KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 26 (Bernama) -- The Federation of Peninsular Malaysia Malay Students (GPMS) Wednesday called on the government to make History a compulsory subject that students must pass in the national examinations.
Its deputy president Syed Anuar Syed Mohamad said the History subject was important to promote patriotism and understanding of the nation's history among school students.
"The participation of youths in the recent illegal street demonstrations here shows their lack of understanding of the nation's struggle for independence," he said.
Syed Anuar said the subject, introduced to students from Form One to Form Three only, must be extended to those in Form Four up to Form Six to give them more opportunities to do research on what they had learned in class.
He said GPMS also proposed that the Higher Education Ministry set a condition that applicants to the higher learning institutions must pass History, besides making it a compulsoty subject for undergraduates.
tunku : i totally agree with gpms called.every citizen of this country should know by heart the history of this country.there are Malaysians who actually don't know the history of Malaysia and they don't deserve to be Malaysian. they always degrade their own country where they are breathing and earning, so ungrateful lot.History subject should be made compulsory.
Malaysian Ringgit Converter
5 comments:
dear tunku,
Me too, agree on the GPMS's call for compulsory pass for the subject History. Yet the government needs to rectify three matters before proceeding:
1) shall we have a fair history? instead of a malay-nationalist wash-over version?
2) allows world history to be more comprehensive and inclusive in the syllabus? our students can get through our school systems not knowing that civilizations began before malacca exist. Our children won't know what's exactly is mElayu before Melaka.
3) lastly, history should be on facts, no hearsay, legends and "subjective interpretion of historians".
are u trying to say that our history is all about lies?
are u trying to say that before melaka malay did not exist?
i suggest you to study history first as you yrself don't know what is the history of this country.
as for legends, we don't have them in our history books.
History should be what the government wants its history to be.
I learnt this in Singapore.
Mr Rational thinker, please think rationally yourself first.
History before Malacca does not give much revelance, since not many preserved accounts have been left, nor is it associated with what Malays are today.
The Malays today, as for what their culture, heritage and everything stands, has developed more after the Sultunate of Melaka.
Infact, forget about malaysian national history books, even World history by historians outside Malaysia dont have much account on of it before 14th century.
Perhaps you can enlighten us!!!
Go research yourself, if you are interested so much!
Secondly,
History has always been a propoganda tool for victors at some point. Look for example how Japan and Germany have been portrayed all over the world. As if the Allied axis of the West were all doves? Lol!
How about History books in China.
Communism is glorified there!!
In Malaysia we don't have such propoganda in its history, nor has it tried showing any race or community in bad light.
Thanks for the lovely responses. I like intellectual discussion.
TunkU:
1) I am implying our history textbooks are written in such a way that certain aspects are given too much emphasis while other aspects are significantly wash-downed. Just like how Japanese condensence its war-time atrocity to two lines in a think textbook on modern japanese history.
2) malays existed long before langkasuka, majapahit, srivijaya and most certainly, before melaka. Although we might argue, Melayu by the definition of the Federal Consitution is not applicable here . The pre-Islamic traditions and history of Malay have been given a wash-over by our "textbooks historians", despite the ample of evidences of its practices throughout malaysia.
3) Legends are probably the source of 20-30% of what's stated in our textbooks. While, this is mostly due to the fact that our early history is very much oral-based (pantun,syair,sajak etc), our historians can do a better job in attempting to "verify" these legends. No legends in our textbook you say? well, i clearly remember learning that Parameswara was said to be a descendent of Alexander the Great (sourced from Sejarah Melayu). Hang Tuah and co are another piece of History that is actually NOT proven by any solid evidence or written/graphic evidences or external (foreign) evidences. One of the prime "source" of Malaysia history has been the Malay ANnals (sejarah melayu), which was written by a merchant in the late 19th century. WTF?
Da real deal: No, i beg to disagree with you. While government has the legal power to enforce what's in its history textbooks, history should be as objective as possible.
I do admit that history has been perversed in many occasions (as dr zhivago mentioned - for hitler n co etc). Yet, in those occasions, EVIDENCES and FACTS are used, rather than pure statements of "factuality".
Dr ZHivago: history before malacca is VERY relevant to the claim of bumiputera rights. History before malacca can also teach us the origins of many malays/malaysians culture. THe malays tody are a product of poor-history lessons, and that's why their minds are so easily swayed by popular culture.
You want to learn about world history before the 14th centuries?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Late_Middle_Ages
guess it is not so scarce after all.
Yes, history has been used to brainwash kids - especially in the communist country of China. It's no surprise, given that they are a communist country. Should that apply to Malaysia? A free and liberal thinking society will be progressive and prosperous.
you said malaysia's history is not propagandistic in nature? where have you been? The inept abilities of our yesteryears Sultans have been downplayed and blames have often been pushed to foreign powers. May 13th incidence for example, has also been a wash-over.Leftist movement prior to Merdeka has also been downplayed. Sejarah Islam was given a whole large chapter in our syllabus, while our kids are given 1-2 paragraphs mention of others' faith.
dear all, trust me, i can only make such statements through long hours spent on reading those propangandist' history!
Post a Comment