History should be written based on facts not writer’s point of view — Ahmad Zahid

KUALA LUMPUR: History should be written based on facts and not merely from the author’s or scribe’s perspective who only wants to highlight certain figures, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said such a practice had happened before when the writer higlighted other figures in history books of certain states or republics causing the real persons behind the opening of new lands being sidelined.

“Although the (real) persons were mentioned by historians, the original facts had been twisted that lead to confusion among members of the public,” he said.

Ahmad Zahid said this when officiating at the Historical Novel Writing Competition 2015 prizegiving ceremony and the launch of Historical Novel organised by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) and the Malaysian Historical Society (PSM) here yesterday.

Also present were Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan, DBP Board of Governors chairman Prof Datuk Seri Salleh Yaapar and PSM executive chairman Tan Sri Omar Hashim. Ahmad Zahid hoped that history should be written based on solid facts to prove that an event really took place.

“In writing history, the writer should provide facts to the youngsters (Generation Y and Z) based on various methodologies,” he said.

Meanwhile, DBP launched eight historical novels at the event, namely Mengukir Larut by Amer Hamzah L Kadir, Puteri Negeri Rindu ( Rahimah Muda), AwangKembara Mengelilingi Dunia ( Kamaludin Abduk Settar), Raja Asal Permata Di Bumi Kuala Lumpur (Kamarulzaman Jaafar), Setanggi Zaman (Wan Noor Wan Cik), Sumpah Bukit Sadok ( Idris Boi), Malaysia Milik Kita ( Nor Azila Ishak) and Jene (Kasajiza A S or Zainal Abas).

Ahmad Zahid also said both DBP and PSM should conduct a comprehensive joint studies on history so that readers had better understanding of history. — Bernama