讀書是極其私人的活動，但讀左派書籍卻極易變成公共行為，以化作鐵與血的吶喊。遠在南方的馬來亞，左派作家深具煽動力的文學語言，一再讓南洋青年傾倒。這當然也引起馬來亞緊急狀態下的反共反赤，政學兩界的警惕。將四九年後染紅左傾的筆桿子，一概掃蕩為壞社會風俗，亂人心的根源。隨即受當地警備部門針對的抽查出版品，中共左派書籍查禁自是首當其衝。本文寫作所選定的時段，緊急狀態及其後的效應是書史研究的絕佳背景，尤其遭遇世變之時，所展現的槃根錯節與豐富細節，正是最好的範本。懲治機構試圖抄檢一切被認為威脅，擾亂或批判既有政治權力的一方，這使我們重新審視查禁政策施行之時，隱含的歧視與偏見。因此，從禁燬書史角度，關注知識人的回應，結合憲報上的書目撮其要義，探討書史意義上，如何聯繫著極其廣泛的在地與週邊的活動，反映的馬來亞社會文化裂變，特別是知識界對當時不同政見「左」閃「右」躲的態度，同時也映照出文化和思想界人物，對於寒夜閉門讀禁書「問題」的衝擊與反應。

Reading normally is a private activity. However, reading leftist books will turn private activity into public. In order to keep left books from inciting young people to engage themselves in revolutionary work, publication censorship was tightened up. British authority kept a close watch on the leftists as they were prime mover in the revolt against the government, especially during the Malayan Emergency. Leading figure of Chinese leftist writers always become the top list of the selective examination. The selected research period, the Malayan Emergency and its subsequent effects, are the perfect background for the study. Malayan Emergency will be the main focus of this paper as it provides the most complicated and richest information in this case study. Discrimination against leftist books were common in that time. This paper hopes to unfold on the one hand the British Malayan and Malaysian publication censorship, with special examination of its policy to the communist printing. On the other hand, it analyses the ways intellectuals convey their “revolt” to the rigid policy.