Tell the whole story, please

By Terence Fernadez, The Sun

On Saturday historian Dr Ranjit Singh Malhi addressed a crowd of about 300 people on the topic of distortions and biasness in history textbooks. The talk may have been held in a church and the Catholic Teachers Association of Malaysia may have organised it, but the attendees reflected Malaysia’s cultural mosaic.

All of them were concerned that the teaching of history was skewed towards the political expedience and superiority of a section of the community at the expense of the others. That the contributions and sacrifices of the minority communities were downplayed, glossed over or omitted left everyone feeling bitter.

Ranjit’s presentation picked up from a front-page article in theSun on Dec 13 last year – Biased history – where he revealed that he had quit writing history textbooks as he could not stomach the half-truths and lies that the writers were told to include as part of the syllabus.

These include the fact that the founder of Malacca Parameswara had died a Hindu, and that the sacrifices of the Indian, Gurkha, British and Australian troops in World War II were minimal.

He had also revealed that over the last decade that the third Kapitan Cina Yap Ah Loy had been gradually reduced from “Mr Kuala Lumpur” to “among those responsible for Kuala Lumpur’s development”.

In his talk Ranjit said five out of 10 chapters of the Form Four history textbooks related to Islamic History. At the same time text related to Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism made up 25%. There were also examples of how religious beliefs suddenly found their way into the syllabus as part of historical fact.

The discussion that followed was passionate and at times tense as parents, teachers and concerned Malaysians voiced their fears about the indoctrination in classrooms.

I was asked to respond to Ranjit’s presentation. My take was simple: In other countries, they covered up negative aspects of their history such as Japan’s scant mention of World War II atrocities.

However in Malaysia, the positive aspects of our past are also blanketed in favour of a political agenda that in the long run is counter-productive to nation building.

Wouldn’t telling the whole story about how the minority communities gave their blood, sweat and tears for the nation help foster a greater sense of belonging and ownership to the country? Would it not correspond to the 1Malaysia concept that is eagerly bandied around by politicians who do not necessarily subscribe to its tenets?

Instead, those sitting for the SPM are required to read this text on Page 255 of the Form Five History textbook: “Kemajuan dan kemakmuran Tanah Melayu telah berjaya menarik minat imigran untuk datang ke sini … Masyarakat tempatan seharusnya lebih giat, berinisiatif dan bersedia mengusahakan sendiri kekayaan negara … jika tidak, orang asing yang sentiasa mengintai peluang untuk mengambil ruang tersebut akan mengambil alih peranan kita, seperti yang berlaku hari ini.”
 
(The development and prosperity of Tanah Melayu had attracted immigrants to come here … Locals should be more proactive and take the initiative to harvest the country’s riches on our own … otherwise the aliens who have always been eyeing opportunities may take advantage of the openings available and take over our roles, as is happening today.)

Ranjit claimed he was labelled “anti-national” when he brought up the matter of historical distortions and omissions to a director-general of education.

Following theSun’s expose, the ministry gave an assurance that it would “probe the claims”.

Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced a 14-member panel to review history textbooks. However, he said that the new revamped syallabus would only take effect in 2017, after the present batch of Form One students finish their examinations.

The organisers of the talk were compelled to revisit the issue as being in the forefront of education, they were not confident that there were serious attempts being made to address these concerns.

This is partly due to the immense political pressures faced by the policymakers. Even an earlier promise that members of the media would be included in the panel had been reneged upon.

The fact that history would be made a compulsory subject was announced at the Umno general assembly and not at a cabinet meeting also lent credence that politics and social engineering had crept into the syllabus.

After the talk, these proposals were suggested: parents return the textbooks; pages containing distortions, political rhetoric, half truths and lies be ripped out; students told not to answer exam questions based on these distortions, rhetoric, half truths and lies; demand that the panel of authors writing history textbooks comprise historians, academicians, and representatives of all ethnic communities; encourage more people to support an online petition to compel the government to take these concerns seriously; insist that history be made an optional subject or compulsory only when all the concerns are addressed; and to flood the market with factually accurate history books.

At the end of the day, all one is asking for is due recognition for everyone who had done their bit for this land that we all call home.

Terence says “Tell the truth and shame the devil”.