James Chin Dives Into How Ancient Malays Were Able To Teach Romans Shipbuilding Or Even Fly

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I CAN hardly wait for this Sejarah Tamadun Melayu Yang Hilang (History of the Lost Malay Civilisation) conference slated for Nov 22-23 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
I will attend if I am in KL to hear the esteemed Prof Dr Solehah Yaacob, the International Islamic University Malaysia’s (IIUM) professor of Linguistic Thoughts addresses the subject.

People keep asking me why she is so wildly popular (160K followers on Facebook alone).
My response? Have you ever heard of the ancient astronaut theory or the blockbuster TV series Ancient Aliens?
Millions of viewers worldwide are captivated by the notion that extraterrestrials visited Earth eons ago, shaping human history in secret.
‘Starve for Malay greatness’
In her case, she’s peddling a parallel narrative: the lost history of the Malays. According to her, a magnificent Malay civilisation once flourished, only to be buried by time and conspiracy – but is waiting to be re-discovered.
The “proof”? They claim that Malay DNA represents one of the world’s oldest genetic lineages (totally discredited by real DNA experts – just Google).
Of course, all these claims are pure pseudoscience. No reputable geneticist would endorse it, just as no credible historian would validate the existence of a hidden Golden Malay empire.

The evidence she cites crumbles under scrutiny, relying on cherry-picked myths and distortions rather than rigorous scholarship.
Yet she commands a fervent following. Why? Basically, supporters starved for validation of Malay greatness.
They view her as a beacon proving Malay civilisation towers above all others. Dare to challenge her ideas? You’re branded anti-Malay, anti-Islam – or worse – a tool of colonial erasure (like myself). It’s a shield that turns doubt into betrayal.
‘Higher Education Ministry unbothered’
Here’s where it spirals into absurdity: you can’t reason with her supporters. They position themselves as guardians of the forbidden truth – just like modern-day prophets unveiling cosmic secrets.
Confronting them doesn’t expose flaws in their logic; instead, it reveals your supposed ignorance or malice or both. Even more insidiously, her narrative weaves in Islamic undertones, framing scepticism as an assault on Islam itself.
This dynamic is a textbook illustration of the Dunning-Kruger (1999) effect. It describes how individuals with little skill, knowledge or thinking dramatically over-estimate their competence.



















Incompetent or foolish people lack the cognitive awareness to recognise their errors oknowledge weakness, leading to total self-confidence and resistance to correction.
It’s a self-reinforcing loop: the less they know, the more convinced they are right.
In other words, she’s poised to grow even more influential, drawing in hordes of Malays eager for this empowering myth.
Don’t hold your breath for intervention from the government or real scholars from Malaysian universities.
The KMI (Ketuanan Melayu Islam) ideology stands to gain immensely from her work – bolstering narratives of Malay and Islamic supremacy – so expect stony silence from official channels, including the Higher Education Ministry.
Nevertheless, the damage to the Malay community is profound: it fosters division, erodes trust in science and history, and entrenches victimhood over progress.
But this is the bitter political toll of Malaysia’s fixation on KMI – a sacred cow too risky to prod. 
Renowned political commentator Prof James Chin was also the inaugural director of the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania. His above view was a re-hash from his latest Facebook post.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.

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