A UNIVERSITI Malaysia Sabah historian is on a quest to correct misconceptions about Sabah and Sarawak’s history in secondary school textbooks, beginning with the often-overlooked fact that both Bornean states had attained self-rule prior to Malaysia’s formation in 1963.

Associate Professor Dr Bilcher Bala said a chunk of Sabah and Sarawak history has been left out of the textbooks despite four revisions in 1990, 1998, 2002 and 2003.

As a member of the Education Ministry’s panel to review the secondary school curriculum standard (KSSM) syllabus, he is tasked with evaluating new textbooks for form one to five until his contract ends in 2022.

“As little as only three pages are dedicated to politics in Sabah and Sarawak in chapter 4, which is 19 pages long, in the form five book,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“And although, East Malaysians were not involved in Malaya’s Independence in 1957, the form three textbook in chapter 5 is titled ‘National Independence 31st August, 1957’.

“It also left out how Sabah and Sarawak attained self-rule in 1963.”

Sabah, then known as North Borneo, was granted self-rule from the crown colony government on August 31, 1963, before it formed Malaysia together with Sarawak, Malaya and Singapore.

Sarawak at the time before Malaysia was formed was also a crown colony and granted self-rule on July 22, 1963. The date is marked in the state as Sarawak Day.

Bilcher also said Sabah and Sarawak leaders played important roles in Malaysia’s formation on September 16, 1963, but these were not reflected in the textbooks, giving the impression that the birth of the country was the doing of Malaya’s leaders only.

“This appear to belittle the roles played by the leaders from Sabah and Sarawak, as well as Singapore, towards the creation of Malaysia. 

“Without the consent of these regions, Malaysia would not become a reality on September 16, 1963.”

Bilcher said about 17 years of Sabah’s history under the British were not included in the history books and this period was important because British rule helped to bring development to Sabah.

Details of how different religions came to flourish in both East Malaysian states are also missing, creating the impression that large numbers of Sabahans and Sarawakians were still animists and pagans.

“For example, pages 196 to 197 in the form one textbook tell of how ethnic groups in Sabah were pagans and only note the Bajaus and the Malay-Brunei started to embrace Islam in stages from the 16th century.

“There is no mention of the Rungus, Kadazandusuns and Murut who became Christians in the 19th century, while on page 197 of the same book, Kadazandusun Muruts (KDMs) are only recorded as practising animism.”

Bilcher said there has been criticism of school history books for some time, and calls for a review of the syllabus became louder after then education minister Muhyiddin Yassin in 2010 announced that history would be made a compulsory subject to pass in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia.

Critics said information on Sabah and Sarawak had been intentionally left out causing Malaysians to be ignorant of their importance and heritage.

“As a result, the Education Ministry decided to introduced a new syllabus called the primary school standard curriculum (KSSR) in 2011, and subsequently the Malaysia Education Development Plan 2013-2025 was formulated, suggesting the KSSM be introduced this year,” Bilcher said. 

“The new KSSM for form one is already being used in schools and now the form two books are in the process of being printed in time for the next year’s cohort.”

Historical documents corresponding to the times are hard to come by as most are in overseas archives and libraries, he said.

“We have few documents from the period because it was during the British colonial administration and most are in the archives in London or in the Library of the Congress in the US.

“We have very few historians in Sabah doing studies on Sabah and Sarawak and there were not many people keeping records of the two states until after 1963.”

Though a difficult and tedious task, Bilcher feels it is an important one so that Malaysians can understand each other better.

No more, then, will Sabah and Sarawak folk arriving in the peninsula be greeted with “Welcome to Malaysia” by their counterparts in the west, he said. – September 15, 2017.