Papers in Intemational Studies Southeast Asia Series No. 4 nr{rt<,,,n{ V OF HISTORY by Wang Gungwu D l 3 v216 Ohio University Center for International Studies Southeast Asia Program, 1968 Athens. Ohio ff1 --elF--
\ THS USE 0!' tllS?ogY By Wang cunglru Ohlo UllvetglEe CeEter fof Iiternatlonal Studles faPers 1n International studles Southeaat Asla Serles No. 4 Prlce: 91.00 I
otD+, d?340 copyrtgtrt ldlgee ty Ifltelnatlorlal Studies, the Center fot oblo Univergl.ty
Pi_E!ACil In lecent yearsr Europeao ard Anericarr historlans of Asia have spokefl lncreasingly of the [eed to avoid Euao-ceDtric vlews of .461ao bisEoly. the need, they have observed, is to!7rlte frord an Aslar point of viev. The hlstory lrtitten by AulopeaD colonlal officlal.s about native peoples and irperial govelDments has obvlously hail Lts day, Although there ?eri: 6oroe notabl"e exeepti€)ls, such autho!6 wcre, io faet, recordi[g alld interptetin8 t!.eir or,rn natlollal experlence6 Ln A6ia rather than seeklng to provide sndei:Etaodlng of the hlstory of irsian peoples, Certaialy, the lecellt ioperial expelience l|ust be put ln per€pective. One cannot help but questioa, hoFever, lrhether Euxopeang aaal Alnerlcans call rea11y lrrile histoty froa aa Asiat poio! of v1eu. If hletory h the ori.tlag is nore art t::an sclertce, iore eubjectlve than objective, thell the ]lestern historlali rliU l,,rlte LsLaE hisiory as he lntelplets it. Ner,r generatlons of Eutopean aad Anerica, hlstoriang of Asla a:.e no! Llkel:/ to give uEdue emDhasis to the coloaial past. lor thenr the questloo nlil be hoir the ltBperial experie[ce affecteal Aelao lostltutlons aad values, attltudes, aDd eT.pelience6. !u! they are st1l1 not likely to \,7!lte ,{sia-cefllric hlstory. Aslaa vienipoints wlll bave to be supplted by Aslall histof,{ans. !,trat theo of Aclan hlstorians? Eoir alo tbey see the vrlting of lslan hlgtory? ihat ate theLr philosophlcal biases? Holr do they regaid the coLonlal expetieDce? lt ha€ been said that hislqry ls a ttstern dLscipline. One can ]:!ardly believe this to be so. Eut if !he!e i6 any valldity to the corfentloa, what of the futute rrhen the Geat oajorlt)r of the .irorldts peopie and governnents and probably ac'4oiars and i:rteLlectuals as ne11, rril1 not be trIesternels? Thes i.t Lt all the uole Llnroltant to kno!, hoi.r Aslaa as !rel1 as Afrlcan altal rxier historlaa6 ?ractice hlstory aad view it6 va1ue.
As{aa higtorlans have been or Asla have ruraed to nr"."., .l"jllior.:l'":":::;::::Tli:t;::fi", to develop poLltlcal rDlty aoil national Loyalties. Iror Dany Aslan blatorians the urgent neeil to !.r1te hlstory has pendtted little tl.sle for careful tesearch. The eophasls has been on dsrrstive texts. oDe has to read these rrorks 1tr i.ndlgenous laoguages to leartr parE of the anslrers to the questloos posecl above, OnLy a fetr AsLan hlstorlaos have h€d the tine aD. pelhaps the lnterest to reflect o4 the vr'tlag of hlstory. The ess6y r.rhLch fo11ow6 is a thoughtful plece of hi6to_ rlography. It lE nrlttea by oEe of the foreDo€t histortans of Asla today, an Asiad. tr. lladg Ounglru needs Ilo lnttoaluatlon to scholarE of Asia-_legaral_ less of discipllrle or Dationality, A dlstlagul.shed historian of Chitra, he ha6 Inrlttelt anal Lectuled lridely on }ialaysta aod Southeagt lsla aEd beea actlve in i.IeLaysian pub1lc affalrs. The eseay that follows tras hle LaauguraL aaldtess as professor of llistory at the Uni_ lerslty of Italaysta. It appeared 1n print earlier thla year in l1alay_ da. For this prlating! :!. ilang has adaleal footootes. Ia addltloo, Fe nlaor styllstlc clraoges have been nade. It 1,6 a prlvllege to btloduce Dr. llangrs hletoriographical essay iit our Southeast Asia J. Noroan parlrer lJlrecEor Cefiter for Internatlotal Studles - vll - c
THE USE OF ]TISTOPJ There ale t\no dlffelent ways the rrold "hlsto!y', aay be used. Both refer to the past, but one descrLbes out knorLeilge or perceptlon of the past al1d the other the actiots alrd developrde !s ,rhlch have already taken place ln the past. Slnce I belleve that irhat happened can only be revealed through $hat is knorable, that 1s, through docueots, recolds, oral accounts aad other artifacts aqd relaalns of the past, I shall. deal priEarlly nrith the fornEr aeanlng of ',history" as a ilnd o! knornl-edge, As fo! the word ,'u6e,', there ale so oany tayg of using it that I ao tedpled to play with 1t a(,h!le anil range lrialely 30 the need to use hlstoty, our capaclty and freedoD to use itr the actual nays it can be u6ed, and the roaoy purposes fo! Irhlch tt Eay 5€ used. But lt 1€ not ny intentlon to do ao llorr, All I rri6h !o do ls to l-ook at sooe of the ways hietorlans and others have been c.cacioug of the use of hlstory and to reflect or the ways hlstory -t 6ti11 be used today in oui countly. In thls rray, I shall, 1n any caa€, have to touch on questions colrcer$lng our need aEd our ablLlty L tlse hlstoty. But the two nain probleEs to be exanined are the E o3s for LaqslrlDg about ou! past end the rsethods enployeal for tnFeltlDg the lesults of thls klnd of j.nquitv. Let Be begln by eonslderlng sone of the oaln teasons lleo have lously used hletory 1II the past. llistoty beglas irith the aleslre .lErcbe! and the awareness that lneaory co$fers some degree of porret lSse !'ho relleaber, h tutn, those lrho felrenbet ale etpected to qgestions like "Hon or \rhy dtd lt all begln?i, They are lecl !o tle searcb for orlglns and thele appears ia tille at least thtee FDoses f o! r.rh{ch ne need to koo$ the beglnnitrg of all thlngs, tf the three purpoees satisfles 6ome of Danrs neeals but lrone of arally excludes the other two. Aa airst and probably the nost . rle faetly, the c1en, or t:1e co0roon use of hlstory 1s l,hen t5€ tri'oe, searches for a kiDd of folt- -L-
ldenoly fo! the one past \a'hLch w111 belp preserve the glouprs identity and stledgtbea the grouprs capacity to sulvlve. TL}e second 1s ltl1ltariafl ln Eole speciflc rays. It assules that hlstory is ueefuL knonledge, teaching fessons through past e)<- anples and therefole nay be used to encosrage both private alrd pub1lc EoraLLty, In addltion, hlstory is the cuEulatlon of practical expelLeoce and sho\rs oaa rnhat to do and \.iha! to avoid 1n hls effolts to i.eprove hidself. The thlrd probes rnuch deeper than the othex t$o alld questions the leanlnB of life and dealh. By rnanting to know how he began and how !e rdust eod, aao is led to h1s cod ot hi.s geveral gods. HLstory then '>ecooes a beans of understalrding rlanrE place on earth and what ls ltr rtore fot h1l[. Ilistory oay help hln kaon h1s destlny and coEpleheDd :ls huaarlr.ty. A11 three plrposes fot studying hlstory have prevalled at soee !1:e o! aoothe!, ln different parts of the wolId and at dlfferedt !=es. At &ost tirdes, Sne of then !,ras dornlnant but very rarely dld G.e exist a1one. It nas ahrays coopleqented by the others. let ![e elaborate. fle first use of histor., sters fron the oost lc need for group cohesion. This day be found even ln the Dost tive societles lrhere lheir Eyth6 afforded tben a solldarlty they have. Yet ln tl)e sahe dyths aEe to be found useful knooledge about tlcal ratters as !re11 as the petception of splrlts 6nd deitles lrhlch Eeanlng to the socletyrs exlstence. A fine exaople of how thls Iot coheslon rias developed to its hlghest forD Eay be found in the cry of the Hebre\,rs \,lhere tnet e group ldentity gave vay to a belr.ef the llebre\'rs nefe the chosen peoole of God, In note [odern tl]nes, klnds of identLty developed around klngship, the state, the and these 1tl turn produced nole coEple* \ray6 of lntelpretiag lD political, cultuta1, and oatiooal terr0s. It 16 e[ough for lefeE to the rlse of Engllsh and French natlonali6o, its spreaai Serdan, Italia[, and other European natlon-states, and nole t, its rrevaletce ln the post-col-onla1 worlds of Asla alld Africa, to realize hoIJ deep and pervasive ls the deslte for political
ty. Thls klod of ldentlty le hlstotlcally ba€ed anil it ls to that the eoder$ natloa-states turtr fo! theLr ultioate lustlfi_ . The6e states vary ln their seatch floo A$glo-Saxon or Teu_ Yl.tues to the glorles of tbe Roriatr elrFire; ftoo the codpagslon clvl!.lzl.og r!1s61oae of Asoka to the aagical porers of l,iajapah1t cL traditi.onel hegeErony of, the uDlver6al Confuclao 6tate. Ftou Ft, frod hlatory, these oatlons, blg or d!a11, tly to alra!, atld p!1de. Io such oatloDs, tbis flr6t lray of usllg histoly Lr Stoups, tr1be6, natlons add peoples gron stroig add prosperoug, tire hlstorlana atrd other6 who tutn to tbe past used hlstory - re.o!!i purpose, fot the practLcal aECl doral les€oos lt has Pteaeat. !h16 oay be seen i.rhen the Chineae achieved thelr structufe, and hlstory rdaa turded iato an tnstrumeot of 6outrit. ailalEtratloll and used a6 a €taodard of publlc. llolalt ty. It 5€ 6€eB at the helght of RoEaD po!7et, both as a tepubll.c alld -t&e. /'Jso, it n4s tle prevalent vlen of :!rs1fu0 historiaas lia stage of consolidatl.oD $hen hlstory bec€he Bore thalr a - theology; 1t becane also a "nj.rro! for pridces.'r llodera d:Derica dulilrg the past tlro cerlturles also founil history - rLElla! nays, The naln dlff€lence 1s that tbetr histori.atrs out Duch further, beyond roralily and iEnedlate usef,uloess -atrate levels of kflonledge, thought aDC truth, but they dl.d alt r acLdouledging that hi.gtoly oas of sooe practlcal use. Sllrd use of hlstory leads oen to try arlal fiad ao even higher -elEg for hlstory. The ereeks sdeltted that histo!]. iras ldrd of "phlloeophy teaching by exenple.,' ?he Hebreir6 useal - qlalD ievelailon and pro?hecy on the toacl to understaEiliag It parr of thls heritage to the Clrlstialg anal:auslids oho a.tustile o!te[1y clalDed that our kdonledge of the past rl to k[or. codrs P].ar, and thst thls r,,ould help uo accept atr4 ?repale us for our future._) But this third object of -( IlElted to splritual concerag, gven nhen lran hag Lost La d or gods, he nay s:111 find a siallar role fo! hlstorr.
-4- alao claiE that hl6 knokledge of the past lrlLl directly eaplaln dnd guide hls future. This rras the proaluct of lgth centutv , dotl.ng which period dlfferent kinds of challeoges rrere addlessect l4u6tltr1an vielr of hlstoly. l{en tlalrsferreal their falth froo le God to €clentlfic certainties alrd hlstory inas expeeteil to a? kfuds of ansFers. !'or the aost part, the accepteal rnays the past rere found nantlng. Wlth the net deFadals on histoly d,rtor asd ?toof for paogress, there had to Le &ore scientlfic fot revealiog and explainlng our plcture of the past. There -i.lop not only a aore ctttieel scholalsh1p, but al6o a net tch fi$ed past, preEent anil future togethel. Irl one foro, al]. -et to helghte[ our hunanity anal prove the perfectibiuty L arother forfd, the vislolr rra6 oesslanLc ard plojected a ne!/ tnlustlce, tyraony, exploltatl.on, and confllct ilould cease, lD these two forng that the oaln contenders for power in todat search for the deanlag of Life on earth and both nsv tE as belonglng to an ilrterregnuo perloal vhen faith io Cod ootlloed very briefly above the tbree leasons fot hl.etorical tbet lrhat I have to say about the use of hlstory for us lr the years !o cor0e aay have sooe larget petspeetive. Noir - to descrlbe the nal.r nethods or technr.ques eoployed for. F krowledge of the past. These aay be cor0pletely lldepend_ &ee purposes for uslng hlstory discussed above. of prese$tlng hiEtory also divlde into thlee hain t, ia the foru of qarrative o! stoly. There have beeo collection of dj.dactic anecdotes, the eye-\,ritness accou{t6 and annals. Thete have mote receotly lreen the blog_ altLt Deo aqd the nartatj.on of gleat evente in the novel_ - th€a[ are dldactlc 1n purpose, \,,/hether through entertaj.n_ eulogy aod coddennation, pralse anal blatoe. Thtg ls the Elrng the bulk of al1 the hlstorlcal worke that have - and bost of the books lrhich are sti1I belflg r,rrltten aad aDateur hlstorlans. For the purposes of
purat hhrdm6i I .iiL;.,...n.j1 At rdemip \rVI pStTt_\tA,_-1\ s,.i.\ i;1Tl;:, hlstory I discussed earlier, thls is probably 6ti11 the !0ost effectlve l€lhod because if for rlo othe! reasoa, 1t is the nost nrldely enjoyeal a$d frequently the !:rost ieaalable. It is a fotn vhich aakes 1lttte clalo to objectivity but does ofteD asplle !o 4ccuracy of detal1. the BeeonC Dethod of Exesenting hlslory is !1ole self-consclous a.dd soBetioes aore pretentlous, This is thlough the ever_aleveloplng foB:s of critlcal aEd analytlcal scholarshlp, lthell it ls ooalest, it :,s Beant to be ooe step tonards the elusive true pic.ture of the past, es it actual!.y happened. llhen lt is not, 1t EEy Le elthet colrpEeheoslve ylth univelsa116t clalms and dul1, or dressed up 1n "scientlfic" Jargon &C dor'rntight ob6cu!e. For thig ae\r schoj.arshlp, we are probably st1l1 .t the begl.nning, rrrith a great deal nore to Learn rhen the stucly of our ;as! n111 be extended not only by social scientlsts but al6o by the natural scientists. Fot the $oneot, hot ever, the modern historlans .ttuggle tinldly irith their elllple tools of verlfication, ctiticlsr!, &d aEalysls of the survlving and vaoishlBg records of the past, FloaUy, the third oethod of presetting iristoly 1s thlough an oLal tor!, often resotted to but nevef as perfect and 45 dangerous a3 Lt L at preseDt, the foi1o of propaganda, propaganda is partl.cu!.ar1y -tta!.ent rnhen hj,stoilcal data af,e bel.ng used because the alata are -arfec! ald thelefole subject to dlfferent lnterpretations attd because t! easy to oaire history sould sitlple as !rel-1 as euotlonally appealing. is lrue for all three of the purpose6 in u6ing history I digcusgeal ::ar. lrtether 1t be i4 terBs of aatlonal soLidarlty, horal uplift ..:?ersal explanation, Lt ts easy to lse the hlghly sophlstlcated :i!es of persuasion developed duling the past fen alecaales. The orly t difference ls nhether the subtler nethocls of Belectloll aoil are used lnstead of the crudet oethods of Lavention. fal6ifla.d Daripulation of facts. There are even subtler forog $rhen hls_ t iroted a6 noral juEtiflcatloos for doubtful actlolrs, as lrheo lArld ]ixon of the gnited States 6poke Ln thls lectule theatre atrat -'. S. lnvolvenent 1n VietAar0 as an exaDple of leaanlng froo historT.l * _l:iai;.**.ss iD Kuara Lu'pu!, I'Ialaysla, lras delivered oD
-6- l-ie Lesson vra5 that a stand nust be made agalnst aggression, a lesso! learn! froo the EuroDean expellence ill Munlch and appeasenent. 6owever, l|,o Peklng nagazlnes defended the Chlnese attltuaie towards \rhat lhey caileal "A.oericaE aggressiolr,' aLso in terns of leahing a 1es6on fron lstory, agaln uslng tie sane exanple of ttunich and appeaselrent. Who -r. is leatning froE lllstory? It !s renarkatle horn, lrro bitter enenles -t use the sane exanple to show that they are fightlng each othe! for a supetior doraL !ea6on-- 1at ls, because the other ls as evil as llitler. ItIs roethod of using history can be teraeal propagaoila and is pethaps !:r€ oost dangelous because lt is easy for your or^,n people to belleve rbat your plcture is true. Enough about the uges of hlstoly in general. llhat abooE the use of history ln out country for the past fefi centulies? Ilr terns of the t\ree Daln purDoses and the tblee nethods of presentlng hlstory out_ l1oed above, ne have had a share of all of the , thougir at ilLfferert t!..es and ln differeDt degrees. To begin irith, there has been the keen perception of the past 1a t5e Sejarah llelayuz preserving a seBse of ldertlty for the }ialay peoptes 6-or.rgh diiactic stories! entellalnlng anecdotes arl.l a vlviil plcture of Glal life and va1ue6 at the Malacca Court, Together \{rith the Misa !!p,3 t:re Tuhfat a1-Nafis4 snd va!1on6 salaslLah [genealogiesl aod Lae hlkayat [stories], the Sejarah Melayu provlcles us wlth the naterials cary to reconstruct part of the past but afso to define a long-accepted of l-ristoty, In tltis idea of hlstory, there is a strong 6ense of LdedtiEy and solldarlty nhich streiches beyond olr present bounda_ lo Sunatra alrd the Eany $lalLer lslanils south of the peninsuLa. -J.-C,. Bror.ro _(ed.), Sel3rah Me-Lavu. L$ iStiiSil ^"t"t" ses'i^cq.' v6r: f iSu!y:"1.'li.tir l.liil* : aaed 1n, Slngapore in .1919. - llalr, ^++!EE Iskandar Perak, -**r. "f *ri. (5:.*i'': tEE i:',:"" ". "u. t5.'il';5i$3 3i: H:$i..,,i*:o.til!,*Eb :ii"-i**rHei;.s+,si:,tts9,"H{*F ffiArIG"SE Sgio l-lrnad, :{gllaE at-NafJs Ipreclous Glft]. 9: the |!lalrvan -lr-anch oF the .,oval Astai =."H:riil:tuTFifr z,/, dnoE:ler edi,tlon aDDeared re.enrtv: xi:":l'":l;;:ii'lliir"#'+#4$, ;5igr:ffi fi ;--#** asffJdI@ i isrngai,ura, nir'iili i,i6i i "jiiif;i ttaf"ir*65i s3g
-7 - lhere i6 olso an awaleoeas of the lessons of the past and what they ilo in the dellneatlng of systetB of alrtholity and noros of public cooaluct. And petvadlng all these $oxks is the ptesetrce of Cod anal the enacEr.ng of Godrs w111 especially upon hls l{usLie bellevets. our hLslory has tradltlonalLy had all the three u6es outlined eall.ler, l{hat ls outstandlng, ho\,rever, is the feellng of prlde which the la'rltinge arouae irr thelr ll,alay readers, a pride in cultutal disthction and poLltlcal Blght, and a prlde 1n qualltles of heroi6r0 and 1eadershlp. These n'orks, read together wlth the laEge corpus of llterature, have been a rlch helitage for tbe revlval of hietorlcal cor|sclousDesg io the country. Thele are obvfous lioltatloas in th16 fotB of hlstory-writllrg, fhe vorks ale fiarratlves, valylng from the anecdotal to the cont{duous 6tory, and unssited fot the bethods of anelysls. They uere also Lacking in causal explanatlons. But to expect tlteb to be aralytlaal 1s to expect thero to do inhat later readerg look for, !o vieo theE from our pre€ent standpoitt and Judge then by ou! prese[t sta[darils. l,{bat is idporlanr, ltr any case, ls not to revive thelr llELted functi.ons but to seek a contlnulty today nrith the soclety lhey portrayed theo aril thus recoqnlze the undetlying soclal and political Dlocesses of our own age, That contlnulty Iras temporarlly brolcen by a oerj.oal of forelgn rnrerventlon, 1rl partj.cular the exteoeiofl of Brltlsh po\,ier anal iofluence iron the beglnniirg of the 19th century. For rnore thar 100 years, evenrs h tulgpe llrcteasingly dictated the coutse of hlstoly ln our counily. I! was a perlod wheD local poser was fraghented anil weak anal pol1tica1 leadership lneffectual. Foreign i.llerfereDce nas inevltable; Lt was :aly a question of nblc! of the Eutopean porrers 6houlal come to iloDlnaEe at a tlrde when strateglc aad eco onlc conslderatlons anal questior,s of toeer deteroined hlstory aad not natters of rlght, cuLture o! Dorality. The econolrlc ttansfortsation qas the oo6t notable. Inaleec! a revo_ lstloo of far-reaching polLtlcal and social consequeDces took place t:tbln a hundled years, Thete is now no turnlng back, $or are lhere Gy $ho really rish to do so if i.t nere possible. But lt would be . lake to thhk that becalse of a perloal of Britlsh rule rhe c€! r--:n
-Bolth our pre-19th century past ls gone. bet!,reen the des{re to look for$ard to our that our past 1s stLll very much ,rlth us. r,re nust evaluate the developrdeEts Ln the durlng the past hu[dred yeals. Let ne begin by referlllrg to the developbents h hletorlography ln Eulope duEl.ng the 19th century, soEe featutes of whlch I outlined earlie!, there nas the ircreasingly colrecious natLol_stater of whlch Brj.tain tras possibly the ptiDary nodeL, TheEe was the glowlflg plactl,ce of teaching practlcal lessoqs frord the past__l.t is not llrelevanE !o refer to the ioportaDce of RobaD gtudiee for the pleparatloo of the aer Britlsh troperial e1Lte. AItd thete had Just begun, Ilore on the lutopean contldent tban Lo Brilah ltself, the appltcatlol of sctentlfle Dthods to hlstorlcal scholarship enal the glie8eriDgs of the ldea that t scienrlfic hunanislo Day nake hl6tory a subsElLute for religion. Thus the British offLcials, travelets anal scholar6 who 6tudl.ed ey Aslalr region, people or culture durlng this per{oa! dld so for a kitaln $rhlch r,ras consclous of its natlonal superiori,ty and its lDpeai.at tt-sponsibillt les , and elth perhaps a oote modest vlew of ils civlllaing rlssion 1n ABla. []e Dust read their books with this cleally in mind. G€ books wele not orltten for us but for Brltish audlences and 1r was requlrenents of Britairl, whether offlciaf or ptivate, that they had !eet. And Ln terDs of the three purposes La the use of hlstorv f discusged, it $ras rdalnly the seconcl t,ype that lras \drltteo, that 1s, r'thich may be valuabLe for sounal adolnlstratl.on, for justi.fylog r1a1 pollcies and for satisfylng stanalarals of publlc Dorallty. A eere unnistahably J10go1st1c, but tiese nere Jarring to the earucatear tlsh. They lrere never 1ong in fashlon and gradually disappeareal after First l,Iorld Wat. But what vas realLy ihportant \ras the princjple ra,hich euergeal 1D Eltings of the be6t of tilese hlsrorla1ls, Ills ras the princiDle calie fron lhe scieotlsts anal technologlsls tha! whatever was to rseful llust flrst be accurate. It soon developed lnto the aloof d It Ls necessaly to dlsti.nguish future and the recognltion It 1s lI1 !ht6 context that uae of hlstory in the couotry attltude of nlnd rnhlch argueil that the sclentlflc scholar CtC g
-9- cate who used hi6 work o! how it should be useil. Hl6 was that hls work shgsld be as acculate as possibfe. of developaeot, thj.s attltude greatly lnfluenceal the tory. By the 20th century, a fel' Brltlsh historians clalnlng that the truth was all they wlEheil to te1f. on.ly coflcern In the course wrlters of hlsof ltalaya wete Whatever their clairde, however, hlstolical truth 1s euch elusive and denanding than oost histollans rea11ze, Anil the officials who wrote their hi€tory lir thelr spare tiue found cult to rise above lhe practlcal use exDected of thelr boohs Etltish by thelr colleegue6 and frleDdg iiere and in Britain. It 1s oever eaEy to wrlte good hletory; to do so nlth the conscience of an 1nperla11st, however rrell-neafllng, bus! have beeD extreoely difflcult. In fairness, it nust 5€ said tllat t1ost 5rlti€h eEiters vho trleal to be objectlve dlil so ooly irlthln a Earrowly Britj.sh hlslorlcal franevork; only a feqr. like 'allkinso$ and ULnstedt, thought they could be objective about the t€oples llving in the l,Ialay States lhey lrorked in.5 So fa!, I have been speaking of flore or less dedicated scholar_ .:f1claLs and anateur historians rrrltlqg targely foE thelr ornn tI'nes. Lly have deservedLy beel forgotten for havlng done neither hand ror aftd; a few stllI await the juilg:lent of hlstory itself. Thls is Lieed a lerrlfylng thoug:rt evell fo! hLstoltans__ho, posterity !r{11 Fge us: But lt is far fess jusclfiable for us !o pass easy JudgGt oE tbose lrho lrorked on scholarly projects above the calL of atuty b on those plofessi.onals rrho began Eo appear in the coudtry srlth fou.adation of F.affleg College 1n Singapore. I now con}e to one of the conventiofls of inaugulal aaldresses in tetsities, that 16, to outllne the hlstory of the discipli.ne, the fttfi ii'ii,gtut;;'$:dii*lt,*;::i' #ii;i$itm '' Id;*rk$d,"ii,: Ii:#$T.**: i " i"!,ffi..T,'gi-'?T= ##H##ryf g!jil'1i;1ii +_tr" .H#*###' -
-r0- departDent concerded wltb 1t, a d sone of the outsta.liling personalltles adong ny predeceosors. t had not !,r1shed to take advantage of thls conventlon to dole oirt praise aod blaEe lD the best traalltionE of ldy field of study. My choice of toplc for thl6 eveflhg, ho\arever, 1ead6 ae to lt and I shall brlefly describe ho\,, history h66 been useal in hlgher education ln the countly. Perhaps the klndeet tblng I caa do ls not mentj.on the \rork of Rafflee CoLlege before irorld War II except to say that one of the lecturers, ncfi Professor Bri.an ItarrisoD of llon8 Kong, was late! (ln 1954) to pubtish aa inrelligedt anit reaalabLe !!:g! history of Sourh_ east Asia nhlch 1s stiu one of the oost uBeful textbooks on the subject." The hlstory taught at i.affles ColLege l.ras Dainly Brltlsh and guropean and llo noticeable effort lras x0aale to eacourage the studerts to tale an actlve lnterest in the country's hi.story. the llar chadged that, Brltaln retreated fro,n her eEplre and lt sas ol1ly a .0atter of !1x0e before lGlaya rrould becone ildepenalent. Jeo nen cade to :laffles College anal then, flon 1949, to the Unlversrry of Malaya. Aldong then were C. D. Coi,ran, a lectuter \"rho later becane ?rofessor of Southeast Aslan ltistory at the Uoivel6ity of Lonilor!, af,d Professo! C. N, parLlnson the flrst head of the udlverslty ileparE_ lEDt at Slngapole, Nelther of then pretended to be nole than lbperlaL ltstorlans and r4'hen they turneil thelr attentlons to the reasoas for *ltish intelventlon 1rl perak and Selangor in 1g74, they were both clearLy lrliting ln the leperlal tEadltion.7 Inaleeal, ?rofessor Cowan,s look oir the sublec! 1n particular ls ao excellent plece of vork in !:at tradltion. But !,rhat was a radical change rras professor parklnsonrs seven_ Far effort at tulnlng hls students torrTalils Asla in ge'teral afld tr.ard6 ijalaysla itl partlcrlar. The courses rrere st11l. prtdarily t&got h tettqs of EuroDealr actlvllies in India, Southeast Asia. aEd 6Brian Harrleon, Sourh-east Asla (LoBdon, 1954); (jrd ed.. 1967). &i*""it'!i*1384i;;iEiJiBsffi ri':{+iil}lHeii; #i#,ffi , !5
-11 - chlna, but the Deanlng vas cfea!. lle anal his colleagoes sougl]r to Eake hiatory relevant to thelr students, and relevance i.ncluared the use hlstory should have for the nel' graduates. Theie rdele far-reachlng con6equences. The syllabt for schools and pre_unlverslty classes rl'ere also chaEged, Students had to be prepareil for university ancl the ull1_ verslty tnas nogt preparing the graduate teachers to teech tbe new coursea. ft rias oot until ?rofesgor parkiBsonrs departure in 195g, one yea! after the lndepende[ce of ijalaya, that tbe chaageg began to bear fruit. -l nelr generatlon had becorae awate that oany hlstoliart6 Ln Euiope, Auerl'ca alrd all over Asla oele tuanhg ar,ray from the lnperlal or coloDraL tnter_ ?retatlons of Aslan, and partlcularly Southeast Aslan, hletory. So strong was thls trend that ny plealeces€or, Joltn Ba6t1n, found iE necessary co tiat! agalast it in an address glvea ln this lecture theatre 1n 1960rg alld a llvely controversy follolreil in the pages of tlle Jouloa1 of South_ east Asian History edlted by professor K. C, f r"gonnfng_;--n Sfn;;= T\e profes€l.onal hlstorians 6iDce 194t have aaliled a new a\rareneaa :o the study of hlstory !n the country. There is certainly a debt r4rhlch E Eust acknowledge. But froh the polnt of vle\ir of the lrses of hl.story, :'5ey had only begun to point to ne\,I illreetions whlch later historlans lat take. They !?ere very Elrch nen ln transltioD, getving bettrcen the .!d of oBe ela alrd the begianlng of another. They nust be credlted !-lth facing up to that llansltlolt r/rlth reali6E atld goodlrll1, but they aad not really noved far froxo the accepteal uEe of history, irhich rrag to .se histoty as valuable infofi0atioE o! nethoile of thought for a glvelt l:tuetion, that ts, as noroatlve knonrledge to be tlansoltted to those to hherited the Brltish values anal lnstl.tutLolls Ln a post_colontal Llaya. ,Uy predecessor, John Bastln, rri11 appreciate thls stateaert F*#'rF;ol*"3t' .F"**i€f *i3, j*Ti*r:"F*f ff *-f f ot*f Ei*f ,_a**0"., ,j9S il:..f;.!11e1.1, '-Some Co+oenrs on -,The vesrerD Elerdenr ".fii;:H:l:Tl"::'i"^Ii::::{":-i:..!. tl.. sara-iJ, -,:on-i!6-iJssibrllty s *i89fi 3;.ii"!,tP!31;" i?'."^91l'fl:.!" on ,rhe_vesrerD Elerdenr €-i:.i:i'FB$::i"Iffi :'"^"E"irgifu , ini"ii: i"l iiil "*.:!,:i:-[:;;i! ] 15:r+ir"'?i::fr i'iii5a +:ra;,,*:;i*:#g*j;.*;"r-;"f ?snl!: Fit€li,lklii,#$*"i$;#5r"i;ff F;#i#;T;;lq:i :
as thls ls tle franeFork of his fatest booi: (jointly edited i.rlth Robtfl ginks of Yale) of seLected historical readlngs on Ma]aysla published eaEllet thls yea!.1u I do lrot atoubt the-t he a$d Ro.Din irinks go.oy the highest otandards of the noalern hlstoriogiaphical trailltl.ons. I eelely question the colon1a1 frade-vork they seeE to have set tbeoselves to lrork 1n. Ey thls I Bean the eontlnueal tendeocy to look upoa the period of Brltlsh !ul.e to be plvotal. to tire rrhole of l{alaysian hlstory, the period flom lrhlch to look back arld to look fonard. l!6 thi6 LgdoreE the eore fundaeental problens of l,lalaysia's locatlon anil its lnvolve_ aent ln the past of al1 Nusantara anal Southeast Asla, it fa11s to explain Dany of the changes and continuttles of out cultures, Folitlcs and society. To cottliue irith thls colonial franeuork tlen 1s to igrore othe! lsore leg{tl!]ate uses of hlstoty. Aavtng said so nuch about others, I tDust now co&e to irhat I thltrk lles ahead for our [orm1'blstorlans. ].et Ee say stralghtai.iay that I ao but one of the t\rert), or 60 profes6lonals of iialaysla a.td Slngapore vho have bee$ tralned at the'Llaiversity of l.lalaya and elserrhete 51nce the condflg of C. N. ?arkinson to Slngapore in 1350. tet Ee also say that nuch of what I l€ve said abouE the expatrlate professioaal.s proba_ b1y st!11 apolles to most of usr The aliffetence is that we have ourselves l,regun to explore the r0arglns of our alisc{p1ine_-lre have begun to re-exaldl}e the putposes of historlcal lnquiiy and also soee of th€ nethods of preseflting what i,e Lnow. To begh utth r,rhat lies ahead, let oe consldet the three plrposes lo uslEg history \,rhlch I dlscussed earli.er this evenlog. I see aLl three as va11d for our tiroes anat as coBplelreotary aoil oot uutuaLly sxclusive. Flrs!1y, there is every $eeil for hlslory to be useat re_ sponsibly and inte111genrly to hetp us Io the rask of buiLdlng € natlon. The Eole coDplex thid task, the Dore catefuLly we tluet study our hlstory iE order to enable us to use our history constluctlvely and effectively. A denlal of thls use is to aleny orrl past anal also to ileprive a hlstorlan of his vltal place Ln his countryrs present aad future. *."",*;i.,fu "la"iiililfti6gj."t"n", trtalavsta: serected Hisrorrcar
-13- Secondly, no coudtty ca:r do wj,thout a kno\rledge of j.ts past succeEses and fa1lutes, the olLglns of lts existing custods, 1a$s a1rd institut!.ods and the ratlonale of the hundreds and thorisanile of ileclslons naoe on the coulrtry's behalf. Thl.s is the tr}ore so 1n a countly deslriog Eo nove towards a oore sophisticated deaocracy ia an age ''heD the needg anil asplratLons of the ordi[ary citlzen are expecteil to be taken lnto accounE, Fot lhe:gugg lpeop].el to partlcipate 1n pub1lc affalrs, lrhether soclal, ecoooblc or pol{tlcal, they need to know the hlstorlcal baslE of lrhat they have at the nouent and thus hope to knon lrhat to eapect In the future. They 5hould also be equipped to unilerstand their countEy,s place in the re8lon, io the Asian corltherlt, and ld the lrlCer $or1d of the creat Po$rels ar'rd the ltrternatlonal conflicts that exist. l{here there are sultatle lessons !o learr fro!tr hlstoly, r.re sbould aj.1 knor, what they are aDd, perhaps just ae lr@ortant, irhat their lidtatioqs are. As for the thlrd klnd, the deeper problngs of the historlcal Dind, whether as suppleneatary to, or aa a substitute fo!, pbilogophy ot re1lg1on, there ls a16o an lnpoltant use for thls io our. age. tror there ls inaleeal ouch to thLtrk about irhen !la$ coateDplates hls past. If lt Is oot Cod,s ?lao, or natural lights, or uDlve!6a1 ooral prlaclples presetviag our huranLty, lt may be a little of al1 Ehree to h€lp u6 coDp?ehend ou! hopes and fears, Thls is not an EuropeaB o" Amerlcao or Afro_Asiaa ploblerd; nor is it only for the historians of big and gowerful natlons. In fact, Lt Ls the rlght of all ,r.rho f1[il seanlng io their past ovet anal beyonal tbe Llolted aod lrlredlate needs of their state, 6ocl.ety or clv1ll'zatlon. To glve sone exalrples of how nuch there is alreaily to be learnt from bodern h{€toriaAs: rae have been 6hown that there ls aa etholc purity o! raclal supellority; and that there ale $o such thing not oIrly no advantages ld cultsral excluslveness but that thls Day actually leaal to the fossl-lizatlon aod death of a 6ociety. We have beeo shovd agato and ag4!o that tyranny does not pay and tha! greed and exploLtatloE and lonopoLlstic practlces pervert the econooic dlives of ftee men. We have aeen that, even tbough rdan ls lar frou perfect, he can be lDDroved io hi€ alrareless of, and llr hls hudanlty touarils ! othe, Denr lte deplore ltltlerrs balbarlsd, the raclsD in Rhoalesia and Fo! Euch a6 rhe k1111n95
ln Vletnao, lt ls a revolution in nanis huoaaity that the consclence of tbe gteater part of the \,ro!1d has been aroused to tly to aake anends or seek soluti.ons to these probleas. If thls doe6 not glve cause for us to believe in a betber ald Juster world, probably nothlDg r'il-l. But the exteflt of our ioproved hunanitl, wLlL not be grasped if rde did trot have ou! history to look at and colrpare wlth. Outs say be a $!all country lrut no less hu0an than the blggest and llo 1e6€ cspable of thlolrlng l1ghE on the hullatr condition. I nalntaLn thetr that all three uses of hlgtory ale opeo to us whether lne are profes€lona1s o! oot, r.,that re&alrrs to be decided is holn history ls to be ptesented and l,'hat nethods we are to use to r./rite our history. ObJections have beed ralsed about the dangers of abuse lf re are Ilaraowly natlollal-lstic or !0ora1l6tic or. Besslanic. Indeed lt i6 easy to use hletory as ao instrunent to codttol, the healts and nhds of Ben. Fton ouE h$ovledge of history, rre krroo that there can be no absolute guaranEees that hlstory j.s not thereby perverted aod wroogly used. Furtheroore, we now ktrovr that even the best of histo:ilaD6 ls not free fron his owo backgroulrd and his prealilections and biases. But these objections ale Dot valld reasorE for arguiqg agai.nst the u6e of histort for natlon-bulldLog, for teachlng practlcal lessoEs or fo! explainlng ou! humaalty. What is inportant ls that thele be an increaetDg awarene6s of the neture of historlcaL studLes and that theie be a sharper dlslLnctloo dade betwee! the dlfferent oethods of presenti.g our hlstorical knowledge, I had Gr.rggested earller that thele are thlee nala ways hlstory has been and st1l1 is being valtteir. The coBaone6t, the narratlve fom, Day be adopted for all the thlee puEpose€ of hlstory, but it 1€ perhaps best suited for the flrst, that is, for oation-bulldlng. The 6econal, the cli.tical or analytlcal scholarshlp fot-!o, is also guitable for all thre€ purpose€ of history, but may be more effectlve for plesenting usefu1 knowledge and being the basla of reflection on rlallts progress. The thtld bethod of preseatiag hlstory ae propaganda is also corsooly applleal to all three uses of hl6to!y, but most frequently fot arouslng patrlotlc eDotLons and for proselytlzing allorlg the nonbellevers or dlsbellevers, 0f the three, there are obvious reasorls .rhy the first trro flethocls o! presentlng hlstoty nust first be digtillgltlshed frou the thlrd, It
tr oot a questlon of siBply saylng that narrallve and analygis are better Elrn plopaganda, It is necessary to sa), t\at propaganda is deglgneal to conveEt and tlerefore deliberately puts forth only one point of view, In othe! words, ir ls eD0ployed for a illfferent leason than the oEner teto. I have already noted tha! ptopaganda nay be subtle or crude allat lnay even be used for 6e1f-deceptlon. the crude fotl[s proviale no probLeos. They ale lndeed easy to detect and are rareLy belleved except by the oost ignoraot aod by those lrho rr,aot to believe. The subtler anal self-ileceptive folDs, hoFever, are Fore difflcui.t to deal oltb. They bave the outwald appearance of naflatlve l''l_th ao loteresting story or even aaa1y91s wltil cogent logic; only careful study of the contents ancl the assuoptlorg oade can shorl theb up for nrhat they are. I need hardly say that, for the hlstorian, propagalila baseit on hls_ torlcal data is not hlstory. Ile has tlle duty not only not to r{,rlte !t} but also to expose it rhenever hc can, As tor narraLive and analytical histo4r, lhe historian has the duty to be accurate anc honest to the best of h15 ability. He recosDlzes that lntenllon ls Do guarantee oi achiever.rent and that objectlvj.ty is an atti_ tude of ni.nd nrbich he oay consciousfy seek aDd yet unconsciously under$lne. But provided he ls anrare of the posslble treachery rrithin hl-eself aDal seeks to prevert lt at every turn, he l.s stilL a historian. provlateal he l-s eoD$ltted to seeklng ihe trulh, however elusive that Elay be, he toay use hlstory for all the purposes ou!1ined above. Anal comltted he nust be. Ile must be coDelitteC !o believing that natloD_bu11disg can onfy be setved by koolJtog the histoly of a natloD; that the liore he reat l-y kdor'rs, the Eore he understanils lhe trature of that lation and the better the challc€s of its success. , Iie nus! be coErritteal to believiag that knor'rledge is practical and valuable only ,heD it 1s accurate; the oole reLlable the kno$ledge, t!:e nore peoDle can depend on lt and appty it to conclete sltuatlons. Fina1l"y, he nust be contultteal to be1lev1ng that hiscory can shor bov loan has progtessed in his aFareness of nan; the deeper he etudles aod the longer the Derlod studied, the better he can shorr holr ean has Etruggled to escape fron his past.
-16- But fot all thts comlttdent, he ls odly at tbe begi$ning. there i5 tndeed a great deal to Lear$ from our stole of hlstory and s great deal. yet to be done belore we can beglI} to learn. The 6tudy of history is noE for the faint-heatted because he nlLL be frlghteoed by the anou[t there La to kno$. It 16 not for lhe opportunist nor the propagandlEt because they ale onl:r too vlllhg to atuae it. Ard tt ts oot fol the cyoicaL becauae the cynic !1111 too easlly alespair. Uistory ls only wotth studylng Lf the hlstorian 1s skeptlcal, curious, or a dan of falth. If he ls aJ.1 three, he $1111 have uuch to contlibute. I cannot end ldthout referring to the pre6edt state of kdowlealge about the hl6tory of our country. U[tj.1 a fev years ago, ou! olm people have been knolm to say that the couotly has 1itt1e hlstory, and lrhat llttle hlstoly there 1s has been Eade by vatlous types of Eutopea!6. Thls nas partly becauae the lddl.genous hlstorlcal tradltioDs had beed Deglected or alecrletl and pu6he(l asicle. It was also partly because only vely few had becoEe aware of tbe chaaging lodern attltudes atril techulques of bistorlcaL Bcholarshlp rhlch cao ea611y diEapptove the oyth that lre have very lltlle hlstory. Today the fiyth ls e:aposed atld trould be ridlculed by local and foleign scholars al1ke. We 6eerD to have corDe a lonz Tday by our tenth year of indepeodeoce. But thi^6 19 not sloply a oattter of gronth and a8e. There ls, of course, the effort to free ourseLves of the coloal-a1 flauenrork, 60 .thdt we nay no$r use ou! hi6tory ln bette! perspectivet 3ut oote iroDortant has been the codscious effort to exteoil the lfurits of tledltlonal ht6- toriography. A oe\,r generatio! of blstorian6 bas appealed lrho are LncreasingLy 1es6 tinld about usiag aew tool6 for reseatch anil oore reaaly to seek out new loaterlaLs and advance qew LnterpretatloDs. Tbey have better appreciated the vslue of the social scleoce€, of soclology and anthropo!.ogy, of econonlcs and politlcs. llethoils lrhlch were once ttre lnner 6k111s of the nathesaticians and the scl.entists have fl.ltered through to the soclal sclentist6 and are oov reachl!6 the h16tor1aas. Not all the skills have been found sultable, but the l.illlng4ess ro te€t thetrl aLone has brought fotth Del? Eype€ of questl,ons aDal produced new ltleights. And irith these oew questlons ald nelr lnsights, we are Ii
begifiling to knoi: nore about !:re hlstory of the indigenous peoples, their political aod social siructule, ard their streugths anal tseakflesses. Sioilarly, ve are also re-franj.ng our questlons abost our lmi.graat cord_ nunltles: thelr econoldlc institutiolrs, thelr succegses anal fail.ures ln adaptability and their potential roles in the country, Anal lastly, by perceivlng our pluraL soclety in a illffereot 1ight, rre can also better undetstand the hlstorlc part the Srltlsh played in giving shape and forD to the neir nation. There ls no doubt that all thls has cone wilb our lnalependence, Ue are free not otrly to use the ner,, nethocls llr our ordn ways but also, by facing up to our pteseni, we are rapiilly achleving a neirly perceived pagt, Having expellenced thj.s transforoation fo! ostselves, we catl conflrn that preseflt hlstory oakes past history afresh. For alttough $hat happened ill the past has not changeil, out avrareaesg of it certai.nly has. Wirh rhls io niad, it is end k'lth a quotation from the said, pelhaps appfopriate fo! a hlstorian to past irhich touches on ou! futule. Confucius ,t- * - ';; r(J Dli "lhose lrho are born Iionr do lre k[o-"r that .t \ - after us are their future T.t-" |y lndeed Eo be regarded with respecr. will tlot be equal to our present?',