Is the keris Malaysian? Think again
1 October 2009
When Hishammuddin Tun Hussein took up the keris at the Umno general assembly in 2007, causing all that trouble, he did it believing it was a traditional Malay cultural icon.
Guess what? It’s officially an Indonesian cultural heritage. So says the United Nations, which recognised it as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Mankind last year.
And batik is Indonesian. They’re going to be celebrating tomorrow, if the earthquake hasn’t disrupted plans.
And guess what? The wayang kulit? Indonesian, says Unesco.
All three cultural icons have been recognised by the United Nations as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The wayang and the keris went on the list last year, batik this year.
So when the Indonesians celebrate batik tomorrow, Malaysians may be left scratching their heads, wondering how they got away with it.
Simple.
Malaysia did not lay claim, according to this:
Unesco culture specialist Masanori Nagaoka said the recognition for Indonesia’s cloth does not mean other countries cannot claim batik, but simply that Indonesia’s government went to the trouble to submit a nomination. — AFP
Wear Batik on Friday
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/SE%2BAsia/Story/STIStory_436250.html
So, Indonesia filed a claim on batik and “won” by a walkover. What were our heritage officials doing?
The only Malaysian cultural item on the list is the Mak Yong theatre, proposed in 2005, adopted last year
There are 90 items recognised on last year’s list, 88 this year; Intangible Cultural Heritage of Mankind is recognised by a United Nations convention (treaty). Indonesia has signed the treaty. Malaysia has not.
China has a lot of stuff on the list, like calligraphy, the art of the seal, Chinese and Tibetan opera. Japan, too. Other countries have just one or two. Singapore has none.
But some countries have shared a common heritage item
A new year and spring festival, called “Novruz, Nowrouz, Nooruz, Navruz, Nauroz, or Nevruz” is shared by Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Turkey
And on Tuesday, the Unesco recognised the tango, that sexy dance from Latin America. Who owns it?
…the tango will never be allowed to die out after it was declared part of the world’s cultural heritage by the United Nations yesterday. Argentina and Uruguay have squabbled for years over who invented the tango, both claiming to be the birthplace of the great tango crooner Carlos Gardel. But they patched things up last year in a joint effort to persuade Unesco to list the tango among its traditions worth safeguarding for humanity.
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/sep/30/tango-uruguay-argentina-unesco
And of course Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and even Thailand have a largely shared culture with a common ancestry.
MalaysiaKini quotes culture and adat expert Raymond Tombung as saying: “There are a million and one things in the Malay world which have long been established as being open to common ownership by virtue of shared origins. “This is not just confined to fine arts, architecture, costumes, royal court traditions, languages and so on.” (Cultural spat rooted in common heritage) http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/113969
So why didn’t Malaysia make a claim for shared heritage? Argentina and Uruguay did the sensible thing instead of trying to claim exclusive ownership. And seven countries shared a common New Year festival. We could have done so too.
Anyway the keris is lost to the Indonesians. Officially it’s their culture.
Just as well Umno decided not to carry out their keris ritual any more. And Hishammuddin apologised to all Malaysians for the political gaffe.
Now the keris has become Rais Yatim’s problem. He’s heritage minister. And also Ng Yen Yen’s problem. She’s tourism minister. And it’s no longer Hishammuddin’s problem. Isn’t that funny?
© 2009 uppercaise
Entry Filed under: Journalism. .
14 Comments Add your own
abetterpenang 2 October 2009 at 13:01
Dear Author,
You miss one very important thing !
That is, the Tongkat Culture
Those Tongkat-Putras invented it, claimed it, and are depending on it for their livelihood
That’s the 100% tulen Made-In-Malaysia culture, copied from nobody, and most importantly, nobody else wants to copy from the Tongkat-putras
Antares 2 October 2009 at 02:15
Very droll and pertinent. Malaysia ought to submit the use of “lah” as an “intangible cultural heritage”… also the habit of wearing jackets back to front when riding motorbikes… and, of course, the seemingly entrenched tradition of arresting whistleblowers, imprisoning the truth-loving, caning the mildly inebriated, and promoting known liars, hypocrites and suspected murder accomplices to high office.
awang bahaya 1 October 2009 at 23:19
Keris is not our heritage, but the kerismudin behavior is, get it registred as our cultural heritage.
iose (Indonesia) 27 September 2009 at 05:04
dear Malaysians…..
Dont forget that those claims yen is making, would really influence how the World would see Malaysia. How the world would see Malaysian specifically. Use a lowest integrity and we all can see that it is a bullsh#t to claim HAINANESE Chicken Rice, isnt it? and dont you know that Roti Canai, Murtabak, roti jala are originated cousine of Indian, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and surroundings? Furthermore, please dont forget that malaysia share Malay cousine with country like Indonesia, Brunei and Southern Thailand to Laos and Cambodia.
What Yen claimed might just influence Malaysia’s relationship to other Asian countries like Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, China and India. Did yen ever think of the consequences to this claiming things? or she was just trying to do good to her country, show you people that she is working well as a Tourism Ministry?
Damn, i think your goverment should consider of firing such a minister, or else.. we dont know, how would the world react to this ’small’ matter.
A Nuclear is a small in size item yet big in impact!
5.
iose (Indonesia) 27 September 2009 at 05:10
please remember on how the tari pendet issue, which almost make Malaysia lost its intellectual rights on the national anthem of Negaraku.
6.
uppercaise 27 September 2009 at 16:23
Don’t forget to read No stomach for the real food fight? about the international implications.
google 19 September 2009 at 04:10
OK then let us start the list with Hainanese Chicken Rice.
9.
ong 20 September 2009 at 04:25
The problem is that before being allowed to patent “Hainanese Chicken Rice”, you first need to get permission of Chinese government for use of the name “Hainanese”.
1.
ilekpucik 2 October 2009 at 14:16
First, try ask yourselves what kinda food you have in Malaysia. Malaysian food! Right? Wrong… Malaysian food is one of a wide ranging variety that includes western, chinese, indian, thai and so on. And have we ever claimed these All Malaysian? Never! We do promote Malaysian food that includes a wide variety. Don’t forget there’s also the famous Nasi Padang which is strictly Indonesian… aha. And Satay or Sate is not a Malay food, but undoubtedly Indon! Javanese will be close enough. And we know that in Indonesia you can find dog satay, or you might eat it without knowing it’s dog meat! lol So, do we have Malay food? Don’t be silly, you know about sambal belancan for sure, but it’s only a paste. How about cincaluk from Melaka, budu from Kelantan and Perak’s tempoyak! lol Mmm I love it! I know Singapore will claim rights to rojak Singapore lol, though I think the Mamaks or the Indian Muslims were the early people selling rojak and cendol. Java has every reason to claim royalty rights to rojak buah! lol But that doesn’t matter. You love lemang, ketupat and rendang on Hari Raya don’t you. And I guarantee you’d love the sweet and tender Rendang Tok from Perak. Hey, have you sampled the Melaka asam pedas? Or you can settle for a plate of Mee Hailam! So what! These are all great food, and you get it here in Malaysia. You know you don’t find Roti Canai in India, but it started in this Malay land by the Indian migrants. Before I confuse you further, just check the historical books and encyclopedia on the origins of Malays, the Malay States, the Malay Sultanate etc etc and go further back about the Malay Archipelago. So why are these people talking about Indonesian migrants who make up the Malays? Why was this peninsular land historically and geographically known as the MALAYA????