Every once in a while, Unspun comes across a comment that is so well written, argued or enlightening that it seems a shame to leave it as part of the many other comments in a thread. Especially the Rasa not so Sayang thread, which has generated 117 comments so far!
Unspun finds this comment from winterinoz full of insights into why Malaysia’s use of Rasa Sayang(e) became such a controversy and why viewpoints differ so much. winterinox gets Unspun’s just-made-up Award for Contributing to Serumpun Understanding:
Well, my malaysian fried said he never realized that indonesians appreciate product of culture so highly. For him this song is just another folk song from the archipelago.
I explained to him that in Indonesia, ppl really put emphasize on the locality and originality of products of culture. Most indonesia will probably know that the song Bunga Jempa is from Aceh and Angin Mamiri from Makassar. We’ve been introduced this concept of locality since elementary school. Indonesia has so much products of culture/art from different ethnicity/tribe and to preserve them is by recognizing its origin. This also meant to to increase cultural sensitivity and lessen the possibility of the ethic/tribe conflict.
We have this concept local culture enrich national culture. Still, we distinguish which one is local and which one has become national. Batik, Kebaya and Kopiah somehow has become national, yet we still recognize its origin.
This emphasize on originality and localty can be seen in naming the food. We have Soto Banjar, Soto Madura, Soto (Coto) Makassar, Soto Betawi, Soto Bandung, etc. Of course anyone can cook this food and commercial it anywhere in indonesia but still they have to recognize where it comes from. It is not written law but is what we believe to be ethical. You just can’t make Soto Banjar, sell it in Ambon and then name it Soto Ambon. Indonesian in Banjarmasin will be furious. The same rule goes to Batik, wayang, and so on.
Songs like Rayuan Pulau Kelapa, Tanah Airku, etc as we know has been regarded as national indonesian songs. While, Angin Mamiri, Rasa Sayange, Bunga Jeumpa as local indonesian (folk) songs.
My malaysian friend said that malay Malaysian are used to mixing Nusantare culture and just regarded them as Malay which is from the archipelago. Our understanding of Malay/Melayu is different. To him most of the people in archipelago is Malay. To him Malay/Melayu is a race. While for us Malay/Melayu is a minority tribe in Sumatra which mostly in Riau. Its culture is just small part of the archipelago and to our common knowledge rasa sayange, batik and wayang is not originated from Melayu culture.
For me, knowing that, Malay Malaysian are mostly come from indonesia, they have the same right as much as indonesians do in practising those products of culture. But, of course they must acknowledge where it comes from and its originality. if Malaysians reluctant to admit this shared heritage as Indonesian’s why dont just admit its local origin, like Maluku’s song for this rasa sayange.
Chinese everywhere, for example, surely acknowledge barongsai as their motherland heritage. Why Malay Malaysian can’t do the same. We wonder that that it might due to the hardship that indonesians facing now that malay malaysian may feel reluctant to acknowledge itself as Indonesian descendant and now trying to detach and disassociate itself to Indonesia.
Or is it perhaps because now Malaysia economically more advance than indonesia? or maybe because there are too many indonesian hard labour in malaysia ? I dont know, im just wondering. Not acknowleging the originality of songs or any kind product of culture for that matter, particulary personalizing it by commercial use relatively considered ignorance. ignorance equals arrogant. That’s the way indonesian see it, i suppose.
Anyway, malaysian tourist/visitor in indonesia are hardly shown hostility or resentment towards them because they are malaysian. We may say Ganyang malaysia but i don’t think any malaysian will be hurt by the police or by anyone in indonesia. Some stupid indonesian may burn jalur gemilang in front malaysian embassy but i dont think any indonesian will think to actually hurt a malaysian in indonesia.
I love malaysia when i visited it, but i prefer going to bangkok or singapore instead. Perhaps im too sensitive, but when i was in malaysia, i can feel resentment or changing of facial expression if i said that im indonesian to malaysian officials.
I hope this mentality towards indonesians would change someday.
Peace
Unspun 
I agree! Well-written!
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Points very well made. Does winterinoz have a blog? If yes, we would certainly pay regular visits…
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@Ind-anonymus: Unfortunatley there appears not to be a blog. Unspun would be a regular visitor too if there is one. So winterinoz, how about it? Let us have the URL or start a blog.
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Whaw, i don’t realize that you made a new threat for my comment. But thank you really, for appreciating my opinion. This issue has been bugging me for the last few days ( i didn’t know it until my malaysian friend told me about it).
I realized also sometimes that you think you know a person, but actually you don’t. I have been very close with my malaysian friend for two years now but never realized his perspective on malaysian/indonesian culture and never bothered to ask what he thinks about indonesia(ns). During our friendship we hardly discuss anything about Indonesian-Malaysian issues and taking everything for granted. At first we even reluctant to discuss about this issue for afraid of damaging our friendship. We eventually discuss it (from 10 pm to 4 am over msn) and come up to a simple conclusion that we actually don’t know much about each other perspective and cultural identity. We also agree using the ” what if i am malaysian/indonesian” perspective in this kind of issue.
If i am Malaysian, taking into accont historical and cultural background, what would i think about this issue?
What if i am Malaysian and it’s getting harder for me to find a seat in a bus because there are too many indonesians inside the bus and they are all speaking indonesian? What would i feel? Would i feel threaten?
What if my friend is Indonesian, hearing so much bad news from indonesian media saying all cruelty treatment towards my fellow-country mate in malaysia what would he feel? Would he feel hatred building inside him?
Anyway, i let my malaysian friend see my comment above, and he generally agree except the last few lines, he thinks that i should visit malaysia more, not only Johor š
We also endep trading links, and of course songs. He introduced me to “Papa Jahat” which i dance to it. I sent him a local recent pop song which really famous in Makassar (Ribaz and Art2Tonic) which never make it to national market. Made him realize that music competition is really tough in indonesia.
Above all we agree to this indonesian/malaysian saying ” Tak kenal maka tak sayang tak sayang maka tak cinta” (when you donāt get acquainted then you wonāt grow affection, when you won’t grow affection you won’t fall in love)
Yes, i do have a small blog where i write silly personal stuff which im too embarred to share in here. Perhaps i should start making (current events) blog, as unspun suggested? Mmmhh
Peace
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Insightful indeed!
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i do agree with your opinion winterinoz. it seems that malaysian want to cut their connection with indonesia ‘coz it shameful for them to have indonesian blood in their vein. Ironicaly, they dont have something that they can be proud of.. they only say.. we built that.. we built this.. but lack of cultural richness to endorse their tourism business and their belief on the great malay race theory soooo… instead of admitting that they borrow the culture from indonesia, they simply claimed the cultures as theirs.
I think instead of being angry, we really have to pity the Malaysians; they are so lacking in culture that they are forced to claim the cultures of their neighbors as theirs.
Ow, you poor Malaysia…
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Hi, winterinoz, the thread in Rasa not so Sayang was sooooo looooong that I had only glanced on your comment. Luckily Uspun is kind enough to highlight it here where I can really go through again.
Sorry but this keeps bothering me, what is “barongsai”?
Your comment is the fairest so far I read and not just emotional quotes or challenges. 2 thumbs up for you and if just more people like you, the thread wouldn’t have been soooo loooong and extended into #2.
I’ve been commenting & raising questions so much here and there but you’d the only one giving a both side perspectives. Maybe my questions weren’t provoking enough to make people think and MC always took the first chance to answer them all in the scholar’s point of view — full of facts. HA HA.
It’s nice to know that someone is being tolerance and able to think in another person’s shoe. Please have a look at my comment in Unneighbourly relations? https://theunspunblog.com/2007/10/25/unneighbourly-relations/#comment-26531
Hope that gives you some ideas why Malaysian (Malays) behaving that way.
Actually, Non-Malays in Malaysian has been treated that way long long long long time ago since the colonial days, and still are today. So, maybe we’re already used to it. Ha ha, Indonesians can ask us Chinese or Indians for the experience living in Malaysia. If there’s a word to describe these behaviour…. xenophobia maybe?????? or Inferiority Complex (as said by Mahathir himself)
The only sad part is that both you may share the same ethnic group, so you are fighting brothers to brothers.
Aiya, why I always ended up such a long piece.
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Unspun!!! Did I submitted my comment or was it eaten??? Was handling Kamarul in the mid-way :p
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Barongsai is probably known as ”Tarian Singa” (lion dance) in Malaysia. I”m sure you well aware of this dance.
We’re not proud ourself in treating non-pribumi, or in this case, chinese indonesian. But since the collapse of the Soeharto, the new goverment seems enganging more to our chinese indonesian community.
Anyway, as I encounter both chinese Indonesian and chinese Malaysian abroad, and i can’t help but notice how chinese indonesians hardly mention their race if they were asked their nationality, they put it simply ”indonesian.” However, Correct me if i am wrong, a chinese malaysian or other race in malaysia perhaps, would put their race first than their nationality.
In terms of language, chinese indonesians mostly use Bahasa Indonesia in their daily life even if they were abroad. I guess this is not the case with chinese malaysian as I have seen them mostly confortable using either madarin/cantonese or english?
I personally don’t agree with forced assimilation, which is was happening before in indonesia, but somehow it sometimes has its own benefit.
Peace
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That’s true, my Chinese-Malaysian friend always told everyone that she is ‘Chinese-Malaysian’ or ‘Malaysian but Chinese’. And yes, she can’t hardly speak Malay. Re: ethnic Chinese speaking Indonesian, well well, 2nd generation Chinese-Americans/Australians/.. can hardly speak Chinese anymore also and it’s perfectly normal, let alone 5-6th generation Chinese-Indonesian from, say, Semarang who’d probably more at home speaking Javanese than Hokkian. Btw, one of the pioneers of modern Indonesian literature in the 1920’s are Chinese-Indonesian authors writing in Bazaar Malay of the time, as compiled in Kesusastraan Melayu Tionghoa compendium by Gramedia.
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@kemsey, winterinoz: Malaysian Chinese and Indians perhaps find it difficult to identify with being Malaysians because they perceive they have been made to feel that they are pendatang (newcomers).
There are many (not all) elements in the government and Umno who stridently remind them of who is boss. So the inclination is to reject the Malaysia=Malay land association.
But much of that is changed. The blogosphere has allowed the Malays who see the ridiculousness of this attitude to speak up. people like Raja Petra, Bakri Musa have begin to put a crack on that mirror.
And no you have the Bangsa Malaysia movement. If it succeeds it has the potential of breaking the mould of racial politics and break the hegemony of Umno. Perhaps then the Malaysian government and its apparatchiks will then be in more humble positions and be more tolerant of others, Orang Asli, Chinese, Indians, Indonesians….
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@unspun: i do agree that these ppl in the blogosphere do put a crack to it but i do think they should do more…especially in the kampungs where UMNO is really hard to be defeated due to the mainstream medias predominant role…just think of it, only read utusan, berita harian, watch tv3, rtm only…u can really see wheres their thinking going…the longer time we take to reach these ppl…the more UMNO would benefited from them…start now, act now
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Dear winterinoz, thanks for clearing the doubt. It seems that Malaysians & Indonesians language has been separated so much that it is now harder for us here to understand each another.
Like the saying, “tak tahu maka tak cinta”, there must be a bridge to link back what was once one but separated by the Western powers (British & Dutch) and we would jave less problems among these 2 countries.
But than, which nation language to use? Or should it simply goes back to a neutral Bahasa Melayu (I guessed that’s why our ex-PM did just that)
However, this would shake the very basis for the most of the political parties in Malaysia and even the whole populations. It’s a good call, hopefully after 50years of independence the leaders and the people starts to acknowledge the diverse cultures rather than diversify the cultures.
Although I always introduce myself as Malaysian first but I will somehow highlight that I’m a Malaysian-Chinese, not wanting to be associated with the Malays nor the China/Taiwan/Singapore-Chinese. Weird mindset isn’t it. After all, this is truly Asia. Ha Ha Ha.
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I believe that it’s great experience of traveling for whoever have traveled in Asia countries because they have learned, appreciated and touched to true cultural human. Those things have made people having opened-mind and worldwide on the point of view…. Thank you for your contribution.
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