A ship worth building – but not for the Romans

A history professor from a Malaysian university recently claimed it was Malay shipbuilders who taught the Romans how to build ships.

The claim – made, no doubt, to establish ethnic Malay prominence in maritime history – has been met with derision, from historians to ordinary people. Myth, the critics say, must not be passed off as history.

But the deeper question is not whether such a story is true. It is why we feel compelled to reach for dubious fragments of the past to prove ethnic or national pride when the present offers us a far more urgent calling.

History, whether glorious or contested, cannot redeem us. Whatever happened to the Maya civilisation, the Khmer Empire and the Indus Valley civilisation?

Even if Malays did teach shipbuilding to the Romans, why was that skill not passed down over the centuries to make this a shipbuilding nation? After all, the original basic structure of the ship is what makes it rule the waves even today.

But from our perspective today, such an achievement – if at all true – would surely pale beside the challenges that face us now: the plight of the poor, the state of our education, and the divisions that still fracture our communities.

Greatness is not found in the recesses of history. Rather, it lies in the courage to confront current living conditions.

Here’s what we should be teaching – even if not to the world: how to live together without hostility towards our neighbours. And how to be responsible to those unable to help themselves.

The lesson is not about the building of ships, but about the building of a nation where dignity is shared, diversity is embraced, and justice is a lived reality.

Let’s not forget the irony: ships have not only carried knowledge and trade but also colonisers who plundered our lands. If we did indeed teach the Romans to build ships, it is a lesson history must teach us to regret.

Ships have been a burden on this country for another reason. From the Scorpene submarine deal to the littoral combat ships fiasco, vessels intended to protect our sovereignty have become symbols of corruption and treachery. These are not ships of honour, but ships of shame.

What the good professor and our universities must do is to build a ship to keep afloat the hopes and potential of a people – a ship that will last longer than the destructive galleons and will not fall prey to the corruption of transactions.

It is such a ship that will glorify the nation and all its people. That is the vessel we must build together: strong enough to weather storms, generous enough to carry all, and enduring enough to outlast the myths of history.

Support our work by making a donation. Tap to download the QR code below and scan this QR code from Gallery by using TnG e-wallet or most banking apps: