History, propaganda are no bedfellows

Jeswan Kaur Updated 1 year ago · Published on 16 Sep 2024 5:00PM · 11 Comments

Serge Jardin has penned an open letter to Malacca Chief Minister Ab Rauf Yusoh describing the flaws found on six newly installed signboards on the perimeter of the Fort of Malacca. – The Malaysian Insight file pic by Jeswan Kaur, September 16, 2024.

DURIANS, pineapples, and now rock melons have become priorities to the Malacca government due to the demand for them from Chinese and Indian tourists. 

Whilst the state government is agog over buzzing cash registers courtesy of foreign tourists, Chief Minister Ab Rauf Yusoh has yet again been taken to task for being reckless with Malacca’s historical facts, as seen in the state’s newly erected signboards around the Unesco heritage site. 

Prior to the signboards gaffe, Tourism Malacca in July recalled the error-laden tourist guidebooks after a resident, Serge Jardin, took to Facebook to expose the agency’s incompetency.  

From the European invasion to the birth of Malacca to history of Malacca Club to Hang Li Po’s spousal status, the guidebook got it all wrong. 

Frenchman Jardin should know what he is talking about. He was a tour guide and tour agency operator in Malaysia in the 1980s before marrying a Malacca resident and settling down in the state. 

He has also written several books about Malaysia and Malacca and is rightfully acknowledged as a historian and geographer of Malacca. 

The irony is Jardin’s vast knowledge of Malacca’s historical narrative does not interest the state government. What does perturb Jardin is the lack of expertise by Tourism Malacca and related authorities in detailing the history of Malacca. 

This is the same Jardin who had called out Universiti Putra Malaysia’s “non-historian” Professor Dr Hashim Musa for “rewriting history”. 

It was Dr Hashim’s presentation entitled “Warisan Tradisi Maritim Melayu dan Teknologi Pembuatan Kapal Besar” (Heritage of Malay Maritime Traditions and Large Shipbuilding Technology) that raised red flags. 

The presentation was part of the Seminar Kapal Mendam Berahi: Realiti Atau Mitos which took place in Malacca in June last year. 

Then, Dr Hashim allegedly showed an old picture and claimed “Malacca welcomes 2,000 ships a day”, describing the greatness of the Malacca Sultanate. 

He claimed the Portuguese destroyed a mosque and spoke about the “Mendam Berahi Boat.” 

A furious Jardin pointed out that the image Dr Hashim exhibited was a picture showing the Dutch fleet while the “mosque” was actually St Paul’s Church. 

Even Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Professor Emeritus Dr Ahmad Adam was livid about Dr Hashim’s bluff. Ahmad, a historian, said the “Mendam Berahi Boat” never existed and was a figment of Hashim’s imagination. Ahmad then said Hashim was no historian and unabashedly called the latter a “Malay chauvinist”.

History is not propaganda 

Despite Jardin’s deep understanding of Malacca’s historical background, the state government continues to ignore his expertise. 

Last month, Jardin was back admonishing Tourism Malacca for refusing to buck up and assuming tourists to Malacca are illiterate. 

Jardin penned an open letter to Rauf describing the flaws found on six newly installed signboards on the perimeter of the Fort of Malacca. 

“All the signboards are illustrated with a representation of the Dutch fortification superimposed to an aerial view of today’s Hill of Malacca. If the walls and bastions are correct, the gates are wrong. Two non-existent gates have been added and one existing gate is missing,” Jardin said. 

The Malaysian Insight met up with Jardin and was left puzzled as to why the state government had no respect for his immense knowledge of Malacca’s illustrious history. 

“The tourist brochure acts like a textbook and persistent mistakes speak poorly of the government’s commitment to upholding Malacca’s precious history. 

“I cannot stand such mistakes, so I take it upon myself to fact check. The more I inspect, the more mistakes I find. The agencies do not know the difference between a ‘kota’ i.e. fort and a ‘kubu’ i.e. bastion,” he said. 

Jardin blames cronyism and nepotism for the poor state of affairs in Malacca. 

“What I am not able to forgive is the silence of the emeritus. Why do they refuse to speak up post-retirement? Why do they allow such blunders to continue?” 

Jardin’s many letters to the relevant authorities alerting them to the mistakes were never replied to. Tourism Malacca only reacted when he highlighted the problem on Facebook. 

“I wrote letters to highlight the mistakes made but no one bothered to reply. It was only through Facebook did I get them to take action.” 

Tourism Malacca top officials even turned up at Jardin’s house. 

“They wanted me to say in my Facebook post that Tourism Malacca did a very good job of dealing with the blunders. I felt it was a bit too much to ask me to do that. 

“I will help anyone who needs my assistance. But do it sincerely.” 

Jardin said it was important to have qualified people on board to ensure the sanctity of Malacca’s history remained intact. 

“I am unimpressed with the quality of people in charge, be they politicians or academicians. History is too important for politicians to leave it alone. But politicians are not historians. Universities and museums should be left alone for history to flourish. 

“When a politician uses history to serve his political agenda, it is no more history but propaganda. This is what former chief minister Ali Rustam did in 2012 when he announced a new date of birth for Malacca. 

“In 2014 it was ex-chief minister Idris Haron who gave a false impression of the Sultanate treasure in Pulau Nangka. In 2016 it was about the Majapahit city under the Malacca river and the giant bones of Pulau Upeh and in 2024 there was Rauf and the dagger of Hang Tuah.” 

Whilst no one has taken Jardin to task for speaking the truth without fear or favour, he does remain cautious.  

“History is foremost a method. New centres of interest, new questions, new sources oblige history to constantly reinvent itself.” 

The question is, does Tourism Malacca, Malacca Museum Corporation, and the state administration understand this? – September 16, 2024. 

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