“Indonesia allocates Rp9 billion to rewrite national history,” one digital media says. I was taken aback, thinking, “Why?” However, the phenomenon also occurred elsewhere in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia.
In Thailand, for example, moving monuments, stealing plaques, banning books, and redacting facts from history books have been used to try to erase the October 6, 1976, massacre at Thammasat University from the younger generation of Thais (Parpart, 2021). In the meantime, the Filipinos living outside the country rush to take pictures of books about the late Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, not just to read but to preserve them (Magramo, 2022). The reason was fears of a possible rewriting of history by President Bongbong Marcos to erase the human rights abuses and corruption committed by his father in the past. Comparable to Thailand and the Philippines, some modern historians in Malaysia also consider revising the nation’s history (Rahman, 2021). So, why does the Indonesian government desire to rewrite history?
According to Indonesia’s Minister of Cultural Affairs, Fadli Zon, the rewriting of the history book project is designed to be inclusive and centered on an “Indonesia-centric” perspective, which will cover the nation’s history from its early beginnings through the colonial era, the independence struggle, the reformation period, and the modern electoral era (Isaac, 2025). Moreover, Fadli emphasized that the updating of Indonesia’s history books is essential for shaping the national identity and collective memory of the Indonesian people. To ensure this, he also noted that to make the final work objective comprehensive and representative of Indonesia’s diverse collective memory, the Ministry of Culture will involve more stakeholders from the historical community (Isaac, 2025).
Rewriting history is not the exclusive work of totalitarian regimes (Barrett, 2015). Many Western nations have also taken advantage of this act. For example, Barrett noted, the United States. In 1846, President James Polk claimed that Mexico invaded U.S. territory and “shed American blood upon American soil.” Then, Representative Abraham Lincoln challenged this statement. In Russia, President Vladimir Putin, basing his argument on a legend that Grand Prince Vladimir was baptized in Crimea during the 10th century, claimed that Crimea holds the status of a Russian Holy Land (Barrett, 2015). Therefore, on March 18, 2014, Russia formally annexed Crimea (Mirovalev, 2024). However, the effort to rewrite history goes as far back as ancient Egypt, where the pharaohs were careful to make records only of their military ‘victories’ and leave the historians to deduce their defeats from reading (Barrett, 2015).
In your opinion, is rewriting history a creative or destructive effort?
References
Barrett, R. A. (2015, Feb 9). Political lies: Altering facts and rewriting history. HAC Bard. https://hac.bard.edu/amor-mundi/political-lies-altering-facts-and-rewriting-history-2015-02- 09
Isaac, J. (2025, Feb 6). Indonesia allocates Rp9 billion to rewrite national history. Indonesia Business Post. https://indonesiabusinesspost.com/4418/policy-and-governance/indonesia allocates-rp9-billion-to-rewrite-national-history
Magramo, K. (2022, Jul 16). Filipinos are buying books to preserve the truth about the Marcos regime. CNN World. https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/16/asia/philippines-marcos-books-truth rewrite-history-intl-hnk-dst/
Mirovalev, M. (2024, Feb 20). Ten years ago Russia annexed Crimea, paving the way for war in Ukraine. Aljazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/20/crimea-anniversary-war ukraine
Parpart, E. (2021, Oct 5). Opinion: The government can no longer rewrite history in the internet age. Thai Enquirer. https://www.thaienquirer.com/33492/opinion-the-government-can-no longer-rewrite-history-in-the-internet-age/
Rahman, A. (2021, Aug 30). Merdeka – Independence Day reflections: Rewriting Malaysian history – OpEd. Eurasia Review. https://www.eurasiareview.com/30082021-merdeka independence-day-reflections-rewriting-malaysian-history-oped/
