Week 4-SSF 1033 Lecture 4 - Official vs Missing History PDF

Lecture 4: Malaysia: Official vs Missing History Lecture 4 – Official vs Missing History of Malaysia “Official history” – Provides framework of understanding for Malaysians (i.e. what you and I learnt in school) – Message: Malaysia a developed, progressive, peaceful multi-ethnic and m...

Lecture 4: Malaysia: Official vs Missing History Lecture 4 – Official vs Missing History of Malaysia “Official history” – Provides framework of understanding for Malaysians (i.e. what you and I learnt in school) – Message: Malaysia a developed, progressive, peaceful multi-ethnic and multi-religious country. – Museum of National History, KL (When you visit, ah.. This is it!) – But, must be aware of 5Ws i.e. what, who, why, when and where. Official history Physical description of Malaysia = existing territory & states (with Singapore pre-1965) History interpreted as “any event, person or artifact that provides evidence of Malay or Malaysian achievement and progress. Pre-independence history = individuals or movements that resisted British intrusion into Malaya Missing: Who really was responsible for creating Malaysia? Official history - Pre-history Messages Natural geological formations = Malaysia very old Human bones in caves (Niah) & stone tools (Perak and Sabah) (Palaeolithic period) = evidence of ancient human occupation (@ 40,000 BCE) Neolithic period (@ 4000 BCE) & Bronze Age exhibits of pottery, stone objects and bronze drums = advanced settlements & developing culture Official History - Pre-history Messages Evidence of major settlements like Bujang Valley (Hindu, Buddhist) & Santubong (Hindu, Buddhist & Muslim) = diverse beliefs and active trade relations between “Malaysia” and other parts of the world, esp India, Arabia and China (Sri Vijayan Influences). Missing – Malay Origins! A) Malay peoples linguistically linked to the Khmer/Assam peoples so Malays are also a product of migration. B) ‘Malays’ as a British ‘creation’. (See Andaya & Andaya; Wikipedia!) Official History - Pre-history Messages Megalithic (giant carved stones) artifacts in Peninsular, Sabah and Swk = existence of diversity of lifestyles and cultures during Srivijaya period. (Missing – Orang Asli, Sbh/Swk Native Migrations, Migratory Settlements, Influences of other Civilisations…) Official History – History Messages Terengganu Stone Inscription @ 1303 CE = Presence of Islam on the peninsula very old. (Missing - Islam in Brunei/Sabah/Sarawak) (Missing – Other religions? Hinduism? Christianity, Judaism, Traditional beliefs?) Official History – History Messages  The Kingdom of Malacca - Hang Tuah (Malays will never vanish from this earth) = Malays are here to stay. Malays and Malay culture as the social basis of Malaysian society.  Malacca 1403-1511 Dynamic Sultanate with multi- ethnic visiting traders = Power and right to govern in a modern multi-cultural society are the preserve of the Malays.  Malacca as a trading, cultural and administrative hub for the whole archipelago. = Centre of the world or just a port Where Monsoons Meet?!?  (Missing - Brunei and Sulu; Aceh and Riau; India, China, Arabia, Java, other SE Asia) Official History – Colonial Story Colonial Beginnings  Portuguese Control of Malacca 1511-1642  Dutch Control of Malacca, 1642-mid 1700s  English/British Era, 1786-1941.  from trade to interference to control to government  Foreign powers in Sarawak (ceded to Brooke Rajahs, 1841 - 1941)  Foreign powers in Sabah (ceded in perpetuity to Baron Von Overbeck and Albert Dent - British North Borneo Company for Sp$5000/year or US$1800/presently.) Missing! : Role of the Sultans under Colonialism Official History – Nationalism & Nation Building Growth of Nationalism  Malaysia lost its independence in 1511!!! (Huh???)  Examples of local resistance against British (from mid- 18th Century - 1940s; Tok Janggut; Mat Salleh; Dato Maharajalela)  Japanese Occupation 1942-1945 - resistance but also sparking nationalistic feelings  Malayan Union 1946 - led to Malay opposition and founding of UMNO (Agama/Bangsa/Negara)  The Federation of Malaya, 1948  The Emergency, 1948  Independence 1957; Malaysia 1963 Missing  Contributions of the Left to Independence (CPM, MNP, Labour Front, Barisan Sosialis, API, AWAS, Putera-AMCJA, etc) Official History – Nationalism & Nation Building  Formation of Malaysia, 1963  Confrontation with Indonesia 1963-1966  Against Neo-colonialism/George Soros, Westerners, etc. (Message = Nationalism as struggle against “enemies”) (Message – Islam & ethnicity has central role in Nationalism) (Missing - Role of the MCP; Labour Unions; Collaboration with British/Japanese) (Missing = Nationalism as struggle to build democracy, progressive and open society, religious and ethnic diversity, human rights, freedoms, etc.)  Official History - Growth of Nationalism (cont.) 4 Post-Independence Periods (PM focus) (Message = Leader- defined/feudal? Why not society defined? Why always Male-dominated?) (Missing – Women???; Only Malays? Only politicians?? Others???) Official History - Key Themes in the Official Version A) Malaysia’s history has a pre-historic beginning (Does it? Or is it a colonial beginning?) B) Malaysia has a shared history and shared nationalistic activities (Really? Are you sure?) C) Malaysia’s nationalism began with resistance against Portugese conquest in 1511. (Really? Why the Portuguese? Why not others?) Official History - Key Themes (cont) D) Malaysia will thus defend its independence and Malaysians are nationalistic (What is it to be nationalistic? To die for one’s country? Or to live for it?) E) Malaysia = Malay history with a Malay- Muslim bias F) Malaysia very diverse and open with international experience since it has a history of international trade and interaction (Is it really diverse and open?) Official History (OH) – Why the Need for an OH?  Ethnic Riots of May 1969 = Efforts to devise a national ideology of unity  Malaysian history based on colonial foundations – colonial boundaries, colonial administration, colonial ethnic communities = to justify current independence of a post- colonial sovereign Malaysia  Also, reflects “governing arrangement” of communal political parties (UMNO, MCA, MIC) in the Alliance Coalition (in the 1950s) which focused on the sharing of power = to justify continued governance of communal parties (i.e. the BN) led by UMNO. Official History - Critique Sees the country through the eyes of the BN government based on pluralist-communal, Islamic- dominant model It is selective (includes and excludes) people, events, decisions It distorts for its own purpose.. (Colonialism bad – Portuguese; Role of immigrants – Chinese/Indian/Others) It does not talk about dynamic grassroots led social change and how social change occurs (Must be BN/state-led to be legitimate!!!) Missing History Was struggle for Independence only an UMNO/Malay struggle? Was it a struggle or was it given free by the British to conservative political forces called, the Alliance? Leaves out a lot about the Orang Asli (Malaya), Orang Asal (Sabah & Swk); and other minorities (e.g. women, children, disabled, MCP, Malay left, student movements, ethnic/religious minorities, & etc.) Missing History Reality is that the struggle for a new country - Malaya/Malaysia - was more inclusive and saw the involvement of Chinese, Indians, Rich, Poor, left-wing and conservative elements. (e.g. Sybil Kathigesu, Ong Boon Hua, Gurchan Singh) And what about Sabah & Sarawak? Did they willingly want to form Malaysia? Or were they forced into forming a new country? Cobbold Commission Report (1/3, 1/3, 1/3)? Missing History And what about Sabah & Sarawak? Did they willingly want to form Malaysia? Or were they forced into forming a new country? Cobbold Commission Report (1/3, 1/3, 1/3)? Missing History (Just 3 examples!!) Life as the River Flows (Agnes Khoo & Richard Crisp) (http:// www.palgrave-journals.com/fr/journal/v96/n1/pdf/f r201022a.pdf ) (Book Review) – Women in the Malayan anti-colonial struggle Where Monsoons Meet – A People’s History of Malaya (http:// www.tindakmalaysia.com/showthread.php/1802- Where-Monsoons-Meet-Part-1-of-8 ); Read all 8 Parts! – Ordinary peoples’ view of how Malaya became independent and not just the UMNO view.  Langub, Jayl and Daniel Chew (n.d.), His Story, Her Story: Chinese-Iban Inter-marriages in Engkelili and Lubok Antu, mimeo. Missing History Video – “Small Loans; Changed Lives” – How ordinary rubber tappers and oil palm estate workers organised and transformed their own lives Video – “Mothers of Bakun & Empty Promises, Damned Lives ” – An alternative view of development References Hooker, Virginia Matheson (2003), A Short History of Malaysia, Crows Nest NSW: Allen & Unwin (Chp. 1). INSAN (1989), Where Monsoons Meet, Petaling Jaya: INSAN Khoo, Agnes (2004), Life as the River Flows, Petaling Jaya: SIRD (Chapters 1 & 2) Prehistoric Malaysia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Malaysia