Opinion Piece

Say no to culture and tourism war – ­­­and yes to peace

by Geeta Ariani

Coming to study in Kuala Lumpur, metropolitan city of the Petronas Twin Towers, having many good Malaysian friends and experiencing a taste of great cultural diversity have provided me with a wider perspective on issues and helped me see how people from different parts of the world have different ways of approaching life. But when one of my friends in Indonesia suddenly mesmerised me with his dramatic tale, writing on my Facebook wall: “Malaysia just stole our Pendet dance. Ganyang Malaysia! (English: Invade Malaysia!)” – the stealing claim went right over my head and made me a little upset.

My friend’s Facebook posting enticed me to “google” the controversy. I was flooded with news stories about Malaysia’s claim over the Pendet dance, splashed across the front pages of the online edition of Indonesian newspapers. It must have hit the headlines in my country, but seemed to be ignored by the Malaysian mainstream media since I found only one Malaysian online newspaper covering the story. Furthermore, I didn’t hear a single word about it in any Malaysian newspaper.

Is it just Malaysia’s authoritarian press system in which journalists have very little rights when it comes to criticising the government, or is there anything fishy going on? Anyway, the situation in Indonesia that time was in marked contrast to the media’s silence in Malaysia.

About a month ago, many Indonesians protested the image of two Balinese dancers performing the Pendet dance that appeared in the promotion of the series Enigmatic Malaysia aired on the Discovery Channel. The issue also sparked an emotional debate among Indonesian culture experts, political scientists and artists, with Malaysia being condemned as ripping off the traditional Indonesian dance. Shortly after the protests, this fact was brought to light: Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific was at fault for using the image of the Balinese dancers to promote their documentary series Enigmatic Malaysia. Apparently the image itself was sourced from an independent third party that had nothing to do with the Malaysian government’s tourism ads. Fair enough.

But it did not stop there. The Indonesian people went further in accusing Malaysia of claiming Wayang Kulit and Batik as their own. Perhaps many Indonesians do not know that the leather shadow puppet, also known as Wayang Kulit, took root in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, Kelantan, more than 250 years ago. The origin itself remains a mystery, as the puppet show today is widespread throughout Asia in various guises. How about Batik? This ancient art form took root and reached its golden age in Java, Indonesia. During industrialisation, Indonesian immigrants brought Batik with them to Malaysia; therefore the Malays learned the painting and dyeing techniques and adopted the designs.

Please note, Indonesia and Malaysia shared the same culture and language many years ago, as most Malays in Malaysia originated from Indonesia. No way are we going to blame our ancients for this pointless polemic between Indonesia and Malaysia on the claim over cultural heritage. Because at the end of the day, it will never address the main issue but cause a serious deterioration in relations between the two countries.

After all, it’s time for us to let bygones be bygones. It is not a breeze, but this issue may serve as a challenge and wake-up call to my fellow Indonesians, particularly the younger generation, to start preserving our very own culture instead of blindly aping western culture. Last, hopefully peace will always reign in the two countries and there won’t be either tourism or culture war anymore.

P.S. This opinion piece is part of my 'Advanced News Writing' assignments.

Splendid Breaking of Fast in Ramadan '09

It was the 2nd week of the fasting month, Ramadan 2009 - a time when Li Ling, Nahda (a friend from Dubai) and I were heading toward Sunway Pyramid mall to break fast together. Actually, we'd planned to eat at Secret Recipe earlier - couldn't wait to have a slice of their cheese and chocolate cakes. Well, forget those cakes that might make us drool like Homer Simpson; to our great disappointment, all the tables in the restaurant were reserved by those who were gonna break fast too, so we finally ended up going to a seafood restaurant, Manhattan Fish Market (MFM).

During Ramadan, many restaurants usually serve Muslim customers with free dates or another sweet meal or drink to break the day's fast. So did MFM that time. But the dates looked so ugly that we complained about them. Perhaps MFM needs to replace them with ones from Tunisia - LOLZ.

Garlic Butter Mussels - just melting over my tounge with explosions of rich, buttery goodness. Can you imagine?

What a perfect starter - Garlic Butter Mussels (one of MFM's delicacies). The kind that makes you want to eat slowly, savour the moment with a bucket of Garlic Bread dipped in the buttery, creamy sauce. Oh, I have a weakness for it.

Hohoho, here it comes - the Manhattan Seafood Platter for Two consisting of deep fried fish fillet, calamari, oysters and prawns coming in flames, served with chips and garlic rice. Don't you just love SEAFOOD? I can't seem to get enough of it that always makes me want to go back to hometown - a haven for seafood lovers.

What's for dessert? Mmm, how about a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream for those who have a sweet tooth? I mean just look at the picture. Can you stand it?

O.O the food vanished into thin air - hehehe I know! There was nothing left on the table since we finished all the food. We were so full that we couldn't even get up off our chairs.

Alright, we'd taken some pictures before we left. Appetite and hunger suppressed, we left the restaurant with full hearts and on full stomachs. Anyway, we really had a great time breaking the day's fast together at MFM - so have my pictures given you a good stomach for breaking fast next time?