E Contrario

Reog in Central Jawa

Malaysian Government announced on Monday (Dec 3) that cultural performances like Barongan, Endang and other dances ‘originated’ from Indonesia will be shelved from Malaysian tourism promotion activities.

It is obvious that Malaysian Government has buckled under Indonesian pressure. Why is the Government conceding so fast? The decision by the Ministry of Tourism was none but a confession of guilt. In other word, the Government admitted that we have stolen/copied Indonesian cultural heritage and claimed it as our own.

The controversy started by an argument over the origins of a dance known as “Reog” or “Barongan”. In Malaysia, Barongan is part of the folk art in Johor. (Sometimes it is called “Kuda Kepang” when it is performed with dancers riding on horses.)

On 21 November, a group of artists and students from Muhammadiyah University in Ponorogo, a town in East Jawa and allegedly the home of Reog held a demonstration against Malaysian claim. The protest against Malaysia using Barongan had become part of an ongoing diplomatic squabbles between Indonesia and Malaysia.

Just like many other items of Malay cultural heritage, from the historical point of view we can definitely traced the dance back to Sumatra, Jawa or certain part of Indonesian archipelago. This we have no dispute.

However, cultural heritage cannot be copyrighted like computer programs. In the formation of a national culture, the people always absorb various cultural elements in a dynamic process. Malaysia has every right to decide what components to be our own.

During the same period, when Malaysia was criticized by the international community for human rights violations, the Government dismissed them on the ground of “non-intervention”. Isn’t this a gross irony?

For me, the root of Indonesia-Malaysia tension was the resentment from the repression of migrant Indonesian rights. Malaysian Government arrogantly refused to discuss a formula to ensure humane treatment of Indonesia migrant workers. Repeated incidents of abuses had infuriated Indonesian public. Yet Malaysia is unwilling to address their plights seriously.

Hence, the real issue is the respect for human rights. However, the controversial debate over culture served a good cover for diplomatic posturing.

Even if a particular cultural item is “foreign”, there is no basis for the owner of the culture to oppose its transborder usage. For example, Malaysian Tourist Board could decide to serve our foreign guests pizza and spaghettis, I doubt the Italy could object to it. Malaysia could well be presenting Mozart or ballet to tourists, can the Europeans accuse us for ’stealing’ their culture?

Here our Government got all the principles wrong. Culture is a matter of sovereignty. What constituted our heritage should be determined by ourselves. We should not succumb to Indonesian narrow nationalism.

On the other hand, human values are universal. No regime in today civilized world can ignore international standard and unilaterally abuse the rights of its citizens. Thus the Government should in fact be more willing to accept foreign criticisms on our human rights record.