A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE EARLY HISTORY TEXTBOOKS IN MALAYSIAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Abstract

During the colonial and well into the post-independence era, most history textbooks in Malaysian secondary schools were written by British civil servants who became academics later in their careers. This article appraises whether there is an autonomous history of Malaysia in its history textbooks, with reference to the textbooks used in the lower secondary, middle secondary and the upper secondary (pre-university) levels. Historical writings and interpretations of Malaysian history are also critically reviewed.

Notes

¹The early history of Malaya/Malaysia can be traced back to 1000 CE when there were many kingdoms on the Malay peninsula and on the eastern coast of Sumatra. Among the earliest of such kingdoms were Kedah in the north of the peninsula, Langkasuka in the east, and Srivijaya on the east coast of Sumatra. In the 14th century, Melaka was founded by a Malay prince and later became an important maritime trading centre. However, in 1511 Melaka was occupied by the Portuguese, who were replaced in 1641 by the Dutch and in 1824 by the English. By the early 1900s, the whole of the Malay peninsula was under British administration and only in 1957 was Malaya given independence by the British. Sabah and Sarawak, on the other hand, were ruled by the British North Borneo Company and the Brooke family, respectively. In 1963, Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore were united to form Malaysia, but, in 1965, Singapore left the federation. Therefore, from 1824 until 1957, the Malay peninsula was under British rule.

²Only at the pre-university level, where students in Britain are preparing for their ‘A’ Level in history, are they offered a module on ‘Britain and decolonisation’, that has a minor discussion on Malaysia. Of the limited books available for students taking this module, one of the most widely used is Aldred 2004. The section on the history of Malaysia is found in ‘How and why did Britain decolonize after 1945’, consisting of one page out of 185 and dwelling on the Malayan Emergency period (1948–60).