Just a few days ago, a French historian living in Melaka sued Tourism Melaka for allegedly filling its latest guide with historical errors.
Following this, Melaka Tourism apologised, withdrew the guide and ordered the publisher to review it and make appropriate corrections. They also met with the historian to reach a consensus on not dragging the matter out any further.
Now, French historian Serge Jardin is once again exposing historical errors via his Facebook page. This time, the apparent errors appear to be on display at the Melaka Museum of History and Ethnography.
He wrote: “WHEN WILL THE COMEDY OF ERRORS END? Shouldn’t Perzim (Melaka Museum Corporation) feel ashamed of inviting the representative of the Netherlands Government to visit the Melaka Museum of History and Ethnography?”
He then went on to once again share the various alleged errors he found, this time displayed throughout the museum.
Here is your list:
- The photo does not show a Portuguese cannon, but a Dutch cannon manufactured in Amsterdam in 1706 by Claes Noorden and Jan Albert de Grave.
- “1641, the Portuguese governor, Manuel de Sousa Coutinho, surrendered to Sultan Abdullah of Johor.” – Was Manuel de Sousa Coutinho a governor or a captain-major? In 1641, was Sultan Abdullah still alive or was Abdul Jalil Shah III the Sultan of Johor? Was he in Melaka on 14 January 1641 when the Portuguese surrendered, or in Pattani?
- “The Stadthuys is the official residence of the Dutch governor and his deputies.” How many people did the Dutch governor have? Did the governor and his deputy live in the same house?
- “1795, the Napoleonic Wars”. Where was Napoleon in 1795? In the wilderness, still far from power, without any military command between 9 August 1794 (arrested at Antibes) and 5 October 1795 (suppressed the royal insurrection in Paris). Napoleon was nowhere to be seen when the French revolutionary army, under General Pichegru, invaded Belgium in December 1794 and the Netherlands in January 1795.
- “1807, the British began to expel Portuguese influences from Melaka.” – The Portuguese lost Melaka in 1641, what Portuguese influences were to be expelled in 1807?
- “In 1807, the Dutch planned to take traders arriving in Melaka to Penang.” Or was that the British plan?
- “1818, the Vienna Alliance” – Was it not a Congress (Muktamar), and not an Alliance (Perikatan), which ended with a Treaty (Perjanjian)?
- “1819, Sultan Hussain Shah cedes Singapore to the British East India Company.” Was this a cession of the island or simply the establishment of a trading post? Wasn’t the cession signed on 2 August 1824?
“Could Melaka become the first UNESCO site that laughs? URGENT: Call to Malaysian historians to save Melaka.”
Speaking to WORLD OF BUZZ, Serge Jardin shared his immense disappointment on how such a historic state can display such alleged inaccuracies.
“I am embarrassed to see Melaka, now a World Heritage Site, displayed so casually in one of Melaka’s most respected institutions – the Historical Museum. History is Melaka’s most important cultural asset. “Historic City” is Melaka’s name since 15 April 1989.”
“History must be treated with the utmost respect. So many misinformation on information boards, museums and tourist brochures is a disgrace to Melaka and its people. Because of this disregard for history, Melaka deserves to be removed from the UNESCO list,” he said.
We sincerely hope that Perzim will investigate the alleged errors listed above and make appropriate corrections.
What do you think about this? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.
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