Softening up students to Islam with History syllabus
Besides the expurgation or omission of key events and developments in Malaysian history in which non-Malay and other civilizational contributions have been prominent, there is a conscious and concerted attempt at propagandizing Islamic elements into the curriculum.
By CPI
Whose history is the government pushing on our students and to what effect?
On Oct 23, Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced that History will be made a must-pass subject for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia beginning 2013. This puts the subject on par with Bahasa Malaysia in its degree of importance.
The ministry will introduce a revised SPM History curriculum in 2017 as in that year the cohort which started Form One in 2013 would have reached Form Five. Fresh elements to be incorporated when the History syllabus begins its new cycle are ‘patriotism’, ‘citizenship’ and ‘the constitution’, which by extension implicates the so-called social contract.
Muhyiddin said the reason for the move to expand the History syllabus is so that patriotism can be instilled in Malaysian youths.
On Dec 16 – responding to objections raised by some quarters on his proposal – Muhyiddin guaranteed that the government does not have any “ulterior motives” and reiterated that the government in its decision “only want to introduce a history education to appreciate [patriotism] to help them [the Fifth Formers] become more patriotic”.
Is this the real agenda of Umno and the Ministry of Education bureaucrats and their support group of academics or is this another Umno political lie?
In response, a middle-rank leader of the MCA (not the party president or deputy president or any of the other non-Malay BN party chiefs who have gone mute, dumb and deaf on this issue) has urged the Education Ministry to review the “imbalanced” account of the country’s history in the school textbooks.
The present national narrative imparted to students – alleges the MCA – favours one race and one religious civilization. According to Loh Seng Kok, the deputy chairman of the MCA publicity bureau, a review is necessary to rectify the shortcomings to “prevent ethnic disharmony in our nation”.
Strong words but from a level of leadership that carries little weight.
Furthering Ketuanan Melayu-Islam interests
Historian Dr Ranjit Singh Malhi, who has written some revision books, recently pointed out that not only do the secondary school history textbooks contain exaggeration and mistakes, but they have also “been used to promote political interests”.
For example, Kapitan Cina Yap Ah Loy played a major role in the development of Kuala Lumpur as a commercial and tin-mining centre but the Form Two history textbook had only one sentence on Yap as “one of the persons responsible for developing Kuala Lumpur”.
The Hindu civilisation of Lembah Bujang in Kedah – which can be traced back to the first half of the first millennium – is dismissed in just two paragraphs whereas the communist contribution to helping Malaya gain Independence is omitted.
Besides the expurgation or omission of key events and developments in Malaysian history in which non-Malay and other civilizational contributions have been prominent, there is a conscious and concerted attempt at propagandizing Islamic elements into the curriculum.
A concerned parent complained in her letter to the editor that the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) writers assigned by the Education Ministry have not confined the textbook content to history alone. “Instead they have extended its boundaries seemingly to push a certain agenda. In the process, our history textbooks seem to have taken on a quest of its own – to win the hearts and minds of our children for that particular agenda,” she wrote.
History as Islamic Studies
The introduction to the Four Four History textbook by the panel writers begins with “Syukur kepada Allah s.w.t. Tuhan Yang Maha Agung, selawat dan salam ke atas Rasul utusan yang mulia, para sahabat, dan mereka yang berada di jalan yang benar hingga ke hari kemudian kelak”. Students belonging to other faiths, who Muslims do not consider to be walking on “the true path to the Hereafter”, will apparently have to re-orientate their mindset in order to do well in this subject.
The introduction to the Form Five textbook by the director-general of the Education Ministry starts on the note of “Syukur ke hadrat Allah s.w.t. kerana hasrat dan wawasan Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia untuk menerbitkan semula buku teks KBSM dan KBSR telah terhasil”. The Education D-G Abdul Rafie Mahat found it expedient to thank Allah for the success of his Ministry’s vision to republish the textbooks under the revamped syllabi.
In fact, two out of the four writers of the DBP writers selected to do the job for the Form Four syllabus are specialists in Islamic history. Their knowledge of Malaysian history and the history of non-Islamic civilizations, however, appear dismal.
