A People's History of Malaysia: With Emphasis on the Development of Nationalism

by Syed Husin Ali

This book presents a brief people’s history of Malaysia (formerly Malaya). Its approach is different from that which is often regarded as Official History because it focuses upon the process of making history from below, through the contribution of everyday people to the history of Malaya and Malaysia, and is written in a popular and not academic style.

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In focusing on the contribution of the people to the making of history A People’s History of Malaysia chronicles the development of nationalism and the rise of mass-based politics and people’s independence movements alongside movements related to workers, women, students and indigenous peoples in the formation of a Malaysian nation state.

Genres: History

194 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Herinza Syadza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Appreciate the bits of conflict in political history in Malaysia. Wish there is more story on women's involvement in political movement in the country.

[Aida Amirul · Rating 4 out of 5]

i think this book did a good job at giving us a diff perspective of malaysian history from the “people”’s pov, as the title suggests. it was critical of the ruling class and honored the role of anti colonial resistors in achieveing malaysian independence who were usually silenced n not credited due to their controversial militant n violent tactics.

i also thought it did a good job at spreading the love to sabah & sarawak that did not feel like an after thought. i learned a lot about the eastern malaysia’s perspective of things- especially the insinuations around a possible fight for an eastern msian sovreignty.

i only wished it was more robust, more volume to include MORE analysis and nuance of malaysia’s political resistance n struggle!!! some parts felt like it was glossed over n i was just like — i wanna know more grrrr

[Syed Muhammad Danial · Rating 4 out of 5]

Banyak maklumat, ramai orang dan pelbagai peristiwa ditunjukkan oleh buku ini yang tidak di famouskan di buku text sejarah sekolah! must read!

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of interesting information regarding Malaysia's history, but unfortunately I didn't find the author to have put forth this information in a particularly intriguing way. It's very much "Event A -> Event B -> Event C" and I wished there were more discursive elements given the people's history lens he proposed.

[S.M.Y Kayseri · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the author declared that he is to paint an alternate history of Malaysia, which he dubbed as, well, Alternative History against the establishment-churned narrative he called as the Official History, I thought I would be surprised with a complete revisionist history based on what the author visioned. So, I read the book. After a few hours, I finished the book and enjoyed it. Hey, wait a minute! They are almost the same, the one he declared as the superior Alternative History and Official History as found in our secondary high school history textbook!

Cover the cover and the author's name, and strip away the ambitious foreword and give it to an anti-establishment person, I bet he/she would dismiss this as a propaganda from the government. :D

Aside from that peculiarity, I enjoyed this book as a revision for my high school History subject. The chapter on prehistorical Malaysia was very enjoyable; I welcomed the author consideration regarding the Austronesian origin of the Malays, which has been shown by linguistics and mitochondrial studies. The rest of the book, followed almost to the dot with the "establishment" history provided to us, with the addition of some politician's insider gossip talk.

So people who wished for a radical revisionist narrative of history, be prepared to be disappointed. People who has some fear on the possibility of being brainwashed after reading this book, do not fear. Or if you still feeling apprehensive, you can just read our history textbook.

Now it got me thinking: if at the end, the author was providing the same narration with the brand of history he detested so much, why he went on to proclaiming an ambitious foreword? He rightly mentioned that all parties involved in the Independence should not be excluded and fairly mentioned, but this does not justify him saying that current history is inadequate. Official History, as he dubbed it, contains the narration of victorious elites and insular in nature, rather than holistic. Again he is right that current history is insular and isolated from then contemporary events but that does not earned him the right of saying there’s a conspiracy among the elites. The absence of something does not inherently means a positive presence of another thing; that is one of the most basic logical aphorism available.

Besides, who did he meant when he said the elites? In the book he said, that Official History is the anecdotes of the victorious elites. Our history certainly should be improved by including heroes of the people including I guess, his heroes such as Ahmad Boestamam and even Abdullah C.D. But from his broad definition of elites, these figures of the people, according to him would immediately turned into one of the elites in the pedestal; now they have been mentioned, they have joined the victorious elites. I have shown here on how there’s many alternative (pun intended) interpretation of things.

Thanks to freedom of speech, we can say anything that we want, as long as it within the consistency and laws of logic. But to resort to an implicit socialist narration of discrimination and power struggles based from an assumption is a bit stretching even for the free-for-all concept of freedom of speech. But let me return the moniker oft thrown, this is Malaysia Boleh, so even this kind of reasoning could be taken as valid. Anything goes this days, as alternative and anti-establishments are in vogue right now. But just as the wearing of wigs which was taken as a fashion of the liberated now looked so ludicrous, we must always remember to be humble and moderate in our thoughts. Yes, history should be improved based on the full story, but never your or my own biased interpretation of history. Yes, the people should be included more, but that’s not the basis to allow schizophrenic paranoia of an elite conspiracy abound as the reason.

Perhaps some of you reading this were wondering, who is this guy who talk so much against an esteemed person? First of all, I am an individual with the full rights for the freedom of speech you balking over. (How does it feel when your ace-in-the-sleeve is turned against you?). Secondly , he might be an esteemed person or a scumbag for all I care, I am dealing with his arguments and narrations. People who are committed to eat grass for all their lives does not mean they are nobler than other people, despite whatever they believe themselves be.

[Iza B. Aziz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buku ini satu langkah dari Dr. Syed Husin Ali untuk memperkenalkan sejarah rakyat dan perkembangan semangat kebangsaan. Saya dapat mempelajari semula sejarah zaman silam sehinggalah sejarah pembentukan Malaysia. Dimana pengarang sebaik mungkin meletakkan peranan rakyat yang pernah berjuang demi kebebasan.

Bacaan kali ini bukan untuk menghadapi peperiksaan, tetapi amat berguna bagi mendapat prespektif yang lebih segar dalam setiap peristiwa yang berlaku ke arah nama Malaysia. Nama tokoh, pertubuhan dan konflik yang tidak diletakkan dalam buku teks sejarah rasmi sekolah diceritakan dengan ringkas. Pendapat saya ia cukup baik sebagai alat "pencetus" untuk pembaca mencari dan menyelidik dengan lebih dalam.
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Namun begitu, saya tidak dapat nafikan ada sentimen berat sebelah pada bahagian "Perkembangan Selepas Merdeka" pada pandangan saya. Saya juga akui buku sejarah rakyat ini mempunyai batasan tersendiri. Ia tidak dibekalkan dengan pelbagai sumber primer. Jadi benar kata Dr. Syed Husin Ali 'buku ini adalah percubaan permulaan'.

Usaha yang ditonjolkan oleh pengarang wajar dihargai. Saya juga berharap ada kesinambungan dan penyelidikan lebih mendalam untuk sejarah rakyat Malaysia. Ia boleh membantu kita semua untuk mengenali diri dan memahami sisi hitam, putih dan kelabu Malaysia.
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[Ahnaf Yunus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buku ini memaparkan beberapa isi-isi penting. Antaranya adalah, istilah Sejarah. Yang dibahagikan kepada tiga, iaitu, Sejarah Rasmi, Sejarah Alternatif, dan Sejarah Rakyat. Kedua, Perbezaan kepentingan di antara orang Melayu dan orang Cina berkaitan Parti Komunis Malaya dan Kesatuan Melayu Muda. Orang Melayu dan KMM bekerjasama dengan Jepun untuk menentang Inggeris bagi mendapatkan kemerdekaan. Orang Cina dan PKM pula bekerjasama dengan Inggeris untuk menentang fasisme Jepun. Ketiga, pertempuran di antara kaum utama di Tanah Melayu telah berlaku sejak pasca Perang Dunia lagi. Orang Melayu terpengaruh dengan kemerdekaan Indonesia, justeru mereka inginkan pembentukan Melayu Raya. Orang Cina terpengaruh dengan politik komunis akibat daripada pengaruh negara China. Orang India pula terpengaruh dengan Parti Kongres negara India yang dipimpin oleh Jawharlal Nehru. Ditulis dengan ringkas dan padat. Selamat Membaca

[Izzat Isa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Penulis cuba memberi laluan kepada pensejarahan Malaysia bukan melalui sumber dan bahan sejarah umum, sebaliknya ia menggunakan sumber alternatif. Penulis sendiri berpendapat buku ini merupakan usaha kecil dan pendedahan awal kepada pengetahuan sejarah yang sedia ada yang mungkin diketahui melalui pembelajaran di peringkat sekolah.
Malangnya tiada banyak maklumat tentang sejarah yang dikesampingkan (alternatif) yang dihuraikan. Ia lebih bersifat maklumat umum. Misalnya penulis tidak menyentuh secara langsung tentang usaha awal menanam semangat nasionalisme Sultan Idris Training College atau SITC kepada pelajar-pelajar Melayu.
Walau bagaimanapun, usaha yang perlu dipuji ialah penulis berusaha untuk mendedahkan tentang sejarah penentangan yang lebih kursus di Sarawak dan Sabah sebab respons pemimpin setempat terhadap pembentukan Malaysia.

[Tyas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found a copy of this book in Kios Ojo Keos, an independent book store in South Jakarta. I had wanted to learn more about the history of our neighbouring countries, so I quickly grabbed this book. What a find! It's a concise version of Malaysia's history, told in a rather simple language (instead of 'academic'). For those who are well-versed in the subject probably this book doesn't feel deep enough. However, for someone who knew next to nothing about it, the book has helped me learn a lot. For instance, I had never known about the influence of Minangkabau people in Malaysia's nationalist movement before! I also understand better about the status/position of Sabah and Sarawak within Malaysia now. The book also helped in pointing out specific events in history or topics that I might want to go deeper into next time.

[Aran Chandran · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author was the founder of Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) that merged with KeADILan to form PKR, where he became the deputy president.

So some of his writing could have a slant and bias against Umno-BN. That said he’s also a professor and has written the book to tell a story that links various eras of regional history to present how nationalism has formed.

It has been insightful, as it sheds some light on unresolved conflicts within country that seems to be just resurfacing over and over again in the national consciousness.

[Mohd Rizal Jaapar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sejarah yang kita belajar ketika sekolah menengah, kini diulas dengan lebih komprehensif dengan tambahan nota serta cerita. kebijaksanaannya mengaitkan satu period sejarah dengan period yang lain membolehkan kita menjana suatu gambaran agung (big picture) Malaysia yang benar-benar menyeluruh. Saya sukakan pendapat beliau tentang peristiwa 13 mei 1969 sebagai 'racial struggle', peristiwa baling 1974 sebagai 'class struggle' dan reformasi september 1998 sebagai 'political struggle', yang saya anggap tepat.

cuma mungkin ada bahagian-bahagian tertentu dalam buku ini yang agak kelihatan berulang-ulang. Juga sesuai dengan biodata penulis sebagai political reformist, pandangan politik beliau khususnya pasca reformasi mungkin agak biased untuk sesetengah pembaca.

Rumusannya, ia permulaan yang baik...dan mesti disambung lagi, kerana sejarah sesebuah tamadun yang tepat dan adil pasti akan berjaya menyatukan bangsa.

[Hasanah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mengisarkan sisi lain bagi Sejarah Rasmi Malaysia yang lebih menumpukan golongan elit dan individu yang berkuasa dengan mengemukakan lebih maklumat berkenaan parti/gerakan rakyat yang jarang dikupas oleh sumber rasmi. Pengarang juga berjaya menulis secara ringkas mengenai perkembangan terbaru politik negara, i.e. pembentukan Pakatan Harapan, sekaligus meneruskan kesinambungan pengkisahan sebelum dan selepas merdeka, sehinggalah kini.

[Wen Jun Ong · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author started out with the aim to offer an alternative history from people’s perspective apart from official text which tend to emphasise on the ruler/elite class POV, but failed in delving into details due to the lack of historical records from the working class.

Overall a light read that can be consumed in a long flight(hopefully there will be one soon)

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a quick read. As the author mentioned repeatedly, this book is not as academic or thorough as historical literature should be. The books gives you an oversight and glazes the surface of Malaysian history only. I enjoyed it.

[Harizhanit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buku ini sangat bagus untuk dibaca sebagai alternatif dalam menyingkap sejarah Malaysia dalam perpektif sejarah rakyat. Banyak info dan peristiwa sejarah yang tidak dimuatkan dalam sejarah rasmi (buku teks dsb) dapat dibaca dan diketahui di dalam buku ini.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this summary of Malaysian history from pre-colonial origins to present times. It succeeded (in my view) in its goal to explain events across a wider spectrum of Malaysian society. It has a bit of a slow/dry start but it ramps up and gets more interesting from 1800s onwards.

[Finn Wild · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book, I studied in Malaysia for one year and wanted to learn of the history and written from the people’s perspective is super cool. doesn’t go too much in detail but enough to get a satisfying basic understanding of a lot of Malay history

[Shaharuddin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Buku yang sangat ringkas, lite reading.

[Loik Akram · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok lah, as locals say, but the work is too shallow.

[Fazli · Rating 5 out of 5]

how to open this book

[Faith Ling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really appreciate this book as a preliminary yet comprehensive understanding of Malaysian history.

There were quite a few typos in the book tho 🫢

[Zuhdi Farhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buku ini menurut penulisnya, Syed Husin Ali, merupakan percubaan pertama menulis satu sejarah rakyat. Penulis cuba mengetengahkan peristiwa serta tokoh sejarah yang kurang mendapat perhatian dalam sejarah arus perdana. Walau pun agak kurang memuaskan, mungkin kerana faktor kekurangan sumber rujukan seperti yang dikatakan penulis, dan perincian maklumat yang agak umum, usaha menulis sejarah dari sudut pandang rakyat jelata boleh diberikan pujian.

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Permulaan semangat cintakan negara. Semua pihak terlibat dlm menjayakan agenda utk melepaskan negara dari jajahan org luar. Mahasiswa turut punya kuasa utk bertindak. 👍👍 Berkobar rasanya bila baca buku ni.