YOURSAY ‘Prof Khoo has already said that he has no say on our history. Indeed, it's the regime leaders who decide.'

British Malaysian: Where was Professor Emeritus Khoo Kay Kim when all our history books taught us about Hang Tuah and Hang Li Poh? What is his agenda now?

History is always written by the victors. Prof Khoo may be trying to paint a new picture where Umno leaders were the heroes and not the left-wing Malay patriots.

At this rate, we are going to the dogs faster than I can say, Jack Robinson.

Tidakboleh: Prof Khoo has already said that he has no say on our history. Indeed, it's the regime leaders who decide.

Joe Lee: We are fortunate to still have people of real integrity, such as Senator Syed Husin Ali, to blow the cock-and-bull stories of one not-so-emeritus professor totally out of the water.

Let's all chip in RM10 each so that our 'professor' can go back to primary school to learn real history - not the fiction that he has been spinning all this while.

It must surely be Malaysia's corrupt patronage system that has caused so many dumb people to become national leaders, whether it's running the national airline, the banks, universities, GLCs (government-linked companies) or even as CEOs (chief executive officers) of public-listed companies.

Why should we be surprised when decisions of great national importance are subject to the whims and fancies of the Umno warlords? It's a recipe for eventual national bankruptcy, both moral and financial.

Ferdtan: This is living history - Syed Husin was there heavily involving with the left-wing politics, and even knowing the protagonists in his youth. Prof Khoo cannot say there was no written evidence so that he can spin his (own) story to prod up the role played by Umno.

How can a professor emeritus be so negligent and careless with the vital fact of ‘whether Boestaman was an Indonesian or a Malayan? Not knowing simple information such as where Boestaman was born shows Khoo's inadequacies as a history professor. Is he really qualified?

It's time for him to take a refresher course in history; or better still, retire, as his memory/mental faculty is not working well lately.

Pronto: KKK (Khoo Kay Kim), before you twist any fact and embarrass yourself further to suit your political masters, please be careful as there are people in this country who are older than you and know what happened in this country, like Syed Husin.

These are men of principle who will not rock the boat unless you try to mislead the public.

Wanderer: Prof KKK, why don't you concede that your history materials were heavily twisted to suit your political masters?

Obsolete and half truths.... was that the reason why you need to please Umno to be employed? Soon you will be history yourself.

Paul Warren: The professor also ignores the fact that at the time of the Japanese surrender, the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) was congratulated and praised. Chin Peng even got an OBE (Order of the British Empire).

The CPM collaborated with other parties, including PKMM (Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya) and MIC, to come up with a constitution for an independent Malaya.

The British of course saw their idea of independence as a threat as it did not envisage the continued ownership of the revenue-generating assets in Malaya by the British.

The British at that time - around 1946-47 - desperately needed the export dollars for its post-war reconstruction as well as the Cold War that was emerging.

They then banned all these parties, driving the CPM underground and into the protracted ‘Emergency' period.

Yes, sure, no one today regrets the failure of the CPM, with its intention of turning this country communist. But to suggest that Umno was the only true fighter for Malayan independence is foolhardy.

Kim Quek: Thanks, Syed Husin, for giving this valuable history lesson that exposes the falsehood and distortion advanced by Prof Khoo to smother the heroic role played by eminent Malayan nationalist Boestaman.

Also, thanks to reader Paul Warren for accurately highlighting the post-World War II political realities prevailing in Malaya, and placing the role played by the CPM in its proper perspective.

Cloudnine: Prof Khoo stood up and said Hang Li Po, Hang Tuah, Hang Kasturi, etc, were all myths and when readers protested, he said, ‘prove me wrong'. This kind of street-level arrogance is hardly academic, even if Khoo is right.

The 'Hang' stories are accepted history for many years. Khoo's line is new and therefore the burden of proof for such a new theory is on Khoo. He has to show why he is right and not for us to show why he is wrong.

Prof Khoo has now gone cuckoo - prove me wrong.

Anonymous_3f1f: I wonder how Prof Khoo can be a historian. He was off the mark not once but on many issues. The latest was he said Malaya was never colonised. How can we trust him?

His history is not about the history of Malaysia, but to please his political masters.

Artchan: Luckily for us, Syed Husin is still alive to tell us the real story. Who will tell us the true history of Hang Tuah?

With the professor trying to spin history, this is surely shocking. I thought spinning belongs to Utusan Malaysia and New Straits Times .

VS-1965: I am worried that people like KKK are the ones determining the history textbooks used by our kids.

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