History, propaganda are no bedfellows
“When a politician uses history to serve his political agenda, it is no more history but propaganda.
(TMI) – DURIANS, pineapples, and now rock melons have become priorities to the Malacca government due to the demand for them from Chinese and Indian tourists.
Whilst the state government is agog over buzzing cash registers courtesy of foreign tourists, Chief Minister Ab Rauf Yusoh has yet again been taken to task for being reckless with Malacca’s historical facts, as seen in the state’s newly erected signboards around the Unesco heritage site.
Prior to the signboards gaffe, Tourism Malacca in July recalled the error-laden tourist guidebooks after a resident, Serge Jardin, took to Facebook to expose the agency’s incompetency.
From the European invasion to the birth of Malacca to history of Malacca Club to Hang Li Po’s spousal status, the guidebook got it all wrong.
Frenchman Jardin should know what he is talking about. He was a tour guide and tour agency operator in Malaysia in the 1980s before marrying a Malacca resident and settling down in the state.
He has also written several books about Malaysia and Malacca and is rightfully acknowledged as a historian and geographer of Malacca.
The irony is Jardin’s vast knowledge of Malacca’s historical narrative does not interest the state government. What does perturb Jardin is the lack of expertise by Tourism Malacca and related authorities in detailing the history of Malacca.
This is the same Jardin who had called out Universiti Putra Malaysia’s “non-historian” Professor Dr Hashim Musa for “rewriting history”.
It was Dr Hashim’s presentation entitled “Warisan Tradisi Maritim Melayu dan Teknologi Pembuatan Kapal Besar” (Heritage of Malay Maritime Traditions and Large Shipbuilding Technology) that raised red flags.
The presentation was part of the Seminar Kapal Mendam Berahi: Realiti Atau Mitos which took place in Malacca in June last year.
Then, Dr Hashim allegedly showed an old picture and claimed “Malacca welcomes 2,000 ships a day”, describing the greatness of the Malacca Sultanate.
He claimed the Portuguese destroyed a mosque and spoke about the “Mendam Berahi Boat.”
A furious Jardin pointed out that the image Dr Hashim exhibited was a picture showing the Dutch fleet while the “mosque” was actually St Paul’s Church.
Even Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Professor Emeritus Dr Ahmad Adam was livid about Dr Hashim’s bluff. Ahmad, a historian, said the “Mendam Berahi Boat” never existed and was a figment of Hashim’s imagination. Ahmad then said Hashim was no historian and unabashedly called the latter a “Malay chauvinist”.
