Questions to write a truly antiracist history of Malaysia
My reflection on writing about the histories of Sabah and Sarawak for Imagined Malaysia's ongoing online campaign.
#TanpaPerkauman: An Anti-racist History of Malaysia is an online advocacy campaign that explores the historical precedents for the manifestation, nature and impact of racism and racial discrimination. This project is in partnership with the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs Malaysia and co-funded by the European Union in Malaysia.
Getting the facts and narratives of East Malaysia right was one of the greatest fears my colleagues and I at Imagined Malaysia experienced when we devised the #TanpaPerkauman.
We are highly skilled in the social sciences and humanities research in Malaysia, but severely Peninsula-centric in our knowledge. Our knowledge of Sabahan and Sarawakian issues started off being rather superficial, and we saw this project as an opportunity to critically interrogate our research practices and approaches to Malaysian studies. Otherwise, how can we say that this project has been successful in pioneering antiracist historical education in Malaysia?
When we undertook these topics, questions we had to ask ourselves were:
💡 What are our citation politics?
Fortunately, it was not too great of a challenge to cite mostly East Malaysian scholars and activists. In that sense, we did to the best of our ability to centre voices from Borneo.
💡 When does language become an issue of semantics, political correctness, misinformation, revisionism and/or violent erasure?
This was a lesson that was tough love for us. It is very often that a researcher's blindspot is called out by readers. For instance, we did not realise that one cannot describe Sabah and Sarawak "joining" Malaysia. This is because it reduces the political significance of Sabah and Sarawak's role in the formation of Malaysia. We are very grateful to those who offered feedback so that we can amend the title accordingly. We were rather harsh on ourselves for causing grief especially since we are researchers that work very hard to incorporate decolonial thinking into our writing. Nonetheless, this definitely allowed us to improve the remainder of our series.
💡 How can we practice mindfulness towards multiple perspectives that have often created further division instead of inclusion?
As we grappled with master narratives around East Malaysian politics, cultural beliefs, economic and racial disparities, we also needed to consider how we can avoid gaslighting "outlier" or "marginalised" views on thorny issues like immigration, federal-state dynamics and secessionism. Thankfully, we could consult academics and activists along the way. They are the reason the content is able to capture the complexity of Sabah and Sarawak despite being an infographic!
These are difficult but necessary questions that researchers must deal with if we want to elevate Malaysian scholarship. Some of you might be surprised at the amount of intellectual debate that has gone into the development of our infographic series. That is why it is no easy feat.
We are so grateful for all the support we have been given for these 7 topics to be delivered in a way that can be appreciated by our readers. If you'd like to read these titles, you may look at the embedded Instagram posts:
