Introduction to Malaysian Social History

TABLE OF CONCEPTS

TOPIC 1: HISTORY & SOCIAL HISTORY
TOPIC 2: THE USES OF HISTORY

TOPIC 3: OFFICIAL VS MISSING HISTORY
TOPIC 4: PRE- HISTORY

TOPIC 5: ANCIET HISTORY
TOPIC 6: TRADE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
TOPIC 7: CREATION OF MODERN SE ASIA
TOPIC 8: POPULATION, IMMIGRANTS & IDENTITY

TOPIC 9: ORANG ASLI

TOPIC 10: MALAYSIAN WOMAN'S MOVEMENT
TOPIC 11: POLITICS OF THE LEFT / LABOUR MOVEMENT

TOPIC 12: SECRET SOCITIES
TOPIC 13: MALAYSIAN STUDENTS MOVEMENT

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KEY HISTORY CONCEPTS
TOPIC 1

EVIDENCE

HISTORY

HISTORIOGRAPHY

CCOONNCCEEPPTT 11 ::
EEVVIIDDEENNCCEE

Evidence = History
No evidence = no history

Types of evidence: written word;
oral stories; bones; artifacts; cave

art; buried settlements

Evidence must be
checked and verified

CCOONNCCEEPPTT 21 ::
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History is the study of the human past as it is
described in written documents left behind by

humans.

"History is not what you thought. It is
what you remember. All other history
defeats itself." (Sellar & Yeatman, 2019)

CCOONNCCEEPPTT 33 ::
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the writing
of history
(Vann, 2022)

Writing but with
perspective/a view/an

opinion/an
interpretation.

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TOPIC 2

BIAS

PERSPECTIVE

USES OF HISTORY

CCOONNCCEEPPTT 11:: BBIIAASS

bias implies an unreasoned and unfair
distortion of judgment in favor of or

against a person or thing

—Example:
-Male dominated
-Old focus vs. young
-Powerful vs. weak

CONCEPT 2:
PERSPECTIVE

a way of thinking Evidence &
about and Perspective =
Interpretation
understanding
something


Perspectives depend on Actor’s
position in history + their interests:

Victors vs Losers; Elites vs
Proletariat; Ethnic vs Class =
different views about memory and

remembering

CONCEPT 3:
USES OF HISTORY

History: The study of change over time

—Wang Gungwu (1968):
a)Desire to remember and the
awareness that memory confers power

on those who remember

Yong Mun Cheong (2000):
a)Helps us better understand the present –
current beliefs, practices, knowledge, way

of life are rooted in the past
b) Provides lessons from the past

MALAYSIA :
OFFICIAL VS MISSING

HISTORY

TOPIC 3

TABLE OF
CONTENTS

01 COLONIAL STORY
02 NATIONALISM

03 OFFICIAL HISTORY

01 : COLONIAL STORY

According Veracini (2011) Colonial story
normally have a circular form, they are
connected to and odyssey consisting of an
interaction with exotic and colonized
‘others’ in foreign surroundings and by a
final return to an original locale.
Example;
The Portuguese colonised Malacca
(modern Melaka) on the southwest coast
of the Malay peninsula from 1511 and kept
it until 1641.

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02 : NATIONALISM

According Hans Kohn (2022) "Nationalism is
an ideology that emphasizes loyalty,
devotion, or allegiance to a nation or nation-
state and holds that such obligations
outweigh other individual or group
interests."

Example;
On 16th September 1963, Prime Minister of
Malaya Tunku Abdul Rahman declared the
fo50rmation of the Federation of Malaysia,

40

jo30ining Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and
Sa20 bah.
Th10e confrontation with Malaysia began on
Fe0bruaItemr1 y 11, 19Item62 3, afteItemr3 PresidIteme4nt SoeItekm a5 rno
announced the order Dwikora or Dwi
Kpon mando Rakyat on May 3, 1964.

03 : OFFICIAL HISTORY

Aldrich (2004) stated that official history
was an instrument through which
government sought to address public
pressure for the release information,
while also extending a degree of control.
It also shows how the authorities use the
information to give certain perspective
towards the citizens in a country.

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TOPIC 7 :

THE CREATION OF
MODERN SE ASIA,

1819-1900S

Writing and Photography

1819-1900S

THE CREATION OF MODERN
SE ASIA,
1819-1900S

DEFINITION SE
ASIA

SPHERES OF
INFLUENCE

RESOURCE
EXPLOITATION

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DEFINITION SE ASIA

Southeast Asia consists eleven countries that reach
from eastern India to China, and is generally divided
into "mainland" and "island" zones. The mainland
(Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam) is
actually an extension of the Asia continent. Island or
maritime Southeast Asia includes Malaysia,
Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, and the
new nation of East Timor (formerly part of Indonesia).

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SPHERE OF INFLUENCE

Sphere of influence, in international politics, the
claim by a state to exclusive or predominant control
over forgein area or territory. The term may refer to a
political claim to exclusive control, which other
nations may or may not recognize as a matter of fact,
or it may refer to a legal agreement by which another
state or states pledge thamselves to refrain from
interference within the sphere of influence.

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RESOURCE EXPLOITATION

The Earth's natural resources are vital to the
survival and development of the human population.
However, these resources are limited by the Earth
capability to renew them. Freshwater, forests and
harvesting products are renewable, provided that
exploitation does not exceed regeneration. Fossil
fuels and metal ores are non-renewable. Although
many effects of overexploitation are felt locally, the
growing interdependence of nations and
international trade in natural resources, make their
demand and sustainable management a global
issue.

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Topic 9

ORANG
ASLI A SOCIAL HISTORY

Table of Contents

01 02

Who are the Orang Asli? Origins of Orang Asli

03

Colonal view on Orang Asli

WHO ARE
THE ORANG
ASLI?

Orang Asli is a collective term (which means original
or first peoples in Malay) for some 18 ethnic groups
of less than 150,000 in total who are widely regarded
as comprising peninsular Malaysia’s original natives
(in the sense that they pre-date the arrival of
Malays). They are generally divided into three distinct
groupings: the Negrito, Senoi and Proto-Malay. The
Temoq, Senoi and Negrito

ORIGINS OF
ORANG
ASLI

The Orang Asli, or exactly known as “Original
Peoples”, are the descendants of the earliest known
natives of the Malay Peninsula, arriving in the
peninsula as early as 25,000 years ago. In other
words, the Orang Asli lived in West Malaysia long
before the arrival of other groups - Malays, the
Chinese, and the Indians.

COLONIAL
VIEWS ON
ORANG ASLI

The viewpoint of the colonial authorities to the Orang
Asli can be sum up as being generally one of
indifference. The jungle peoples were, to a great
extent, left to their own devices and their activities
only concerned administrators when the Orang Asli
break game and forestry laws.

topic 10: malaysian
women's movement

KEY HISTORY
CONCEPTS

4 CONCEPTS !

1. Women As
Leader

2 . Women's
Labour Right

3 . Violence
Against
Women

4 . Women As
Consumers

CONCEPT 1 : WOMEN AS
LEADER

Early 20th century Arab
reform movements also
influenced local education
that promotes women's
education, legal reforms , right
of women to work and end to
veiling for women .
Malay women became
teachers and many got
involved in women's
organizations .
Chinese women got involved in
politics movements reflecting
situation in China ( KMT ) and
(CPM) .