Why Are We Changing our Country's History

It is really surprising that leaders of our country are doing things that tend to destroy the heritage of our rich country by attempting to change its history. A question was recently posed to me while I was on holiday by a foreigner who happened to fight the commmies during the emergency in the late 40's. I was stunned by the question.

Upon returning home after my vacation, I tried to read the past weeks' papers and found that there were complaints indeed made by teachers and history writers in respect of the changes made to our history by our education ministry. And, it is blatantly ignoring all the public complaints and introduced regardless to our children in the national and government aided schools. The DPM cum Education Minister commented that it was too late to change the book due to time shortage.

Why did our leader do what they did? In my view, they were either not happy with the past developments of Malaya/Malaysia which they could not accept or they did not have the self esteem to recognise the significance of the past events or they are just racists and try to belittle their fellow citizens.

I have been informed that UMNO have been trying to claim credits for shaping country social economic landscape after 31 August 1957. History about Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat has been obliterated when researchers found out that they were of Chinese origin. BN leaders must realise that Malaysia was not formed by UMNO alone or the Malays. It was the hard work and dedication of all the races that made Malaysia happen.

If my memory does not fail me, that is not what I learned about Malayan history. The Indians were brought into Malaya through the "kangani system" to work as indentured labourers. At no time, was the term, 'pariah' being applied to these labourers.

Can we call or refer to all our emigratory workforce as pariahs for various adverse social and economic conditions that force them to leave their countries for the sake of survival? If this is the criterion, then all can be said to be pariahs in some ways since they did not stay back to help fight revive their respective social econonmic conditions at home, ran away from their own contries, anti-national, disloyal and what not...

At our juncture of development where we need to address the racial problems and proliferations prevailing, we do not need people like Datuk Abdullah Hussain, the author of Interlok to fan the fire of racialism and causing unnecesary unrest in the country.

On the other hand, we have sycophantic writer like Baradan Kuppusamy saying that by calling the pioneering Indians as pariahs does not in any way mocking or ridiculing any race, why not use the term on the Malays and the Chinese and others in the country? If this were done, I bet you see firework the very next day.

Were the 'pariah Indians' brought into Malaya during the 17th and 18th Century similar in status to the those who were recently brought in by the millions from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, vietnam and Indonesia to work as labourers in the factories, estates and farms and construction industries? Leaders of today must not forget their respective roots and the factors contributing to their forbears taking the hard decision to leave their countries for Malaya in search of a better life.

For those who would like to know more about the status of the Indian labourers, one may refer to the book entitled "Trade Unionism in Malaya" by Dr Gamba.

It must be borne in mind that not all Indians brought into Malaya were from the 'untouchable caste'. Many belonged to the higher castes. By lumping all Indians as pariahs may not be right. It is too sweeping! We need not use the term to convey the message.

Is there any necessity to address our Indian brothers and sisters as pariahs brought into the country by the British colonialists from various parts of Southern India to work in the estates, plantations and railways. Unfortunately the UMNOputras fail to understand that those who were born during and immediately after the WWII are still living and will not forget the happenings that occured. How could the UMNO/BN Government be so shameless as to change the country's history in the face of so many in the country whose memory is still very much alive.

Any change at this juncture is likely to face much criticism and resistance. So why rock the boat and reinvent history! Why try to feed our children with half truths?