History should be written based on facts and not merely from the author's or scribe's perspective who only want to highlight certain figures, said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.    

He said such a practice had happened before, when the writer higlighted other figures in history books of certain states or republics, causing the real persons behind the opening of new lands being sidelined.       

"Although the (real) persons were mentioned by historians, the original facts had been twisted that lead to confusion among members of the public," he said.   

Zahid said this when officially opening the Historical Novel Writing Competition 2015 prize-giving ceremony and the launch of Historical Novel organised by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) and the Malaysian Historical Society (PSM) in Kuala Lumpur today.      

Also present were Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan, DBP board of governors chairperson Prof Salleh Yaapar and PSM executive chairperson Omar Hashim.

Zahid hoped that history should be written based on solid facts to prove that an event really took place.   

"In writing history, the writer should provide facts to the youngsters (Generation Y and Z) based on various methodologies," he said.   

Meanwhile, DBP launched eight historical novels at the event, namely 'Mengukir Larut' by Amer Hamzah L Kadir, 'Puteri Negeri Rindu' (Rahimah Muda), 'Awang-Kembara Mengelilingi Dunia' (Kamaludin Abduk Settar), 'Raja Asal Permata Di Bumi Kuala Lumpur' (Kamarulzaman Jaafar), 'Setanggi Zaman' (Wan Noor Wan Cik), 'Sumpah Bukit Sadok' (Idris Boi), 'Malaysia Milik Kita' (Nor Azila Ishak) and 'Jene' (Kasajiza AS or Zainal Abas). 

Zahid also said both DBP and PSM should conduct comprehensive joint studies on history so that readers have better understanding of history.  

-Bernama