SPM History Textbook Controversies

Unintended/Biased?

Our Malaysian Form 4 History textbook had it's syllabus changed, with 50% of the subject devoted to Islamic history as compared to only 16.6% in the previous textbook from the past decade.

In the previous textbook, “Sejarah Peradaban Dunia – Tingkatan 4”, Islamic history was one of the six chapters in the book:

1. Tamadun Awal Manusia
2. Islam Mengubah Tamadun Manusia
3. Perubahan Masyarakat Eropah dan Kesannya
4. Revolusi: Fasa Baru Kehidupan Manusia
5. Zaman Imperialisme Barat dan Reaksi Masyarakat Setempat
6. Ke Arah Kerjasama Masyarakat Antarabangsa

In the revised history textbook, “SEJARAH – Tingkatan 4”, Islamic history occupies five of the ten chapters:

1. Kemunculan Tamadun Awal Manusia
2. Peningkatan Tamadun
3. Tamadun Awal Asia Tenggara
4. Kemunculan Tamadun Islam dan Perkembangan di Makkah
5. Kerajaan Islam di Madinah
6. Pembentukan Kerajaan Islam dan Sumbangannya
7. Islam di Asia Tenggara
8. Pembaharuan dan Pengaruh Islam di Malaysia sebelum Kedatangan Barat
9. Perkembangan Eropah
10. Dasar British dan Kesannya terhadap Ekonomi Negara

While Islamic history has expanded from 16.6% to 50%, Asian history and civilizations like Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism have been further marginalize and given lesser space. Don't even get me started on modern history.

What were they thinking?!

The people over at DBP (Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka) seriously need to look into this matter. Didn't they reviewed it first before publishing? Did they run out of ideas for the textbook?

I don't mind learning on Arabic culture, but spending most the time memorizing religious history is just plain ridiculous! What happened to American, African, Asian and European history? We should learn more about the world than focus on a particular group.

Related info:
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/National/2534586/Article/index_html
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/National/2534601/Article/index_html

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Form 4 History Textbook Fail

Errors & typos?

Back in secondary school, I compiled a list of errors and factual disparities in our beloved Buku Teks Sejarah Tingkatan 4. Did reported to the history teachers but being a student doesn't give me much say over these matters.

I'm not sure if the latest editions of the textbook had corrected those errors yet. Hopefully some of you reading this post would have better connections to the Education Ministry than I did.

So, here's the list. Check for yourselves.

1. Pengasas Adat Temenggung - Datuk Ketemenggungan [from Form 1 textbook] or Datuk Tumanggungan [page 199]. The usage is according to context. In Malaysia, Datuk Ketemenggungan is more proper. Datuk perpatih Tumanggungan is from a Minangkabau reference.
2. Zaman Graeco-Rom or Zaman Graeco-Roman? [both found on page 51] This is a mistake due to direct translation. Graeco-Rom is in Bahasa Melayu, while Graeco-Roman is in English.
3. Emperor Shih Huang Ti [page 41] or Shi Huang Ti [page 45]? The former is more accurate in terms of pronounciation and is widely used in many references.
4. Bilal bin Rabah or Bilal bin Rabbah [both are on page 110]? Just keep your fingers cross and hope that the examiners aren't picky.
5. On the Sudut Maklumat column [page 254], the term Sin Kheh or "newcomers" in Hokkien, should be redefined as pendatang baru dari China, not imigran miskin dari China.
6. The Roman Emperor Augustus, reigned from 27 S.M.- 14 M. not 27 -14 S.M. [page 44]. FYI, Sebelum Masihi = B.C. and Masihi = A.D.
7. On the Sudut Maklumat column [page 257], the explaination of the term Komprador isn't accurate. It should be: Ejen tempatan yang diupah untuk mewakili suatu syarikat asing sebagai orang tengah dalam urus niaga perdagangan tempatan dengan syarikat asing.
8. Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) started his search for enlightenment at the age of 29 years, not 39 years [page 65].
9. The explaination for Rancangan Stevenson was repeated twice [page 250, 261].
   
10. Confusing sentence structure: Antara sumber falsafah China termasuklah Kung-Fu Tze atau Confucius dengan ajarannya, iaitu Confucianisme, Lao Tze, Taoisme dan Mo Tzu. To convey the intended meaning, I suggest the correction: Antara sumber falsafah China yang berkembang pada zaman itu (770-221 SM) adalah ajaran Confucianisme, Taoisme, Mohisme dan "Legalisme". Ideologi-ideologi ini asaskan berdasarkan ajaran-ajaran ahli falsafah yang berpengaruh seperti Kung-Fu Tze, Lao Tze dan Mo Tzu.
11. More English-to-BM translation mistakes: Theology is in English, teologi is in Bahasa Melayu [page 61].
12. And minor typos: pentabdiran should be pentadbiran [page 46]; parilineal should be patrilineal [page 199].

Lesson learned

These are all I manage to find, could be more. Maybe I shouldn't make such a fuss over "unnoticable" mistakes in the textbook. But hey, it's a textbook, it's used as the main reference material in exams questions. Someone should at least take this seriously.

Another good reason not to blindly accept "knowledge", just because it's written down and entrusted to you. Historical facts are easily manipulated. History in education is about uncovering the truth. And truth, as we all know, is subject to interpretation

So, do your own research and learn to ask the right questions.

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The Book that should have rewrote History

Achimedes's Missing Manuscript: "The Method"



This is a book that could have changed the history of the world. It containts the revolutionary ideas of a genius who was centuries ahead of his time: Archimedes.

The book was lost to the world for about 2000 years, passing throught the hands of scribes, monks, forgers, and shady scholars. Yet no one seem to know the book's true value until it surfaced at auction in 1998.

Archimedes pioneered the use of infinitesimals, showing how by cutting (or dividing) a figure in an infinite number of infinitely small parts could be used to determine its area or volume. The ancient theorems found in the manuscript is probably the oldest and most authentic copy of Archimedes' major works to survive, and contains transcriptions of his writing on geometry and physics.

The manuscript also contains the text of his works “On The Measurement of the Circle”, “On the Sphere and the Cylinder”, “On Spiral Lines”, “On Floating Bodies”, and “On the Equilibrium of Planes”.

The Age of Ignorance

As writing material was expensive, it was usual practice to washed off the original text so that the parchment could be reused. Archimedes's original text was likely erased in the 12th or early 13th century when the parchment was reused to make a Church prayerbook.



Religious text were written over important mathematical theorems. It was because of this act, the greatest knowledge of Greek mathematics was hidden from the world for centuries. The book's re-discovery at the 1998 Christie's auction was merely a small portion of Archimedes's original work. Sadly, the rest of the manuscript was already lost.

Personal thoughts



Archimedes was working on the basis of Calculus, more than a 1000 years before Sir Isaac Newton had developed it in the 17th century. Archimedes's work on a "early Calculus" system was recorded in the missing manuscript.

Almost all of the world's knowledge in engineering, technology and science requires mathematics, especially calculus such as Integrals and Differentials. Imagine if the Achimedes's manuscript was not lost over a 1000 years ago, the world would have a very different place today. Everthing from satellites, computers, gravity to navigation, construction, etc. would have been invented much earlier.

More info:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/archimedes/palimpsest.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,490219,00.html
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Who built the First Robot?

The ancient Greeks may have built a mechanism of what is believed to be the earliest known programmable robot.

Their people had a fascination with autonomous mechanisms. One can find descriptions of robotic creatures in their mythology and philosophy. Greek engineers are also well known for having constructed a number of automata propelled by either wind or steam.

In about 60 AD, a Greek engineer called Hero constructed a three-wheeled cart that could carry a group of automata to the front of a stage where they would perform for an audience. Power came from a falling weight that pulled on string wrapped round the cart's drive axle, and this string-based control mechanism is equivalent to a modern programming language.

The working replica:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyQIo9iS_z0

Some of you may think this automaton doesn't really qualify as a real robot because it can't interact with its environment. Considering that it was designed and built almost 2,000 years ago, it is an impressive feat.

Not to be outdone, the ancient Chinese also may have claims to have built the earliest known humanoid automaton. The account of it is a bit vague, no further records yet to be found. This is said to have occured in the court of King Mu (Zhou Dynasty, 900 BC).

In the 3rd century BC text of the Lie Zi, there is a curious account on automata involving a much earlier encounter between King Mu of Zhou and a mechanical engineer known as Yan Shi (Chinese: 偃師), an 'artificer'. The latter proudly presented the king with a life-size, human-shaped figure of his mechanical 'handiwork'.

If you doubt the ingenuity of the ancient Chinese, then here's a story on a modern-day Chinese farmer with no engineering background. His claim to fame? Yes, builiding robots!

With a university education, he would probably be running the Chinese space program by now.

Farming robots:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4LIThTB8Ww

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World's Earliest Computer, After 2000 Years

This was a hot topic for engineers and historians a few months back. The device mentioned is officially known as the Antikythera mechanism.



Its discovery has puzzled many historians of science and technology. Prompting a number of experts worldwide to undertake a systematic investigation of the mechanism. The investigators suggest that the device may be of Syracusan design, and may have a connection to the works of Archimedes.



The abacus may still hold claim as the earliest computer. However, the abacus is only simple calculating tool when compare to the complexity of Antikythera mechanism.

The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical calculator (also the first known mechanical computer) designed to calculate astronomical positions or movements of the planets. It was a precision engineered device, that could be programmed by the user. The device appears to be constructed using theories of astronomy and mathematics developed by Greek astronomers.

Here's the modern recontruction of the world's first analog computer. (IT guys take note!)



See the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrfMFhrgOFc

Ponder on all these for a while; you will come to realize that the people of ancient civilizations are much smarter than we credited them with. The only reasons they aren't as successful as us, is because they live in the time of civil and religious wars, superstition, and rampant diseases.

Also visit:
Antikythera Mechanism Research Project
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Civilizations of the Stars

The Background



When scientists search the skies for signs of alien life, they don't look for 'Little Green Men' or UFOs. What they are looking for is evidence of Type I, Type II, and Type III civilizations according to the Kardashev Scale (ie: level of technological advancement).

So basically it's like this:

1. Type I is a planetary civilization. They fully utilize the energy resources from their home planet (eg: Buck Rogers).
2. Type II is at stellar level. After depleting their planetary resources, they will get energy directly from their mother star (eg: Star Trek and Federation of Planets).
3. Type III is galactic. Once they used up the energy of their sun, they will harness their energy from billions of stars within their home galaxy (eg: Empire of Star Wars).

Where do we currently stand?

What are we on this Scale? We are Type 0. We don't even rate on the scale. Humans don't have the technology to harness energy from stars and galaxies. We get our energy from dead animals and plants; fossil fuels. But we can estimate when we will achieve Type I status. Probably in about a hundred years.

I personally feel privilege to be alive in the most important era in the history of the human race. To witness the transition from Type 0 to Type I.

Each time when you read the news, you'll see the evidence of this Transition:
European Union is a beginning of a Type I economy. United Nations is a beginning of a Type I administration system. The Internet is a beginning of a Type I communication system. The Type I language will probably be English, since it's used in every country. There will also be a Type I culture. Hollywood movies, rap music, jeans, etc which you can find anywhere around the world.

We are the Hope

It is said that going from Type 0 to Type I is the most difficult transition of all time. It's not even clear if we will survive the Transition. It's a delicate balance. On one side, we have forces of multiculturalism, globalization and unity. On the other hand, we have WMDs, religious strife, racism, global warming, and terrorism.

It's not even clear if we will survive the Transition. It's a planetary level of sink or swim. The fate of humankind's future rest on our collection decision. This is no joke. This truly a dangerous race against Time.

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