By Centre for Policy Initiatives
June 09, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

JUNE 9 — The Malaysian Insider yesterday (June 8) carried the rather arresting headline “Use Interlok as model for history textbooks, says historian”. The article reported a suggestion by Prof Anthony Milner for “Interlok” to be used as a model for history textbooks. The reasons given are that the novel is “wonderfully inclusive” and “sympathetic” in its narrative and depiction of non-Malays.

Milner, who is with UKM’s International Studies department, categorises “Interlok” as being “a bit of a historical novel” that provides an insight into the lives of the Chinese and Indian communities and their relationship with the Malay community.

The Australian academic is likely unaware that his proposal is every bit as controversial as Abdullah Hussain’s contentious novel. “Interlok” elicited the firestorm it has precisely because its sympathy quotient is no more than if a third-rate author were to attempt to copy Alex Haley’s acclaimed “Roots” (about the origins of the African-Americans) but narrating from a white slave owner’s supremacist point of view. Read the rest of this entry »

CPIASIA | 27 May 2011

Urutan Power Point di bawah telah disediakan oleh Centre of Malaysian Chinese Studies (CMCS) dan Nanyang University Alumni Association of Malaya (NYUAA, Malaya) and dibentangkan kepada awam yang menghadiri upacara pelancaran kempen A Truly Malaysian History pada Mei 15 baru-baru ini.

Laporan CMCS dan NYUAA membuat ulasan bahawa skop sempit matapelajaran Sejarah tidak berupaya memupuk generasi muda yang “berpandangan global”.
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CPI Asia | 20 May 2011

Introduction by CPI

Under the Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah (KBSM), the History textbooks used in secondary schools are written by the Education Ministry and published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

The authors for the present KBSM History series are Ahmad Fawzi Mohd Hassan, Mohd Fo’ad Sakdan, Azami Man, Masariah Mispari, Johara Abdul Wahab, Ridzuan Hasan, Ramlah Adam, Abdul Hakim Samuri, Muslimin Fadzil, Nik Hassan Shuhaimi Nik Abdul Rahman, Mohd Yusof Ibrahim, Muhammad Bukhari Ahmad, Rosnanaini Sulaiman, Ramlah Adam, Shakila Parween Yacob, Abdul Hakim Samuri and Muslimin Fadzil.
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The recent focus given to history as a compulsory subject in the Malaysian school curriculum has driven me as a parent of school going children to gain an insight of what my children are learning in history as a subject in school. Before I summarise my findings (via reading my children’s history text books from Form 1 – 5), allow me to briefly take you through what is being taught as history in our government school:

Form 1 students are taught predominantly about the Malacca Sultanate with sporadic anecdotes of the other states. Penang is not mentioned at all and if I’m a student studying in Penang, I will seriously be wondering why. That is until I go to Form 2 whereby I will learn about the Straits Settlement, Tin Mining, Rubber Plantation and Exploitation by the British. Form 3 students learn about the Japanese Occupation, the Communist Party of Malaya, leading to Malaysia’s independence in 1957. A very detailed account of all the political parties in Malaysia is also elaborated. The 1955 Election Results seemed to be an important account in history as it is mentioned twice, in Form 3 and again in Form 5.

In Form 4, other than the first two chapters where one learns about the early civilization and the emergence of various religions, the rest of the year you will be doing an in-depth study of Islam – Islam Civilisation, Islamic Government in Medina, Formation of Islamic Government & Its Contribution, Islam in South East Asia, and Islam Influence in Malaysia. One could not be faulted to ask the question if one is learning history or religious study. I believe Azmi Sharom has expounded succinctly and rather ingeniously on this issue in his article in The Star on 30 Dec 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

By CPI

We urge CPI readers and others to sign this important petition by a courageous parent. The petition calls on the authorities to act immediately to address the bias and shortcomings plaguing the Malaysian history syllabus and textbooks.

Our younger generation deserve a broad, impartial and fair history in their education. They do not deserve narrowly blinkered history textbooks and a syllabus that are bent on propagandizing parochial ethno-nationalist and religiously biased perspectives and knowledge.

All parents and taxpayers in the country should be concerned with the current situation of history education which is providing our children with selective and biased views and knowledge that can only further polarize and divide the communities and nation rather than serve to unify us on the basis of a fair and accurate representation of our past and that of all civilizations.

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THE PETITION Read the rest of this entry »

By Mrs Sheela | CPIASIA

The teaching of History at the secondary school level is shrouded in controversy due to the apparent inaccuracies, biased representations and distortion of facts.

At the primary school level, Malaysian history which is examined in the subject ‘Kajian Tempatan’ (local studies) fares no better.

Consider the subject matter and emphasis taught at the Year 5 level. A government approved textbook comprising 98 pages focuses on two main segments or themes i.e. ‘Tema mengenal negara kita’ (to know our country) and ‘Tema sejarah negara kita’ (the history of our nation). In the first segment, seven pages are devoted to Malaysia’s geographical position, 11 pages to topography, 16 pages to climatic conditions and another 13 pages to wildlife, flora and fauna. Well and good.
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by John Doe | CPIASIA

Also interesting to note is the following:

In Late Yuan Dynasty, China became chaotic, people who lived along the coastal area of Fujian, under the leadership of Ong Sum Ping’s siblings, escaped to eastern Kalimantan — they landed at the river mouth. When they were exhausted, facing a shipping crisis, someone lost their arms. After that, the Kadazans named it as Sungai Kinabatangan — the place where the Chinese lost their arms.

Ong Sum Ping and his sister, and the Chinese people developed the area of Sungai Kinabatangan, and they increased their influence there. With the increase of his prosperity, the natives named him Raja, or King. The Chinese named him as ‘Chung Ping’ — meaning the General. We can clearly see that Ong Sum Ping controlled Eastern Kalimantan.

This is Ong Sum Ping Road in Brunei.
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by John Doe | CPIASIA

Brunei has always been known to be one of the earliest Muslim Kingdoms in Southeast Asia. They pride themselves in this fact. All their neighbors pride themselves in this too, and of course, since it is fact, it is irrefutable. Right?

Good. Let’s quickly look at some FACTS then:

It is taught in school textbooks that Pateh Berbai, the brother of Awang Semaun and Awang Alak Betatar, discovered Brunei. Awang Alak Betatar subsequently became Brunei’s first Sultan and was known as Sultan Muhammad Shah. Awang Semaun and Awang Alak Betatar were the famous heroes in Brunei during that time.

Sultan Muhammad Shah was the first Sultan of Brunei. He ruled Brunei from 1363 to 1402. He was the first Muslim ruler of Brunei as a result of his conversion to Islam in 1363 for his marriage to a Johorean-Temasik princess. Prior to conversion to Islam, he was known as Awang Alak Betatar.
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by Dr Geoff Wade

CPI Introduction

In view of the controversy swirling around the content of the History textbooks used in schools, we thought Dr Geoff Wade’s ‘The Origins and Evolution of Ethnocracy in Malaysia’ on the measures used to maintain Malay hegemony merit revisiting.

“It is very strange today that in the diverse, multi-ethnic polity of Malaysia, a single ethnic group completely controls and occupies virtually all positions in the judiciary, public administrative organs, the police, the armed forces as well as universities.

“While Malays constitute a majority of the population of this nation, their presence in all these spheres of power far exceeds their ratio within the general population.”

CPI first carried Dr Wade’s ARI Working Paper No.111 in our website on Sept 9, 2009. Dr Wade is an historian who researches various aspects of Sino-Southeast Asian historical interactions over the last 1,000 years and has recently been concentrating on 20th-century interactions between Southeast Asia and China. He previously studied and worked in Australia, Malaysia, China and Hong Kong.
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Commentary
by Dr. Lim Teck Ghee
Centre for Policy Initiatives
Sunday, 02 January 2011

The Ministry of Education has finally replied to concerns raised by many Malaysians that the teaching of Malaysian history has been debased through changes in the syllabus and textbooks. However the letter by the Corporate Communications Unit of the Ministry totally ignores the allegations and makes no attempt to address the specific and general concerns articulated in the media and the internet.

Instead, the reply is a public relations job detailing non-Malay participation in the writing of text books and referrals made in recommending text book writers. This is insufficient to allay concerns or refute the allegations made of the political bias, crass nationalism and blatant Islamization that have come to dominate the history syllabus and textbooks.
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