Historians are storytellers

We need more of them

“TWithout historians, history would not be told.

HOSE who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” — a phrase by Spanish philosopher George Santayana, often quoted by academicians when talking about politics and history. A catchy phrase, and if it’s true, the saying should guide us in whatever we do. But that is hardly the case. Think about it — in the history of the United States and Europe, wars have ended but more wars are being waged, though not in the conventional sense. Then there are revolutions, like those in France and Russia, which gave individuals absolute power and the nations violent dictatorships. In this 21st-century world, specific events in Syria, Iran, Iraq and the Balkan wars — all these are repeated lessons about civil wars. Why are they important — because they are all a part of history. And in the manner that relates, historians have a role to explain and guide us in the lessons of history.

The passing of Malaysia’s eminent historian Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Kim on Tuesday will no doubt go down in the country’s history. The nation lost a gem of an historian. This Leader, however, is not an obituary of the man regarded as a national historian. Rather, it pertains to the role of historians, their importance and why we need them. Contrary to what some might say, historians and history are not boring. They are inexplicably linked; without historians, history would not be told. And history isn’t just the study of the past or the legacies of the past in the present, it is also the science of humanity, of all the things that human beings have done — all these can only be seen in the right context with historians. Historians are, in essence, storytellers — they educate us on why history should be admired, recognised and appreciated. At 61 years old, Malaysia is replete with historical narratives — early Malaya, British occupation of Malaya, Japanese occupation, how Merdeka was achieved, Melaka Sultanate, Kedah Sultanate, May 13 racial riots, and many others — such accounts are why history matters. It is not just useful, it is essential for every Malaysian to understand and comprehend.

No, Malaysia is not facing a dearth of historians — we have the likes of Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Azyumardi Azra, Khasnor Johan, Danny Wong Tze Ken and Farish A. Noor. The late Buyong Adil was a prominent figure in Malay historiography who authored Sejarah Alam Melayu Penggal

IV and Sejarah Melayu V. Shaharom Husain was another prolific historian. Nevertheless, we need more of them — historians who do not view history from the lens of parochialism, historians who understand the complexity of multi-layered episodes inherent in the telling of the nation's past, historians who tell history as it should be told.

The late Khoo once claimed he was the “last historian in the country” and that he could not influence another to be his successor. Let that not be true, rather it should challenge future Malaysians to be that guiding light in terms of understanding history.