|
Opinion: Getting the story of Malaysia right
16 Jul 2006
Abdul Razak Ahmad
Do our history textbooks need to be reviewed? Some experts think
so. They’re seeing errors, omissions and not enough emphasis on
certain communities — signs that the story of Malaysia is
veering off course. But is it? ABDUL RAZAK AHMAD finds out.
Experts have pressed for caution when discussing any perceived
imbalance in history textbooks.
Ranjit says more is needed on Chinese and Indian migration
Jayum says he finds disheart- ening facts in texbooks
ASK schoolchildren today about Yap Ah Loy, Sybil Karthigesu and
Gurchan Singh and the likely response could well be blank
stares.
The reason: These three historical figures have been erased from
Malaysian school history textbooks.
Yap played a big role in developing Kuala Lumpur in the late
19th century. Gurchan and Karthigesu resisted the Japanese
occupation of Malaya.
They used to get some mention. But they were gradually removed
from the Form 1 to Form 5 texts.
Their omissions are part of what some experts worry could be the
gradual diminution of contributions made by non-Malay
communities.
There are now suggestions for a review to get the story of
Malaysia back on its proper track, so it can remain a story to
which every citizen, regardless of race or religion, can relate.
Is a review necessary?
"Malaysia was and still is a melting pot of various races, but
the contribution of the Chinese and Indian communities in the
socio-economic development of our country is downplayed in our
current history textbooks," says Dr Ranjit Singh Malhi, an
author of history books.
Ranjit is a facts consultant for the current Form 3 History
textbook and the author of the current Form 6 General Studies
textbook.
Apart from the "disappearance" of specific historical figures,
Ranjit says current school history textbooks should also include
more on the Chinese and Indian migration to and adoption of
Malaya as their country.
"In the initial stages, the communities’ loyalties were towards
their country of origin.
"But the texts also need to tell of how they began shifting
their allegiance to this country, and how we all now feel that
we have a stake in Malaysia."
The concerns also prompted a Barisan Nasional lawmaker to raise
the issue in Parliament in March.
Kelana Jaya MP Loh Seng Kok said history teachers and parents
had come to him concerned about what they found — and did not
find — in the textbooks.
"We don’t object to increasing content. But we shouldn’t omit
facts and information about the civilisations and history of the
various cultures and backgrounds of Malaysians, especially if we
want to create greater understanding among ourselves," said Loh.
If Ranjit and Loh have a case, then it’s one with a bearing on
Malaysia’s oft-repeated aspiration of creating a Bangsa
Malaysia.
Historian Dr Paul Kratoska, who taught at Universiti Sains
Malaysia, says the textbooks used to emphasise a plural society,
where each group maintained its own social and cultural identity
and met others only in the marketplace.
But the emphasis shifted. The texts now make a clear push for
Bangsa Malaysia — a national culture and society integrating a
variety of traditions.
"This approach has benefits in promoting national solidarity,
but can only be effective if all Malaysians are able to identify
with Bangsa Malaysia," he says.
Other experts, however, such as anthropologist Professor Dr Wan
Zawawi Ibrahim, caution against any "group specific" approach
when asking for a review.
Zawawi, deputy director of the Institute of the Malay World and
Civilisation at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, says any call
for "fairness" needs to take into account the perspectives of
all the communities, not just the "dominant three" — Malay,
Chinese and Indian.
"So if you want to include more historical figures in our
textbooks, then you also have to look at all the minority
communities like the Penan, Kelabit, Kadazan and Orang Asli.
"They too have a role in the making of Malaysia," says Zawawi.
Ethnic-relations expert Professor Jayum Jawan concurs.
"Overall, the content is good, but as I read through the
textbooks, I found some disheartening things."Jayum says some
key contributions made by historical figures from Sabah and
Sarawak were either not mentioned, or summarily given "a line or
two".
"All communities contributed to Malaysia. Our history textbooks
need to be able to create this sense of shared belonging," says
Jayum, a Universiti Putra Malaysia professor of politics and
government, who helped draw up the syllabus for "Ethnic
Relations", a recently mandated course for all public university
undergraduates.
A call for review must therefore be approached very delicately.
In Malaysia, with its multitude of ethnic communities, one can
inadvertently end up "stirring a hornet’s nest", as Wan Zawawi
put it.
"Because when you cater to one group’s demands, another will
ask: ‘What about me?’"
Wan Zawawi says that due to the country’s diversity, any review
would need to bring together all the different interpretations
of Malaysia’s history from the viewpoints of all the
communities.
It needs to be a long-term collective effort, involving not just
historians but spokespersons from the communities, scholars as
well as leading "Malaysianists" — those from outside who study
the country’s history.
"Any review must therefore be collective, consultative and
knowledge-based, not based on emotion.
"You can’t just complain and then appoint one or two people and
tell them our textbooks are weak in this area and please make
necessary additions," says Wan Zawawi.
For political science lecturer Dr Mohamed Mustafa Ishak, calls
for review must take into account another reality: that
Malaysian history is, among others, rooted in an explanation of
how and why the country reached the social contract agreed upon
by all races at Independence and the formation of Malaysia.
"Yes, there are some uncomfortable things put in and left out of
the textbooks, but it’s so that we gain an understanding of why,
for example, our Constitution is written as it was, why there
was emphasis on certain things and not others.
"Like it or not, the history of multiculturalism, per se, only
properly developed from the 19th century.
"You cannot deny that our history goes back well before that, to
the history of the Malay sultanates, which explains the emphasis
given to it in the textbooks," says Mustafa, who teaches at
Universiti Utara Malaysia.
Universiti Malaya’s Professor Emeritus Datuk Khoo Kay Kim also
urges caution when discussing any perceived imbalance in the
books.
At times, very complex factors shape events involving an ethnic
community.
They can’t be forced into neat explanations to satisfy
particular groups.
"Questions of ethnic relations in history must therefore be
discussed in very neutral language, without saying who is right
and who is wrong, or else it sparks off anger and animosity."
"That’s why I don’t like to use the word ‘contribution’, as in
‘the Chinese community’s contribution to Malaysia’," says Khoo.
"I prefer the word ‘role’, because then you can have detached
views that do not unnecessarily praise or condemn any group."
Khoo feels that a review is timely. But he wants the aim to be
to encourage pupils to look at history from even wider
perspectives or, as he puts it, "to look at history in the
round".
Khoo’s point is that most history texts today tend to deal with
Malaysian society to the exclusion of other important aspects,
especially the foreign environment.
"We need to know more about how the outside world impacted this
country and how this country has managed its relationship with
others."
"No country exists in isolation, and when you give a lopsided
perspective of our history, there’s every possibility that it
will be misunderstood, because in history you can always
influence the student to look at things your way," he says.
Khoo, who sits on the Quality Control Committee for the Form One
textbook, believes that history books have a role to play in
promoting multi-culturalism.
"History must attempt to explain culture, but our school history
books don’t seem to do that," he says.
"As a result, our young people don’t know each other’s cultures.
"Some are good friends, they can lepak with each other, but they
still don’t really know each other."
Contested history
THERE are at least 10 factual errors in the current Form 5
textbooks, according to textbook writer Dr Ranjit Singh Malhi.
They include:
• The Naning War, 1831-1833 (page 31). Actual date: 1831-1832.
• American War of Independence, 1776 (page 67). Actual date:
1775-1783.
• The All Malaya Council of Joint Action, formed in September
1946 (page 181). Actual date: Dec 22, 1946.
Important contributions of various historical personalities have
been removed from the current textbooks. Among them:
• Sybil Karthigesu: She was one of Malaysia’s freedom fighters
during the Japanese Occupation. "Even though she was tortured by
the Japanese, she did not give up. She was a woman of principle
and she had tremendous courage," says Ranjit.
• Gurchan Singh: Popularly known as the "Lion of Malaya", he
resisted the Japanese takeover in World War II. He wrote and
secretly distributed a newspaper during that period.
• Yap Ah Loy: The third Capitan China of Kuala Lumpur from
1868-1885, Yap played a major role in the development of Kuala
Lumpur as a commercial and tin mining centre, particularly after
the fire of 1881.
|
