YOURSAY | History’s ugly truth cannot be ‘fixed’

YOURSAY | ‘History must be told as it is, not according to your own imagination.’

Umno claims history book glorifies communists, nudges Bersatu minister for fix

PurpleJaguar0553: There was no BN, Umno, MIC or MCA during colonial times. It was the communists who fought against the British, who were the colonialists that divided this country and exploited our resources for their benefit.

Tragically, the communists took the lives of Malaysians, including the police and army, in their misguided and warped thinking that the security forces were supporters of the British, which was not the case. The Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) did fight against the cruel Japanese invaders who killed many Malaysians.

These are facts and narrated as such. I don’t see any glorification in it (as per claims by Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki that the communists were glorified in the Form 4 History textbook).

On the other hand, I do see a great omission on how, for example, BN and in particular leaders of Umno had taken from the public coffers to fund their luxurious lifestyle while many are left in poverty.

This should be written into our history books as it’s more recent and definitely will educate the younger generation about integrity and honesty.

Bravemalaysian: Cowards are often afraid of the truth. There are also people who want to abuse it for their own selfish interests and are afraid that the truth will expose their lies.

The role of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) in fighting the Japanese invaders is well documented. That is why their leader Chin Peng was decorated by the British with a medal after World War Two. Of course, after that the British withdrew that medal as Chin Peng continued to fight against British colonisation.

Why are we so afraid of the truth in history? What happened to Hang Tuah and his merry men? Disappeared from history? Are they now just fiction and a fable? What about the early Hindu civilisation?

History is to teach us about the past and we should learn from it so that we can avoid repeating the same mistakes, or to give credit or condemnation where it is due.

DalvinK: Asyraf, by your logic, you should ask yourself if the inclusion of British colonisation in Malayan history studies is also a glorification? The British left us high and dry to fight against the Japanese army during World War Two.

Also, I don't get your fear of communism - in fact, I am sure at least 50 percent of the products that you use are made in China, a communist country. Are you glorifying communism when you use their products?

Attackedbymonkeys: The Malay “left” did fight for our independence.

Are we now erasing the historical importance and contribution of giants such as Ishak Muhammad, Ahmad Boestamam, Dr Burhanuddin Al Helmy and others? Do you want to wipe away Onn Jaafar’s struggle post-Umno as well?

We may not agree with them or their mode of struggle and some even went on to become enemies of the state (for example, CPM) but all are an important part of our history.

Knucklehead: Asyraf wants the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government to “fix” history? Why bother studying history then? Just ask the government to write and tell the story for us all to swallow it.

So Asyraf, are we glorifying communism or practising communism?

LimeSinga1592: Actually, our history book inherently provides opportunities for a higher order of thinking.

In this case, the facts are clear and straight forward – the role of communists, British, Umno and so on. But what can be used to lure students to think critically is to argue why the communists did not prevail and the British had to give independence.

Underhand tactics used by the winners can also be explored, the divide-and-rule system, and so on as a study of conflicting moral decisions.

History, if written well, can actually be used to make our students “cleverer”.

BusinessFirst: Trying to rewrite history is not going to change the truth, especially in the age of the Internet.

I think it is best that history is left to historians, not politicians.

You can try to rewrite history to suit your purpose but all it will do is leave the students here misinformed vis a vis the rest of the world and at best, they remain ignorant, and at worst, they repeat the mistakes of history.

Mario T: Indeed, history cannot be changed according to one's whims and fancies. Even if it is changed, the truth will prevail as there are other sources to get to the truth.

What is most disgusting is these no-gooders always have someone to blame for everything and the likely targets are Pakatan Harapan or DAP.

It looks like they have nothing better to do. No wonder, their party is in shambles. They should correct that instead.

The Wakandan: History should tell it as it is. It should not be adulterated or changed from the truth, otherwise, it is not history but falsehood.

As a nation, we should accept what had happened as history, warts and all, because we cannot change the past. We can only chart our future by what we are doing now.

It looks like Asyraf is creating an issue, perhaps wanting to be seen as a champion of some kind.

Hrrmph: A fact is a fact. It does not change because the reality is inconvenient to some people. The only objection one can have to history as stated in the books is that it is an untruth. There should be no other reasons.

Some people really have nothing better to do with their time.

Stand For Truth: History can be revised but facts cannot.

Just check the British and Japanese records of their military campaign in Malaya. Umno was not part of it. Who is manipulating history, Asyraf?

Fair Comments: We are only interested in the truth. That is the most important. Sometimes it may be an "ugly" truth. If the "ugly" truth is a historical fact, is it right to tell a lie to distort history?

For example, is it an "ugly truth" that many white people were slave traders and slave masters in the past? Would it be right for the US government to distort the truth and rewrite history to say that the blacks came to America of their own free will?

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