diameter and as the technology advances so is the size of communication equipment and devices; they become smaller. It is near impossible now for the enforcement officers to detect the small 'illegal' dishes. The ministry will then need to employ 'bugs' in every house to spy and catch these culprits which would effectively make Malaysia a police country. All in the name of trying to block contents that may have a negative impact on Malaysian viewers. If that is the case, then we might as well block or heavily filter the internet access as well.

For your reading pleasure:
Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, ACT 558
The changing broadcast media environment: perspectives from Malaysia, 1994
ASTRO: Legality & content. A bit biased write-up but surely a good read.
Is your Parabolic Dish (TVRO), handphone, walkie talkie legal? This is MCMC asking you a question.