Letter to Editor
PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Anwar has apparently scored an own goal after the 2026 World Cup. 
He said history must reflect the sacrifices and hard work of locals – not of former colonial masters.
But hello, the role of Chinese and Indians in building this country has been reduced to just “THREE SENTENCES” in the school history textbook, according to historian Ranjit Singh.
The blood and sweat of Chinese tin miners and traders who built our towns have been ignored.
Same with Indians who tapped rubber and built roads, railways, bridges, ports and government buildings. JKR (Malay abbreviation for Works Department) was once very Indian.
Many labourers died from malaria while clearing jungles.
Dear PMX, isn’t that a “sacrifice”? I agree with Ranjit that Malays are the “tunjang” or backbone of this country. But please la, why resort to re-writing history to push others down?
Anwar spoke of de-colonising history while opening the restored British Fort Cornwallis in Penang. But don’t push a new Ketuanan (Malay supremacy) version of history.
‘Genuine multi-racial history’
This whitewashing or rather brown-washing of history is obviously designed to glorify one race and downplay others in building this great country.
Ranjit said it didn’t happen by accident but because most writers of school history textbooks are now from one ethnic group. Whereas in the past, the books were much more balanced.
He lamented that our Indian past has also been covered up even though many Malay words such as syurga, suka, agama, menteri even bahasa and Bumiputera all come from Indian Sanskrit or Pali languages.
The words kedai, katil, kapal come from Tamil.
Heck, even the role of the “Most Bumi of Bumiputera = the Orang Asli ” – has been ignored, according to Ranjit.
It’s now extreme with a Kangkung Professor claiming ancient Malays taught ship building to Romans and Kungfu to China folks. 
She even claimed the Prophet Muhammad’s wife, Khadija, was Malay. She shames her university but no action has been taken against her.
Was she promoted because of her “Melayu is Greatest” views?
There are many smart Malays around who don’t need this artificial boost. Yes, build real self-confidence but not fake chest thumping from half-truths. False bubbles don’t help genuine Malay progress.
If Anwar is sincere and serious, he must speak out against one-sided local official history. Please stop the PKR a.k.a. Pesta Kelentong Rakyat that bluffs our students.
After all, he is a great intellectual who wrote (really?) the Asian Renaissance book.
Dear PMX, only with genuine multi-racial history can we build harmony and unity.
Please don’t replace the history of white colonial masters with that of new brown-skin tuan Thank you.
Andrew Sia
Petaling Jaya
Former The Star environmental editor Andrew Sia is now a Malaysiakini columnist and political commentator.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.
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