Call to rectify errors in history textbooks

MALAYSIAN Chinese Language Council and nine other Chinese organisations, including Dong Jiao Zong, want the Education Ministry to correct a total of 225 mistakes found in Chinese primary school History text books.

Council president Datuk Heng Hong Chai said apart from mistakes including factual errors, discrepancies in translation and wrong usage of language, the textbooks for Year 4, 5 and 6 History, which became a compulsory subject since 2014 under the New Primary School Curriculum (KBSR), are too skewed towards a particular race and religion to reflect the racial, religious and cultural pluralism of the society.

According to Chinese press reports yesterday, Heng said in view of the far-reaching impact of these errors, the council and Jiao Zong (United Chinese School Teachers Association), with the help of historians, raised the issue with the ministry through various channels in 2014.

Speaking at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, Heng, who heads a committee tasked with getting the errors rectified, said apart from some technical errors such as wrong usage of the language and inappropriate illustrations which were corrected, others including factual errors were ignored. This was regrettable, he said. He said since the ministry is currently revising the History textbooks, the 10 organisations felt compelled to submit a memorandum on their recommendations to the ministry.

He hoped the ministry would take a serious view of the recommendations to ensure the revised textbooks tell the Malaysian history as it was.