Five Arts Centre is alarmed by the continued politicking of an oral history project that was conducted by children who had interviewed senior citizens within the Balik Pulau community in Penang.

The Penang Arts Education Society (Arts-Ed) which has published the ‘myBalikPulau’ booklet-cum-newsletter as a “showcase of the collective efforts” of Balik Pulau children are now accused of deliberately twisting history and insulting the Malays in Penang. The project was sponsored by the Penang Education Council, the state office of the Tourism Ministry and DiGi.

Pulau Betong assembly person Muhammad Farid Saad has described the booklet as dangerous and called for its ban. A group of NGOs who call themselves Gabungan Bela Hak Insan (Gabungan) participated in an ugly act of violence by setting fire to the booklet.

Five Arts Centre is alarmed at the over-reaction to the booklet and we abhor what appears to be an opportunistic attack on the opposition state government of Penang by perpetuating divisive race politics.

We should be lauding the efforts of the children in interacting with elders in this oral history project. Oral histories are stories that living individuals tell about their past, or about the past of other people. The information one gathers is merely a guide and not the ultimate source, but it does offer eyewitness accounts of those who lived through both significant and everyday events.

The ‘myBalikPulau’ booklet-cum-newsletter should be saved for future generations to study but instead it has been falsely maligned. We encourage every Malaysian to read the ‘myBalikPulau’ newsletter and engage in dialogue and discovery.

Five Arts Centre does not wish to enter into the fray of petty politics but wishes to defend the rights of arts practitioners to conduct their work without political interference. It is the arts that teach us how to think beyond boundaries and will continue to play a critical role in building a nation of Malaysians.

Marion D’Cruz writes on behalf of Five Arts Centre, Kuala Lumpur, and is one of its founders.