THE STAR: Newsmaker

Portraying a fair view of America

By WONG LI ZA

AN ENCOURAGING word from strangers soon after 9/11 further affirmed Dr Shakila Yacob’s views of how people can be unprejudiced despite the circumstances.

Shakila, who was wearing her headscarf, was having a meal at a Lebanese restaurant in Virginia when a Western couple came up to her and said they were glad she was still wearing her scarf and standing by her belief.

“That experience really showed how people can be objective,” said Shakila, who was stranded at the Detroit Airport on her way to Toronto, Canada when the 9/11 disaster occurred.

FILLING A VOID: Shakila hopes her book, reportedly the first on American history written in Bahasa Malaysia, will help to correct the jaundiced perception many people have of the States. --STARpic by SIA HONG KIAU

On Friday Shakila’s new book, titledAmerika Syarikat: Pembentukan Negara Bangsa (or United States: Formation of a Nation), was launched together with the official launch of MAFAA, a non-profit association of Malaysians who had participated in exchange programmes sponsored by the US State Department.

The book is reportedly a first on American history written in Bahasa Malaysia and aims to provide the Malay-speaking community with a better understanding of the United States.

Shakila, who is also secretary of MAFAA (Malaysian American Friendship Alumni Association), has been lecturing American history at Universiti Malaya for the past 10 years.

She feels that many people have a jaundiced perception about the States, one reason being the influence from the media.

Her book shows the kind of mistakes and problems faced by the country and how that has affected some of its way of doing things today.

“Yes, America has made some mistakes, but other countries have too. There are no perfect democracies,” she said.

The book also talks about ideals America has lent to Malaysia, such as democracy and free enterprise.

“I hope the book will give a fair and objective view on America,” she said.

“We must differentiate between what the American Government and the American people say, and not judge the people by their Government.”

Shakila first decided to write the 374-page book four years ago when her students commented that there were only English textbooks on American history to refer to.

“My students wanted me to capture the nuances and concept of American history in Bahasa,” related Shakila, a Fulbright scholar.

That was the most difficult part, said Shakila, especially when it came to translating terms such as “White Man’s Burden, Gilded Age, and New Deals”.

“Sometimes, I had to coin new terms!”

Born and bred in Taiping, Shakila obtained her Bachelors degree in Southeast-Asian Studies from Universiti Malaya. She went on to study for her Masters in Political Science from Western Michigan University (US).

“I always say that when you study American history, you study world history,” said Shakila, whose PhD (Redding, UK) was in Business History about the subject of American multinationals in colonial Malaya.

She explained that with American history, there were always comparisons to be made with other countries as many of them have gone through similar situations.

“That’s one reason why it’s easy to teach American history,” she said.

Shakila’s book ends at the World War II and Cold War periods. She intends to come up with a second edition of her book later to bring the Cold war era to the present.

“I also want to write in a broader perspective in terms of culture, race and religion,” she said.