SEJARAH LISAN DALAM MEREKONSTRUKSI PENSEJARAHAN MALAYSIA DI LAUT CHINA SELATAN: ANTARA RUANG DAN POTENSI
ORAL HISTORY IN RECONSTRUCTING MALAYSIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA: SPACES AND POTENTIAL
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55197/qjssh.v7si2.1324Keywords:
sejarah lisan, memori sejarah, nelayan tradisi Bajau, tuntutan Laut China Selatan, sejarah SabahAbstract
Perkembangan disiplin ilmu sejarah buat sekian lama memusatkan perbahasannya kepada falsafah “no document, no history” sebagai wadah merealisasikan penulisan sejarah “seperti sebenarnya berlaku”. Walhal, usaha mendekati realiti ini tidak ditentukan oleh “bentuk sumber”, tetapi “sifat sumber” serta kebijaksanaan sejarawan dalam memaknakan sesuatu peristiwa sejarah. Dalam makna lain, sejarah lisan juga mampu menghadirkan sumber sejarah yang berwibawa dan mempunyai kesahihan tinggi setaraf dengan sumber dokumen. Malahan, sejarah lisan memungkinkan pendokumentasian fakta baharu serta pelurusan dan pengesahan fakta sedia ada dapat dilakukan oleh sejarawan semasa merekonstruksi sesuatu peristiwa sejarah. Atas kekuatan tersebut, artikel ini bermatlamat (i)mendudukan metod sejarah lisan dalam pengkajian isu tuntutan Laut China Selatan, (ii)mendokumentasikan memori kolektif nelayan tradisi masyarakat Bajau di Laut China Selatan serta (iii)mengemukakan fakta baharu mengenai hubungan interaksi antara masyarakat Malaysia (Sabah) dengan kawasan Laut China Selatan vuat sekian lamanya. Dalam usaha merealisasikan matlamat di atas, kajian ini menggunakan kaedah analisis teks terhadap dokumen kolonial yang tersimpan di Arkib Negara dan Public Record Office serta memori sejarah nelayan tradisi masyarakat Bajau sebagai pelaku sejarah yang bersifat saksi proto. Hasilnya didapati bahawa metod sejarah lisan mendesak untuk diaplikasikan dalam pengkajian isu tuntutan Malaysia di Laut China Selatan kerana memori sejarah nelayan tradisi masyarakat Bajau membuktikan wujudnya interaksi antara masyarakat pesisir Sabah dengan kawasan tersebut, sekali gus menguatkan asas tuntutan Malaysia ke atasnya.
The development of the discipline of history has long centred its debate on the philosophy of “no document, no history” as a means of realising historical writing “as it actually happened.” However, the effort to approach this reality is not determined by the “form of the source,” but by the “nature of the source” and the historian’s wisdom in interpreting a historical event. In other words, oral history is also capable of providing authoritative historical sources with a high degree of validity, comparable to documentary sources. Moreover, oral history enables historians to document new facts, as well as to correct and verify existing facts, in the process of reconstructing a historical event. Based on these strengths, this article aims to: (i) position the oral history method within the study of the South China Sea claims issue; (ii) document the collective memory of traditional Bajau fishermen in the South China Sea; and (iii) present new facts regarding the long-standing interactive relationship between Malaysian society in Sabah and the South China Sea area. To achieve these objectives, this study employs textual analysis of colonial documents preserved at the National Archives and the Public Record Office, together with the historical memories of traditional Bajau fishermen as historical actors who function as proto-witnesses. The findings show that the oral history method urgently needs to be applied in the study of Malaysia’s claims in the South China Sea, as the historical memory of traditional Bajau fishermen demonstrates the existence of interaction between the coastal communities of Sabah and the area. This, in turn, strengthens the basis of Malaysia’s claim over it.
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