History - A Compulsory Subject‏

It is of great concern what Yin Ee Kiong has most succinctly written about
the situation in his letter to the editor of the Malaysiankini recently-ks

The Editor,
Malaysiakini.

Sir, I can't think of a country where history is a compulsory examination subject. Compulsory or not, it is good that our children know the history of their country, but only if it is the objective version - one that scrupulously keeps to the facts. Be that as it may, in itself it is not a bad thing but what we have to fear is the hidden agenda in this ruling. Not too long ago an MCA member of parliament to his credit brought up the issue of school children being fed national history which is full of inaccuracies.

He was shouted down by his UMNO partners while the leaders in his own party distanced themselves from him - fearing the wrath of Mahathir Mohammed, the prime minister of the day. The issue of teaching history has come up again; and again the MCA grassroots have made noise about it. The problem is as always, political leaders have their positions and perks to protect and so they keep quiet. The deputy minister of Education, an MCA man dare not go against his boss who also happens to be the minister of education. But at least MCA has squeaked, that is more than what Gerakan, MIC and the others have done. The Opposition parties are as guilty by their silence.

In the face of the hidden agenda of the government (read UMNO) this silence of our legislators brings with it long term consequences which will have far reaching effects. And what is the hidden agenda?

The hidden agenda is the imprinting in the minds of our children and future generations the notion of 'ketuanan Melayu' vis a vis the others. It is an attempt to establish in the minds of these highly impressionable children that the Malays are the original inhabitants of this country (which they are not) while the others are merely 'pendatangs', and therefore one is entitled (as the original owner) to more rights and privileges than the others - the 'guests'. This is a shameful and insidious move to imprint in these young minds their version of history and in particular Article 153 of the Constitution.

For decades now the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) has been brainwashing all participants the Malays' superior position. However most BTN participants are Malays; this does not change the mindset of the vast majority of the population. The government realises that doing it this way is too slow. Hence this new edict regarding making history a compulsory exam subject. In this way every child shall be indoctrinated with a national history that is skewed towards one race. Within two or three generations every Malaysian will accept as historical fact what is essentially false. If you tell a lie often enough soon it becomes the perceived truth - the government is only too aware of that.

Already we have teachers and principals spouting their personal take of the position of the different communities with impunity. This piece of legislation (to make History a compulsory exam subject) gives them unbridled licence.

Contrary to the general perception, good history is never written by the victors.. Good history is based on broad facts - not selected facts. Opinions when given, come from all sides. Short of that it is propaganda and forcing students to take it is forced indoctrination or brainwashing.
What is racist and what is not? It is true that we do not have the colour discrimination of apartheid South Africa or the U.S. in the fifties and sixties.

By and large the different communities get along - granted that lately this is more on a superficial level between the Malays and the others. But this is the galling thing: here we have a multi-racial country where people get along and do not discriminate on skin colour, ethnicity or religion; yet we have a government which is intent on dividing the communities by way of a dual citizenship, and racial discrimination disguised as 'affirmative action'. Where does 'affirmative action' stops and racial discrimination begins?

I put it that any discrimination based on 'race' - be it for political or economic reasons - is 'racist'; it need have nothing to do with skin colour. To say that one is bumiputra and the other is not - based on ethnicity - is racist. Those who try to hide behind the screen of 'affirmative action' has a job explaining why the 'have-nots' of other races are neglected. Affirmative action is colour-blind.

To use a narrow definition of 'racism' as Chandra Muzzafar has done is not helpful, the subtlety between that and something else is lost on someone who is jobless and hungry because of his race. Try explaining to a fourth generation non-bumiputra Malaysian that it is not 'racism' when he is discriminated against while a 'newly- arrived' with the right ethnic credentials are granted privileges he is not entitled to.

When 'bumiputraism' first surfaced, Tun Ismail was against it. While he was for 'affirmative action' he predicted that such a classification of citizenship would divide the people, and so it has! The teaching of a skewed history will do the same.

Yours truly,
Yin Ee Kiong.