KUALA LUMPUR: Every morning, Ms Erina Loo sets out from Kuala Lumpur's historic Central Market with a group of eager tourists in search of the hidden sights of the capital city's old quarters.
Old temples, hidden shops, quirky stories and even the romantic haunts of the last century are part of her heritage trail.
It is a side of KL that many locals do not know.
Ms Loo's free walks start with the tucked-away Sin Sze Si Ya temple built by one of KL's famed Chinese leaders, tin miner Yap Ah Loy, meandering up to the Jamek Mosque and through the Indian quarter.
If that sounds very 1Malaysia, it is.
She is mindful of the political sensitivities surrounding KL's history which has become entangled with Malaysia's messy and divisive race politics.
Her answer to this is: 'Forget about politics.' She will neither comment nor answer questions on this issue.
But she said that she has taken great care to keep her tours balanced, and to collect the information from a variety of sources with different views.
Telling the story of the city is a delicate task after it became the subject of political tussle in recent years.
Historian Ranjit Singh Malhi said in a forum this month that non-Malay leaders were not duly recognised in history books, including their role in building KL. 'The current Form 2 history textbook has downplayed the role of Yap Ah Loy in developing Kuala Lumpur. It has just one sentence on him,' he was quoted as saying by news reports.
Yap Ah Loy was one of the Kapitan Cina, or Chinese Captains, in the last century. 'Yap Ah Loy is why Kuala Lumpur became what it is today. He established the township,' he said.
This is not a new complaint. It is one that resurfaced after the government said it will be compulsory to pass history in the school-leaving exam from 2013.
It triggered concerns that a narrow version of history may be taught in schools.
At its congress last year, the Malaysian Chinese Association - a Barisan Nasional component - also called for the history curriculum to reflect the contributions of all races fairly.
Mr Loh Seng Kok, the party's publicity officer, said he is still pursuing the matter. 'There have been no changes till now. It's still the same syllabus,' he said.
Writer Kam Raslan, who is writing a book on Selangor history, said official interpretations of Malaysian history seem to change over time. 'But my interpretation is pretty much standard.'
He said it is a fact that Yap Ah Loy is part of the story of 19th-century KL, and should remain so. 'The man was no hero. You wouldn't want to meet him today, but he was the kind of character needed in that world,' he said.
Mr Kam, who also leads free occasional tours of KL's heritage area, said he tells the stories as he knows them. To him, it is important to know these stories to undercut racist views.
He tells his visitors about how Chinese tin miners, forced to flee brutal wars in their homeland, kept arriving in KL in the late 19th century despite horrific death rates due to diseases. He pointed out that the Chinese had a big role in building KL.
'But I do not think that it's because they are naturally more hardworking. I would also look at the desperate reasons that drove them from their homes to come here,' he said. 'If you don't, you can fall into racist views.'
He said the stories of Malay-Chinese cooperation in those days are hardly told today. 'Our history should not be used to divide us for political purposes,' he said.
To the tourists, such political undercurrents hardly matter. Ms Eva Langegger, 28, an Austrian backpacker, was just happy to discover a hidden side of KL during Ms Loo's tour.
By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief
From the Straits Times
carolynh@sph.com.sg
