The new media and the consciousness of history in Malaysia: ideas on national history and other histories

• Main Authors: Sulam, Muhaimin, Mohd Noor Merican, Ahmad Murad, Abdul Hamid, Hamidin, Abu Bakar, Darussalam, Zulkifli, Amirul Akhbar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) 2021
• Subjects: B69 History and systems; D History (General); H61.8 Communication of information; P87 Communication. Mass media
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/111635/1/111635_The%20new%20media.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/111635/; https://mcmc.gov.my/en/resources/research/publications#

This study delved into how the narrative of the nation’s history has been fragmented by new media. This assumption was based on the appearance of blogs, online newspapers and other online materials appearing in the decade leading up to the new millennium. Some of these and other online materials later made their way into books published mainly by non-mainstream institutions. What it demonstrated is that new narratives about the nation were revealed through online technology. This study was significant in that it uncovers the consciousness of history among Malaysians and the ethnicization of the nation’s history. There are also strong sentiments resisting national history from the regions of Sabah and Sarawak. Hence, there was a need to be cognisant of and understand the emergence of the different perspectives based on ethnicity and the region. The study was carried out through four approaches, namely, the study of the narrative over the years, a nationwide questionnaire and focus groups, as well as interviewing parties who may have an oversight on the direction of the nation. There seemed to be a connection between the consciousness of the nation’s history, the new media and the democratisation of media and history. Over a period of almost two decades in Malaysia, we saw a contestation of the nation’s history through different and counter narratives.