History is not factual but subjective
COMMENT | There is an attempt to write “inclusive history”. A group of historians is seeking public donations to the tune of millions of ringgit to rewrite history.
I think it is a good idea, as long as the paradigm of historicising does not create an enriched version of the same old boring stuff that puts our children to sleep with stories of vainglorious sultans of the past, an idiotic sense of the greatness of civilisations, the celebration of tyrants mistaken as benevolent leaders, and above all, the continuing hidden agenda to close the minds of Malaysians.
So that History teachers and professors can continue to be “sages on stage” singing praises for dictators, despots, and degenerative leaders whose names are etched in our children textbooks.
No, we don't need that kind of inclusive historical writing anymore. We don't need to administer a new brand of opiate to our children, so that they may vape their consciousness away, leaving a legacy of idiocy in the name of curriculum reform.
Asking the wrong questions
How does one teach Malaysian History?
Those who think that we cannot question historical facts have not learned the philosophy of history, nor been introduced to more exciting, creative and critical thinking.
Teachers and university educators who preach ‘official histories’ need to be introduced to the varieties of teaching strategies for teaching History, as well as the spectrum of views on particular periods of history.
A skilled teacher/university educator will humbly entertain any question on history. The more we question ‘historical facts’, the sharper our thinking will become. The more we question the origin of things, the better we will play our role as masters of our own destiny. And the healthier our sense of our democracy will be.
A healthy democracy is one that teaches each and every child what ‘politics’ means. In History classes, it teaches the meaning of justice and fairness, and of the use and abuse of power. It teaches the process and possibilities of democracy, and not of democracy as a product created by the elite few. It teaches them to become active and reflective citizens.
A good History lesson does not teach children to memorise facts that are suspect - of who controlled this or that territory, or which kingdom was overthrown by this or that usurping prince.
It teaches them to question 'facts' and to put individuals on trial. It puts Christopher Columbus on trial for murdering thousands of Arawak Indians in the process of being canonised as the ‘founder’ of America.
A good History lesson does not teach the idea that Parameswara - who fled his kingdom in an unsuccessful coup attempt in Palembang - is a hero. It teaches children about rulers who were murderers and plunderers and slave-owners.
The story of a glorified Parameswara as a founder is a bad history lesson - how can we still glorify a ‘historical fact’ of an usurper and a murderer as a founder of Malacca? It is like glorifying the early history of Manhattan Island, New York City, when it was a haven for smugglers, pirates and bootleggers.
A good history lesson makes history come alive by allowing children to play the role of makers of their own history. It allows children to put Parameswara on trial for murder and revolt. It teaches children to question the founding of Malacca and the intention of the author/court-propagandist Tun Sri Lanang who wrote it.
A good History class is one that teaches children to revise, debunk and deconstruct history as a tool of mass deception. It challenges students to look at history in radically different ways, to make history come alive, because history is subjective, and ever revisionist.
The people’s history of the land
A good History class teaches children the people’s history of the land - of those who died building monuments, factories, bridges, tunnels, those who fought and died in the many battles and skirmishes between 'rulers' of the land. These are the unsung heroes of history that our children ought to be taught to honour.
A good History lesson teaches children not just other people’s history, but more importantly, their own - beginning with one’s personal history, one’s family, one’s people.
The way we still teach History and Social Studies reflects why Malaysians cannot yet evolve from the consciousness of ‘waiting for the messiahs/saviors/matrieya/al-Mahdi/menteri’, to the consciousness of the Self as the true ruler of the Kingdom within.
Our land is littered with name after name of individuals who wielded dynastic power since time immemorial - names of those deserving or not. These names are inscribed on road signs, billboards, in many lorong in many, many kampung, landmark buildings, corporate towers, stadiums, schools, higher education institutions, and deep in the consciousness of the people.
We become colonised by these names, signs, and symbols. The mind becomes paralysed, colonised by these concepts, signs and symbols.
Our political conversations will be more meaningful when we stop this colonisation of the mind.
“Man makes history,” said the historian EH Carr. It is the “people’s history” as American historian Howard Zinn would say, that ought to be honoured.
Questioning history
It becomes crucial what perspective of history we use in crafting its ancillary - Citizenship Studies/Kenegaraan. We must reconceptualise the way we approach teaching it.
It is best to consider the following questions concerning history:
What kind of history is most meaningful to the individual?
Who writes history?
From what point of view is history written?
How does history contribute to lethal ethnocentrism?
Under what circumstances do historians lie?
Is there such a thing as ‘historical facts’ when historical accounts are biases reconstructed based on selective memory?
Who gets marginalised in the process of historicising?
When will ‘history’ become ‘her-story’?
What images of women, immigrants, minorities, natives are presented in history textbooks?
In a multiracial and pluralistic society, how is a national history textbook written?
Must history continue to glorify individuals, despots, autocrats, dictators, symbols of slavery and oppression?
How do we make history lessons come alive?
Let us re-evaluate the 'lies' our History teachers told us, and continue to tell us.
The question remains: how inclusive must our History curriculum be?
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