KUCHING, Oct 1 (Bernama) -- Sarawak Governor Tun Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has called on historians and researchers to intensify efforts to collect, digitise and publish historical materials related to the state.
He said history must be based on facts and the law, rather than being a populist political invention or shaped by the political instincts of leaders.
"History is an exercise in thinking, finding evidence, evaluating the truth and understanding humanity.
"In a world filled with instant information and easily distorted interpretations, the discipline of history teaches us to be careful before drawing conclusions and to be fair to our sources," he said in his speech at a Statesman Lecture titled 'Rewriting Sarawak's History From the Perspective of Local Wisdom' here today.
Wan Junaidi said universities, museums, archives, libraries, schools, historical societies, cultural bodies, local communities and families keeping old documents must work together to preserve historical sources.
"Every old letter, photograph, story and manuscript kept away may hold the key to an unwritten chapter of history.
"History as a discipline must undergo a meticulous research process using various sources, including local ones, before it is written and published by our own people," he said.
An honestly written history, he added, could help society understand that Sarawak was built by people of various races, religions, languages and regions.
-- BERNAMA