When the lion tells its story...

History has nothing to do with the narrator’s gender. Yet it has everything to do with the validity of his narrative, the narrative of the victors. The history lessons that were shoved down our throats during our schooling days are increasingly being disputed for their authenticity, reeking of imperialists' vested interest. It stands as a living proof of justifying Western powers' action to fulfil the duty of the white man's burden - to go forth to civilise and bring development to the natives. In the post-colonial era, historians continued to preach the subject from a leftist angle, glorifying Western power and downplaying Eastern society.

In the 21st century, history is no longer the dry subject that it used to be. With many natives now well-versed in European languages, they can tell their side of the story. As the African proverb goes, 'Until the lion tells its story, the hunt will always glorify the hunters', the natives can now tell how they were highly civilised way before the Westerners 'discovered' them and 'civilised' them.

The 21st century sees two types of historians: the first, a nationalistic one who tries to put the nation in a positive light, and the second, those who parrot the success of the hunters.

Closer to home, in Malaysia, a lecturer at one of the premier public universities has been going around making outlandish claims about the country's ancestors. Her assertions have been so ludicrous, but she has been receiving a lot of attention from the general public. She is a cult figure of sorts. Her statements include things like one of Prophet Muhammad's wives was a Malay, that the Malay DNA is not linked to Yunnan ancestry in China but to the Arabs, and lately she uttered that the Malays gave the Romans lessons in shipbuilding.

The funny thing is that none of her theories are challenged by fellow academics. For the record, the said soon-to-be Professor, Solehah Yaakob, is not a historian; she is trained in Arabic language studies. Her sentiments are in line with the racial hegemony that the ruling government is trying to propagate. To keep their voters happy, the leaders constantly hammer home grandiose ideas that magnify their ancestors' feats. They rule by feeding a constant diet of fear, telling the public of a conspiracy from within and without to topple the dominance of the majority in the country. Her outrageous claims augur well in boosting the ego of the majority.

Everyone knows what she is saying is not right. But Malaysians are too polite. Nobody wants to bell the cat. They do not want to seem to upset the status quo. It is their rice bowl they have to be concerned with, above all! 

In a healthy intellectual society, everyone should be able to speak from their mind. Each opinion should not be consumed as a divine decree but should be debated intelligently. In retaliation, the opinion should be supported by hard facts and proof. They need not run behind politicians to cling to their petticoats for validation, as is happening now.

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Not what our forefathers had in their minds!

Paradise Lost.
Mahathir & The End of Hope

Author: Dennis Ignatius

The writings were on the wall all the while. Our past leaders, Tunku, Tun Dr Ismail and Hussein Onn, saw through it all. We were just living in a wishful dream. A leopard never changes its spots. Mahathir's ideology never ever changed from the time he penned the 'Malay Dilemma'.

After reigning 22 years at the helm with an iron fist and burning a big hole in the national coffers, he left the country with a screwed up education system, a twisted judicial system and a lethargically bloated civil service.

His departure from PM'ship saw a slew of candidates who never really got Mahathir's nod of approval. He ran down his own choice of candidates. Just 10 years after his tenure, the country made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. It saw its Prime Minister embroiled in the most extensive business fraud.

A critique of Najib and the way UMNO was turning, Mahathir formed an unholy allegiance with his former arch-nemesis, Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Kit Siang. The citizens bought his story of a man trying to correct the wrong that he had done. From the word go, after his unexpected win at the GE14, Mahathir was an unhappy man. His Machiavellian mind went overdrive trying to outsmart his partners in his multi-ethnic unity government. On the sly, he double-crossed them. His sole intention was to have an all Malay government to carry his ultra-Malay nationalistic agenda. For Mahathir, Malaysia is for Malays. The other people who fought for the country and toiled their life away for the nation are still immigrants, irrespective of the number of generations their family had lived in Malaysia.

An Illustration from John Milton's
17th-century poem 'Paradise Lost'
about Adam and Eve losing their
place in Paradise (Garden of Eden)
due to Satan's nefarious act.

In his rapaciousness to fulfil his vision of restoring Malay hegemony, he sold the country's soul to Islamist elements who have permeated all administration levels: defence, education, judiciary, civil service, and the rest. In his rush to correct the economic imbalance between ethnicities, he and his band of 'visionaries' chose mediocrity over substance to cosmetically paint a rosy picture of equity.

The first thing he did after being offered the position of PM for the second time, he chaired the Malay Dignity Congress, contradicting himself on his promise of being the leader of all, irrespective of race and religion. He kept mum when India demanded Zakir Naik, a wanted criminal accused the world over for his terrorist-inciting speeches but defended his decision to keep him stay put in Malaysia. This, he did despite grouses from his own citizens.

The final hay that broke the camel's back came in the form of backdoor manoeuvring called Sheraton-gate. It becomes clear that, even though Mahathir claims ignorance, the whole steering is towards a Malay-controlled government that puts non-Malays as second-class yeomen. Mahathir had the trust of all its citizens to put things in order, but he took everybody for a ride.

The country has gone to the dogs. Barks of nonsensical rhetorics means nothing as the nation marches to glorify the absurd and put buffoons on the pedestal. Have we reached the point of no return as more and more of our young and daring minds who dare to question the status quo pack their bags and leave for greener pastures?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.