By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Nov 11: In the age of social media, lawmakers urge the government to allocate more funds to digitise verified national archives to curb the spread of pseudohistorical claims, including assertions that ancient Malays could fly or that the Romans learned shipbuilding from them–narratives they say threaten Malaysia’s historical integrity.
They cautioned that the growing spread of such populist narratives risks distorting Malaysia’s historical record and could mislead the younger tech-savvy generation.
During a debate in Parliament yesterday, Bukit Bendera MP Syerleena Abdul Rashid said the recent claims reflect a worrying rise in pseudohistory being used to shape popular opinion.
“The issue that we need to handle is the deviation of history. In the era of social media, facts are often replaced with emotions, narratives twisted, and history is weaponised. Not to teach, but instead to divide the people.
“When educational institutions fail to differentiate facts and fantasy, we are faced with a bigger crises: integrity and intellectual crises in Malaysia. When history is deviated to fulfil political agendas or narrow identities, younger generation will inherit hatred and ignorance,” she said, according to a video recording of the debate shared on her Facebook today.
Her remarks were made in response to viral claims by Professor Solehah Yaacob, a lecturer in Arabic language and literature at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), who said in a Gabungan Nasionalis podcast that ancient Malays possessed supernatural abilities, including flight, and shared this knowledge with the Chinese.
Syerleena said archives and heritage institutions must be empowered and sufficiently funded to digitise and disseminate authentic historical materials.
“We must educate the people so that they know how to differentiate between authenticated history and history that is made up,” she said.
Meanwhile, according to The Star, Solehah has stood by her claim, saying it was based on “extensive research” and references from British theologian Thomas Brightwell, historian Richard L Smith and scholar Pierre-Yves Manguin.
She claimed that the Romans did not engage in advanced seafaring until after 31BCE, suggesting they might have been influenced by early Malay maritime navigators linked to the ancient Kedah region, referred to in Arabic texts as al-Qal’a. – DayakDaily
