Kuala Lumpur - When the British High Commissioner to Malaya, Sir Gerald Templer, unveiled the Malayan Historical Society (PSM) on April 30 in 1953, the objective of this non-governmental organisation (NGO) was to install history as a crucial component in the nations development.
From that very day the PSM that is now known as the Malaysian Historical Society, has moved to the fore and now proudly display its flag ship the Wisma Sejarah located at Jalan Tun Razak here.
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra was PSMs first patron (1964-96) and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad succeeded him and is still PSMs patron until today.
Tun Abdul Razak Hussein was PSMs longest president, from 1958 to 1971.
Wisma Sejarah will be officiated by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who is also PSM President on Oct 14.
In conjunction with the official opening, Bernama interviewed PSM Executive Committee Chairman Datuk Omar Hashim who has been associated with the PSM since 1996.
BERNAMA: Why the need for Wisma Sejarah?
OMAR: We have been moving around, from the National Museum, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka and later the government building at 958 Jalan Hose, Kuala Lumpur. Too much relocation and squatting is not good for such an organisation like ours.
With the vast experience and a huge membership nationwide, we feel that it is important to have our own office building.
The original plan was to also build a History Museum and with assistance from our former president Datuk (Tun) Hussein Onn, the society was allocated 1.3 hectares of land at Jalan Tun Razak in 1979.
But after obtaining the land, the government said that it had plans to build a History Museum.
We proceeded with the plan to build the society‘s office but had to wait for 15 years due to insufficient funds. The land was almost auctioned off, as the society had no money to pay for the quit rent.
In 1983, the then society chairman Tun Hamdan Sheikh Tahir, before leaving for Paris, told me to return the land to the government or hand it over to the Defence Ministry that was looking for a parcel of land for its Armed Forces Museum.
BERNAMA: You did not carry out what was told?
OMAR: No, I purposely delayed the instruction and in fact decided against it as I know that it was difficult to obtain land in Kuala Lumpur. Furthermore the location is strategic and commands a high price.
When Pusrawi (Pusat Rawatan Islam) wanted to build a Muslim private hospital, I offered this parcel of land. Out of the 1.3 hectares, we sold Pusrawi 0.9 hectares for RM19.6 million and we kept the remaining hectares for the PSM building.
Construction began in 1999 and the building was completed in 2002. The total cost was RM20 million and the society used its savings to top up the budget.
Personally I am very proud with this building as not many NGOs have their own premises that are as great and as good as Wisma Sejarah.
BERNAMA: What are the facilities available in Wisma Sejarah?
OMAR: We have a facility for history research that is the Datuk Omar Hashim Library. We hope to furnish it with various documents, books, research papers and important journals on Malaysia and the archipelago.
There is a conference room named after Tan Sri Dol Ramli apart from the Dewan Tun Hamdan which is a multipurpose hall.
There are two rooms that we named as Bilik Buyong Adil and Bilik Adi Hassan. We have plans for a history gallery at the first floor however it is yet to be fully equipped.
We also have a 10-flour annex building for office space rental. We hope to fund the society‘s operations and expenses through this way.
BERNAMA: History is crucial for the existence of a nation. Are Malaysians aware of this importance?
OMAR : Everybody knows that history is important but when it comes to appreciating and using it as a platform for drawing out government or public policies and avoiding issues, it is rarely used.
Importance of history must be stressed right from the school level. All PSM activities are moving towards this direction like staging essay competitions to stoke up the interest on the history subject.
The ideal thing is for all Malaysians to learn the same history within the same curriculum and with the same textbooks. They should be interacting, making friends and mixing around in the same environment that means learning under the same roof.
The existence of several type of schools now does not help towards creating unity and solidarity that we hope to be reinforced by learning history.
Diverse systems and streams impose inhibitions for the creation of a truly united society that is dreamt about by our leaders.
BERNAMA: How far have Malaysians gone history-literate?
OMAR: Overall, Malaysians learned history as a single subject but there is no impact on them apart for only a small group.
It is different with the people abroad like those in the United States where history is learnt intensively and given much focus apart from being made compulsory for all levels of schooling apart from being a pre-requisite for university entrance and citizenship application.
Their literature is fully exploited with exposures on their historical personalities and icons, giving the sense of pride to readers.
Even their movies and videos glorified their race and motherland as well as their Anglo-Saxon culture.
(But) not in Malaysia. Rarely our history is turned into a major film production, hence people do not know about the heroics and struggle of our heroes like Tok Janggut (Kelantan) , Mat Salleh (Sabah) and Datuk Onn (Umno founder).
BERNAMA: What is your concern on this?
OMAR: History illiteracy is not good for the progress of democracy. Firstly, they cannot look back and learn from past mistakes, and secondly, they are not being able to follow current developments as this needs a lot of background that relates to what is happening now.
For example the Jews, with assistance from the United States and Britain, were given Palestinian land for their state and since then, calamity has befallen the Palestinians.
All of this information is buried under a huge, complex and extensive history and only in-depth knowledge and wide reading would allow us to see the true picture.
Without this knowledge, the younger generation now would blame the Palestinian youths on why they throw stones at the Zionist troops. People forget that the land belongs to Palestinians that had been seized by the Jews.
I, myself is very keen on history. When in Universiti Malaya (Singapore), I took history as a subject apart from Malay Studies.
History is like a bottomless pit, the more we dig, the more that we found. It differs from other information, as it develops constantly with new developments and new perceptions, refreshing our mind. However this does not mean that we should be backwards.
BERNAMA: Your hope and vision for the PSM?
OMAR: After being in existence for more than 50 years, I want the PSM to focus on research, as there is still much to be studied.
My wish list is for the PSM to have enough funds and for it to create the Chair of Malay History. Presently, we have various courses but there is none for specifically Malay history. The cost needed to create this Chair is high, at around RM8 million.
We aim to hold the Fellowship programme to encourage graduates to delve more in the subject of history.
I also wish to see students develop more interest on history. I hope the ministry would make history a dynamic subject, either by retraining its history teachers or looking out for new and refreshing methods.
The PSM should also have more publications apart from are being produced now. With this, the society would be the nucleus of the effort to accord high esteem to the country‘s history.
Finally, I wish to see this Wisma Sejarah to remain as it is now instead of being leased out or taken over by other parties.
Wisma Sejarah is a trust. Many have spent their time building it.Our hope is for the future PSM office bearers to continue and further enhance our effort for the society to remain as the NGO that has the long-lasting sense of belonging and high esteem in the country. By Melati Mohd Ariff
Source: http://www.bernama.com (October 09, 2008)