Kuala Lampur, May 13 -- MAY 13 - Former minister Khairy Jamaluddin's recent remark about what he termed as "cowardly" historians prompted swift reactions, particularly from academics who are concerned about the state of local academia.

In a snippet from his podcast "Keluar Sekejap" (Step Out), Khairy lamented that local historians could not muster the courage to correct misinformation regarding our country's history.

He was referring to a certain professor whose take on local history left much to be desired, and he rightly felt that such historical distortion ought to be rectified by professors worth their salt.

To be clear, there are other academics, apart from historians, who had also kept silent in the past when their expert opinion...