The Jungle is Neutral

The title might ring a bell, if one were my age and vaguely remember high school History. It’s trickier if one were younger. With successive iterations of the Malaysian History syllabus, one wonders if Spencer Chapman’s The Jungle is Neutral makes the cut. Colonel Chapman served in the British Army in Malaya. During World War II (1941-1945), Chapman and his compatriots joined forces with the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) to form the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA). The jungle was their base, the launch pad of guerilla attacks, where the deep impenetrable rainforest with its dense and disorienting foliage provided refuge from detection and capture. As Japanese brutality worsened in occupied Malaya, the number of MPAJA guerillas grew. To the Japanese occupation force, the jungle became a constant scourge — it could not be subdued, much less conquered. Hence, the title of the book. Or so the textbook said.

The Jungle is Neutral

Gan Joo-Ee, Associate Dean (Education), School of Hospitality and Service Management, Sunway University

The textbook wasn’t wrong. But there was so much more to Chapman’s work that it couldn’t capture. When the syllabus was dominated by facts, with strong emphasis on chronology and major figures, nuances were bound to be lost. The only silver lining from the rote repetitions of Chapman’s name and his work was that, seven years later, I recalled its significance when I came across the book in a secondhand bookstore. Interestingly, there is a more profound reason that the jungle is neutral. According to Chapman, the length of life of a British soldier accidentally left behind in the Malayan jungle was bound to be short. A soldier was finished if he thought that the jungle was a “green hell” full of “man-eating tigers, deadly fevers, venomous snakes and scorpions, natives with poison darts, and a host of half-imagined nameless terrors”. Whereas those who think that “the jungle teems with wild animals, fowls, and fish which are simply there for the taking, and that luscious tropical fruits … drop from the trees” were bound to be ill-prepared. “The truth is that the jungle is neutral. It provides any amount of fresh water, and unlimited cover for friends as well as foes — an armed neutrality, if you like, but neutrality nevertheless. It is the attitude of mind that determines whether you go under or survive. There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. The jungle itself is neutral.” Unfortunately, the textbook merely imparted facts, as opposed to values.

The MPAJA was disbanded after the Japanese surrendered. The MCP was the enemy once more and its guerilla warfare against the colonial government led the British to declare a state of emergency in Malaya. Consistent with the compartmental approach of the textbook, my teacher devoted more time to the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) compared with the Japanese occupation. This would mean that the communists’ contribution during World War II was significantly downplayed. That was unsurprising in the Cold War period. And then the Berlin Wall crumbled in 1989, and along with it, the ideological thrust of communism. Soon after, the MCP concluded a peace deal with the Malaysian government. Today, the communist narrative can be glimpsed from Alias Chin Peng: My Side of History, the autobiography of the former leader of MCP. Might the History syllabus be revised in the light of alternative interpretation of events? Only time will tell.

Curriculum refresh is not unusual. In fact, it is careless not to revise the curriculum with changing times. This is where an educator plays an important role. Like a conductor who determines the interpretation, tempo and dynamics of an orchestral piece, an educator sets the boundary, temperament and expected outcomes of the syllabus. Misguided education standards sound like a poorly conducted ensemble. Imagine sitting through an orchestral performance that is awkward, strident, devoid of grace and soul. Now, imagine that the country is the shortchanged audience. Worse, that the audience is tone-deaf and cannot tell the difference!

Ultimately, the curriculum is an ideological tool. It can be an instrument of nation-building or a vehicle to sow dissension and bigotry. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Malaysia Madani advocates a country anchored on the qualities of sustainability, care and compassion, respect, innovation, prosperity and trust. There is much to do to deliver these goals, starting with the mending of divisiveness and intolerance in our society. While it is not the sole responsibility of the education system to tackle this colossal mission, it can play a decisive role. Educators always knew that, unlike Chapman’s Malayan jungle of the 1940s, the curriculum is not neutral. At this crossroads of our nationhood, the question is: What shall we sow?