Lawyer-activist Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, speaking at a forum with Fahmi, said Malaysians must be honest with themselves and talk about things which have been erased from collective memory.
Fahmi said a Form 3 history textbook devoted 10 pages to Umno and Merdeka and only one paragraph to the leftist Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya which also fought for independence.
“So under the new government, if they want to revise the history books, will they follow in the footsteps of the previous administration and turn history books into propaganda tools?
“If they want to revise the books, what will the process look like? Will it be transparent?”
Fahmi said that there were errors even in the one paragraph about PKMM which claimed that PKMM was formed by the Communist Party of Malaya and that its founder Mokhtaruddin Lasso was a member of CPM’s Regiment 10.
Speaking at a forum on ‘A People’s History of the Malayan Emergency here, he said: “Did Umno play a role in Merdeka? Yes. But were they the only ones? No. Umno wasn’t alone in seeking independence but it is given 10 pages. Umno fought on the right, PKMM fought on the left.”
Fadiah Nadwa said part of Malaysia’s history had been marginalised, because of the structures of power. But Malaysians needed to understand what happened in the past and why.
“The structures we have now are inherited from colonialism and the consequences are obvious, we are trapped in discourses of race, religion and feudalism.”
Fadiah said history could show Malaysians the kinds of aspirations the people had at the time and could emulate them in striving for ideals to do away with racism, sexism and feudalism. “If we don’t know history, how can we imagine a world that is different,” she asked.
With BN out of power, let’s tell our true history, says ex-communist fighter