LETTERS: I refer to complaints made against the two Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) professors by a French historian.
Initially, I thought this was an academic fiasco. But when I read his and other critics opinions on this, I became convinced that this was not the case.
I am shocked by the contempt shown to Malays by one of the critics who said, "But the fact that publishing nonsense articles in a backyard journal can count as a publication record for Malay(sian) academics is the whole problem."
Malay academicians are viewed with suspicion and prejudice by those who believe in supposed Malay academic inferiority and incompetence.
The yesteryear's tropes of "lazy natives" seem to have been revived as "Malay(sian) academic" and "nonsense articles".
A mistake and misleading data published by Malay academicians are being seen as reflections of "Malayness". They purported that the achievements of Malays as a seafaring people were merely a fantasy of Malay historians.
Additionally, I am perplexed by the notion that peer review will keep the field of research error-free, as suggested by the historian and bolstered by other critics.
They should instead pay attention to academic fraud committed by Western researchers, including a former Stanford University president, who resigned from his post but was allowed to keep his professorship.
He published a fraudulent paper in a Western journal called Nature, which he retracted later.
The criticism faced by the UPM professors is an extension of the attack on Malay historians, who write their history by rooting it within Malay nativeness and Islamic roots.
Supposedly, our history books, written by Malay historians, are considered part of an indoctrination effort, while non-Malay historians are assumed to be devoid of biases, prejudices, contempt and bigotry towards others, especially Malays and Islam, when they write the same history.
I am all for correcting academicians but I am against those who used this episode to project their contempt for Malay academicians and scholarships.
M.D. NAZ
Selangor
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times
