MP wants formation of Malaysia ’63 included in history books

Sibu MP says Sarawak DAP will urge Federal Government to return education autonomy to Sarawak.

KUALA LUMPUR: Sarawak DAP is urging the Federal Government to return education autonomy to Sarawak as Chinese vernacular primary history textbooks do not address the formation of Malaysia in 1963, MP of Sibu Oscar Ling said.

“Even in standard five, the formation of Malaysia wasn’t mentioned. Merely the use of Bahasa Malaysia in the administration of Sabah and Sarawak was touched upon,” he told a press conference today.

The Sibu MP stressed that it was unfair to leave the formation of Malaysia 1963 out of history textbooks because the history of Sabah and Sarawak was as important as that of Malaya as all three had agreed to be equal partners in Malaysia.

“The formation of Malaysia should be 1/3 of the content in our primary school history textbook,” Oscar stressed.

He said that the historical timeline of Malaysia in the textbook only addressed the country’s independence in 1957, whereas the formation of Malaysia in 1963 was left out completely.

Ling said that this issue had been raised many times in the media but that it was not taken seriously by the Federal Government.

He also lamented that when he raised this issue in parliament, education minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also deputy prime minister, merely answered vaguely that the formation of Malaysia would be included in the syllabus at a later stage, prompting Ling to say, “The education minister is not serious about this issue.

He also said that it was imperative to include that component into history textbooks so as not to ignore the historical and cultural roots of Sabahans and Sarawakians as the people of these two states are part of the country’s national identity.