Students are not interested in History?

At the Dewan Rakyat yesterday:

MP: History books do not reflect nation's past

30 Aug 2006, New Straits Times
Reports by V. Vasudevan, Anis Ibrahim and Nisha Sabanayagam

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HISTORY textbooks now being used in schools do not reflect the country’s history, an MP said yesterday.

"Our history textbooks are incomplete and do not give the whole picture," said Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam).

"The excuse that history books need to be revised because students have no interest in history or cannot understand the subject is unacceptable."

Speaking at the Parliament lobby, Wee said Yap Ah Loy’s role in the establishment of Kuala Lumpur, for example, had been omitted from textbooks.

"The reason why it is important to include Yap Ah Loy is to show the younger generation that the Malays and Chinese were already collaborating years ago.

"Similarly, highlighting Tun V.T. Sambanthan’s story and ideology is not only to show he founded MIC, but also to show how he mobilised the Indian community and worked with other ethnic groups," said Wee.

"I have no interest in this, I’m not Yap Ah Loy’s grandson. This is in the interest of the youth."

Earlier in the Dewan Rakyat, the Education Ministry’s parliamentary secretary P. Komala Devi in reply to a question by Wee, said history textbooks currently in use were based on a revision of the school syllabus, carried out in stages by the ministry since 2003.

"The syllabus is based on proven historical facts obtained from research by historians, academics and individuals," she said.

In a supplementary question, Wee asked why individuals such as Yap Ah Loy had been excluded from textbooks while there was only limited information on personalities such as Tun Tan Cheng Lock and Sambanthan.

"Research showed that students were not interested in history, they had difficulty understanding facts and were only memorising information without appreciating the subject. We decided to consolidate the facts to make the subject less boring," she said.