KUALA LUMPUR – Prominent activist Fahmi Reza has challenged the new Pakatan Harapan government on whether they would allow history books to be used as propaganda tools.
Lawyer-activist Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, speaking at a forum with Fahmi, said Malaysians must be honest with themselves and talk about things which have been erased from collective memory.
Fahmi said a Form 3 history textbook devoted 10 pages to Umno and Merdeka and only one paragraph to the leftist Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya which also fought for independence.
“So under the new government, if they want to revise the history books, will they follow in the footsteps of the previous administration and turn history books into propaganda tools?
“If they want to revise the books, what will the process look like? Will it be transparent?”
Fahmi said that there were errors even in the one paragraph about PKMM which claimed that PKMM was formed by the Communist Party of Malaya and that its founder Mokhtaruddin Lasso was a member of CPM’s Regiment 10.
Speaking at a forum on ‘A People’s History of the Malayan Emergency here, he said: “Did Umno play a role in Merdeka? Yes. But were they the only ones? No. Umno wasn’t alone in seeking independence but it is given 10 pages. Umno fought on the right, PKMM fought on the left.”
Fadiah Nadwa said part of Malaysia’s history had been marginalised, because of the structures of power. But Malaysians needed to understand what happened in the past and why.
“The structures we have now are inherited from colonialism and the consequences are obvious, we are trapped in discourses of race, religion and feudalism.”
Fadiah said history could show Malaysians the kinds of aspirations the people had at the time and could emulate them in striving for ideals to do away with racism, sexism and feudalism. “If we don’t know history, how can we imagine a world that is different,” she asked. – FMT
Ikram advocates for UEC with SPM BM and History requirements
AN influential Malay-Muslim group, Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia (Ikram), has spoken out in support for government recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC), on the condition that students obtain a credit for SPM-level Bahasa Malaysia and a pass for History.
Ikram said the proposal were focused on ensuring that students from Chinese independent high schools, which issue the UEC, would have a better chance at integrating into Malaysian society.
In contrast to another Muslim group, Himpunan Kebangkitan Ummah, which held protests at Masjid Negara on Friday and in Kampung Baru yesterday over several issues, including the UEC, Ikram said in a statement that the UEC furore must be settled in a rational manner, based on academic and professional principles, instead of politics.
Bahasa Malaysia is currently taught in Chinese private high schools, but Ikram said it was concerned that teaching and learning was at a “standard” level and at an insufficient number of hours.
The UEC’s History syllabus is also different from the SPM syllabus taught in national schools.
“A person’s view of history is very important to build a mindset and understanding about the country’s history and to have the right attitudes towards patriotism and national values,” Ikram’s education committee said in the statement.
The group acknowledged the long history of Chinese schools in Malaysia and said while it preferred a single-stream education system, it also realised the difficulties and sensitivities of abolishing vernacular education.
As such, it said its proposals were aimed at finding common ground in nation-building and mutual peace and harmony.
Making the case for SPM-level Bahasa Malaysia and History to be part of recognising the UEC, Ikram said this requirement was no different from that for students who took the A-Levels, International Baccalaureates, and other diplomas from private universities who wanted to enter public universities.
It added that UEC graduates would need to use Bahasa Malaysia if they were accepted into local public universities.
Chinese schools have been a political flashpoint in Malaysia, amid rhetoric that they undermine the national language and national integration.
Ikram said the country could, to encourage national integration, benefit from accepting UEC graduates into public universities, with its conditions.
UEC graduates will increase their understanding about Malaysia’s history, ethnic relations, and governance from taking the General Paper (Mata Pelajaran Umum) subject that is mandatory for all public university students, it said.
The group said they would also interact with Malaysians and other students from different races and cultural backgrounds.
Ikram said its proposal for UEC graduates to take SPM-level BM and History should be limited to the country’s 60 Chinese independent high schools, and that no new Chinese private schools should be built.
“The Education Ministry must also be firm and not allow other students, apart from those in Chinese independent high schools, to take the UEC,” it added.
Ikram said from talks it had held in the past with the United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia, or Dong Zong, the Chinese education group had expressed its agreement for students to achieve a credit in SPM-level Bahasa Malaysia.
Dong Zong had also agreed that the teaching and learning of Bahasa Malaysia at Chinese private high schools be strengthened, which Ikram urged the Education Ministry to act on.
Recently, Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching said the Pakatan Harapan manifesto, which pledged to assess government recognition for the UEC, only stated the need for a credit in BM and no requirement for SPM-level History.
Her statement drew concern from former minister Rais Yatim as well as Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, as both felt History was important as a must-pass subject for all Malaysian students.
– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/
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