Malaysia to retaliate against Batik Day by claiming the koteka?

October 2, 2009

Indonesia was awash with batik today as Indonesians, heeding President SBY’s call, wore batik to commemorate UNESCO’s placement of the Indonesian batik dyeing technique on its Cultural Heritage list.

Malaysia is not happy with it as it feels that I actually owns batik, like it owns Sulawesi songs and anything in the Malay Archipelego.

Not content with letting Indonesian trump the Truly Asian nation in the cultural sweepstakes Malaysia has now, according to Unspun‘s unreliable sources, shifted its focus to another cultural item that it can patent – along with Hainese Chicken Rice, Nasi Lemak, Bah Kut Teh and Chili Crabs – the koteka!

“Many people think that the Papuans are the only ones who wear kotekas but the truth is that Malaysians have been wearing it for many years, only that we are not so uncouth as to wear only the koteks without other clothes on,” said a source from the Malaysian Tourism office.

“But we have historical records, including as yet unpublicised photos of all the Malaysian Cabinet members wearing it in their secret initiation rites, before they go through their paces in the formal one in Parliament.”

“Some Umno members have also been known to prefer brandishing their koteka over the keris when threatening people of other races because it is actually a better measure of their manhood,” said a professor in University Malaya.

The Papuans, of course are not amused, as evidenced by this photo that has been making the rounds in Indonesia.

unspun

Indonesia, Malaysia

stuff, This is a joke posting

59 responses to “Malaysia to retaliate against Batik Day by claiming the koteka?”

andihawe

October 2, 2009 at 3:22 pm

PERTAMAX.
I wonder what next…

andihawe

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KongKor

October 2, 2009 at 4:51 pm

Wakakakaka RPTFL giving me a stomach spasm.

This is good! Mr. Ong.

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delvi

October 2, 2009 at 5:10 pm

wah, i do hope nobody will brandish their keris eh koteka and scream accusing you of “menghina jalur gemilang” or “memperlekehkan bendera kebangsaan” or “biadab terhadap negara err melayu” over that picture. “and i will not stop chasing this blogger who calls himself Unspun till i soak this keris eh koteka with his blood”, said them.

But truly, I find the picture to be very disturbingly funny.

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Farid

October 2, 2009 at 6:10 pm

Why hardly much news on Padang quake in detik.com or jawapos? We Malaysians need to read cnn or aljazeera to know what’s happening in padang.
Anyway, Malaysians are concerned lots and we’re passing our hats around to collect donations for padang victims. So, if indonesians are more concerned with ganyang malaysia, go ahead.

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kassim

October 2, 2009 at 8:00 pm

I wonder whether you know when to hate UMNO and the Malays and when to insult your own country?

Do you know the difference?

The Islamic party in Indonesia hits out at Golkar,and Megawati hits out at Susilo and so on.BUT they never hits out against their own country.

Unfortunately in Malaysia,people like you can’t find the dignity to support your own country.

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1. Citra
  
  October 3, 2009 at 12:21 pm
  
  Aaa Kassim…Did you know that Megawati blame the BMG for not give warning againts the 2004 Aceh earhquake? Or that SBY are fooled by something called Blue energy? In public? Did we acknowledge that our president and ex-president are making a fun of them selves? A big YES. But we never stop supporting for Indonesia in anyway. It’s just the way we love our country. We left” right or wrong it’s my country” a long time ago.
  
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bamboozled

October 3, 2009 at 1:46 pm

Oh dear me..those pathetic indons..their sense of humour is as dry as their dried up ideas of how to eleviate their country out of poverty.

You are the most populous Islamic nation on earth,but you are not in anyway, leading the Islamic ummah. You should b be embarrased. You accuse Malayia of stealing batik,but did u know that batik originated from Egypt.Look it up in the world history of batik. You accuse us of steling your unislamic pendet dance,but that dance is heavily copied from India/Hindu culture.Why, even your poco-poco is from the Philippines..and I don’t hear of any protest from the Filipinos.And you sing and dance and gyrate unashamedly to dangdut tune… aren’t you ashamed of copying from India?. Dare accuse us of stealing ‘Terang Bulan’, are you not?… Well,’Terang Bulan” was copied from ‘Mamula Moon’, lock, stock & barrel!!!. You see, it’s a case of a thief labelling another thief, a robber.

The Malay Archipelago..Kepulauan Melayu..that’s what this part of the world is recognised by the entire world. It’s not the ‘Jawa Archipelago’. Jawa,Minang, Bugis,Banjar and so on, are from the Malay Stock. Know your DNA, please..

Rendang is on your menu too,yeah?.. well,sempura fish dish, the traditional Japanese cuisine , is not japanese in origin, it is Portugese – sempora. You don’t see the portuguese angry about it. Similarly, the chinese and indian migrants brouht with them the lion and dragon dance and the classical indian dance to Malaysia, and we, in accepting the ethnic diversity of this country take that as our people’s heritage. And you don’t find the chinese and indians in their motherland protesting in the street against Malaysia, do you?..

You see, culture is vibrant.It is not static. It evolves. If a set of ethnic people move to a new land and they take with them their culture, and in the process,enriches their culture at their newfound home,why should their brethren back home in their motherland feel angry or livid?. If anything, they should feel good and proud that their culture has movee abroad internationally, do you not agree?

As a Malaysian Malay, we always have a soft spot for our bethren in Indonesia. We know and follow closely and eagerly their tumultous history and sufferings. And we will not hesitate for a moment and will gladly oblige to give a helping hand in their hour of need, whenever it might be .And being fellow muslims have it’s added interest too…

And finally,dear Indonesians, please learn the history of the world, so that you can appreciate and recognise the fact that the result of the movement of masses of people wil lead to the intertwining of culture and races.

I rest my case.

ps – oh yes, one more thing. Ligitan and Sipadan Islands havw been awarded to Malayisa, by the World Court, no less. Similarly, Pulau Batu Putih, a mere few kilometres from our shoreland has been awarded to Singapore. We Malaysians accept it, and we move on in life….now I truly rest my case,indeed.

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wiya

October 3, 2009 at 10:47 pm

ooh dear.. those pathetic malay..

malay archipelago.. that’s just how the english called the archipelago.. why?.. because they only occupied the malay region in the archipelago.. and you think malay is the center of the archipelago because of that.. yes people in the archpelago is come from the same race.. but what brings traditional culture is ethnicity not race.. please read more anthropology books..

batik is from egypt?.. batik is from javanese language.. how can egyptian give their culture a javanese name.. and why we must believe what UMNMO said about origin of batik if unesco already said it’s from indonesia.. but i don’t know maybe UMNO more expert in cultural issue than unesco..

you helping us.. oh yeah so why when tsunami hits aceh your country send their navy too ambalat.. what kind of help is that..

yeah sipadan ligitan is yours that’s fine.. but your greedy pig government still want to claim ambalat and that claim it with such a coward way when indonesia hit by tsunami..

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The Spirit of Freedom

October 4, 2009 at 9:54 am

bamboozled,

Please open these links with your “matured and open minded” …

Don’t worry … you can counter them if you don’t agree with their opinions …. Hehehehehe

http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/27440/84/

Is the keris Malaysian? Think again

Keris gone, big talk coming

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Malaysian retaliation to be revealed « malaysian media matters

October 4, 2009 at 2:52 pm

[…] Malaysia to retaliate against Batik Day? « Unspun “But we have historical records, including as yet unpublicised photos of all the Malaysian Cabinet members wearing it in their secret initiation rites, before they go through their paces in the formal one in Parliament.” […]

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Sudirman

October 4, 2009 at 5:50 pm

Pathetic. Celebrating a non-event and something as trivial as batik when the country is in a shambles. What sort of response is the Indon govt giving to the tragedy in Padang? All the rakyat left to their own devices to cope with the earthquakes. No external help until two days after the event.

The Chinese discovered paper but didn’t call in paper just like the Egyptians discovered batik painting but didn’t call it batik. But if the Indons want to fraudulently claim it as theirs, go ahead.

It’s quite understandable because the Indons have been suffering from a severe case of inferiority complex since Konfrantasi. And rightly so. They can’t provide regional leadership; they’ve no ideas on how to develop their country, they’re below Malaysia in the Human Development Index and even Palestine is better than them; they can’t manage their oil properly and the corruption level is among the worst in SEA.

All they’re good at is organising paid demonstrations, running to the beck and call of the bule in Bali, behaving like a gorilla in a room and exporting those stupid dangdut songs and singers and making the rest of the region choke with smoke.

Maybe the Indons should start paying attention to this (trademarked) Malay saying,”Menang sorak, kampung tergadai.”

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wahyu

October 4, 2009 at 11:12 pm

@spirit of freedom, nice article..

@sudirman, read that article.. why malaysian still say batik is egiptian when unesco say it’s indonesian.. who is pathetic..

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Rahman

October 4, 2009 at 11:47 pm

What is the point of all these accusations? I have friends in Indonesia just as I have friends elsewhere. We discuss what is positive about each other and try to learn the good points. Look at the animals in the wild. They may be killing each other for food, but they certainly remember to share their water with their enemies. Shame on us all, calling ourselves humans when we cannot even think like one, let alone a dignified one.

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mare

October 5, 2009 at 10:17 am

could we settle this over a war ?
I am an unemployed

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bamboozled

October 5, 2009 at 10:33 am

Dear wahyu…clearly, I was hoping, like your name suggests,that you would somehow, have a revelation send down to you to clear your mind on the batik thing….

UNESCO will always review with the aim to granting heritagee rights to countries which approach them for recognition. Well,the way I figure, the egyptians,with their pyramids and sphinx and the valley of the kings, already have more than their fair share of heritage that they can lay claim to. They had massive structures to build from stone. They had plentiful gold to carve into ornaments and royal regallia..and so on…Hence, the disinterest in their now long demise batik industry and culture. They were simply not into cloth anymore( kain² tak mainlah..). 🙂

Dear Rahman…when some ‘hebat’people in downtown jakarta stop motorists, looking for malaysians to ‘ganyang’, what is so dignified about that, I beg for a sensible answer.

Those people have really overstepped the line dictating responsible public behaviour. What if they had ‘caught’ some unfortunate malaysians?.

Where the heck were the jakarta police?..do I hear the argument that the Indonesians were just pratising true democracy?

What if they had gotten you,my friend,had you been in jakarata during that ugly riot?.. you, cornered and surrounded by a worked up mob. Could your friends in Indonesia be able to help you, then..would they?…think abnout it…

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Citra

October 5, 2009 at 12:28 pm

Michael Chick…WHERE ARE YOU….???? Some people needs to be taught a lesson about Anthropology. The Race lesson are taught in 3rd of 4rd grade here, don’t know if they are taught in Malaysia at all.

Anyway, Indonesia is not a perfect country. But we are learning bit by bit of how to become a better country. We are no longer trying to maintain status quo because there’s no point in it. They say it’s the journey that counts, not the end result. With over 200 millions people to look after, it will never be an easy job.

I read it somewhere yesterday that UNESCO acknowledge Batik is not only in Indonesia, but only in Indonesia Batik underwent vast development. They are not only considered as a fabric, but has elaborate meanings in their patterns for the people. Sooo…Batik is not just some commodity to attract tourist!!!

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wahyu

October 5, 2009 at 12:36 pm

@ bamboozled, and now you say unesco is incompetent.. please.. i think you don’t read the article spirit of freedom suggested to you.. just read it and then your mind will be clearer on the batik thing.. i think you the one who need a revelation.. but no.. i think logical frame of thinking is one thing you need more than a revelation..

and relax there is no malaysian get hurt in Jakarta.. after all we don’t have rela who legally can do violence to foreigner..

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pembela_indonesia

October 5, 2009 at 2:31 pm

Well…well… another shallow arguments from the malaise. Batik might first appear in ancient Egypt, but the techniques and methods of batiking today is surely Indonesian. It is the methods and the techniques that UNESCO grants to Indonesia as the heritagee and not the first where batik appeared itself. How can experts in UNESCO be wrong over a Malaysian simpleton? And, sorry, the most ridiculous thing on you is that when you lost an argument, you cheer on another country’s glory instead of focusing on your own??

Wow… sempura?? Maybe it is tempura. And it is not sempora on the Portuguese it is tempora instead. Do you know the difference in the ingredients between those two today? You tell us about sempura, I mean tempura and tempora as if you are an expert at gastronomy, in fact you are….. (fill it up yourself). How can we trust the info contained if one fails to tell an es from a tee apart?? Yes you are right that culture is vibrant but it becomes static if it is adopted by the malaises because you lack imagination and creativity to improvise it and the best you can do is to carbon copy from alpha to omega of every piece of culture you adopt! Now you say that tari pendet was adopted from India. Of course I don’t reject the fact that there are Indian elements within the dance but can you name the Indian dance that totally resembles Tari Pendet?? Please… let me know!

On your national anthem “Terang Boelan”, I mean “Negaraku”, probably it is not adopted from Terang Boelan and chances are it is adopted from France’s “La Rosalie” composed and written by Pierre-Jean de Béranger in the late 19th century. Again you provide inaccuracy in your post above stating that Mamula Moon is the origin of your national anthem “Negaraku”. (But I’m not surprised since you are a Malaise). But it is not the essence of my argument here. It doesn’t matter from where you copy it, the essence is that the Malaises failed to do something original even for their own national anthem! Read carefully before you fire ahead!

There are more shallow and vague arguments coming from you above. Too many for me to comprehend today besides my time is limited this afternoon but I’ll come up again if I have slack time to point out your far-fetched arguments later on….

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bamboozled

October 5, 2009 at 2:33 pm

“@ bamboozled, and now you say unesco is incompetent.. please”.. laments wahyu

I imply no such thing, my dear..maybe our schools of thought just differ, that’s all…

“..and relax there is no malaysian get hurt in Jakarta…” wahyu again

Phew! what a relief. Thanks for that asurance..I needed that,you know. At last the streets of ultra modern metropolitan jakarta is safe for me to walk again….just like our indonesians friends who are free to roam the streets of peaceful Kuala Lumpur,anytime,everytime, without ever fearing of any sort of reprisal from friendly malaysians.

“I read it somewhere yesterday that UNESCO acknowledge Batik is not only in Indonesia, but only in Indonesia Batik underwent vast development.”…admits affable citra

Precisely,my friend. We malaysians applaud your advances in batik technology. Why, we even crave and go on shopping hunts for beautiful batik jawa.

So, can’t it just be that way,then..everybody enjoying batik jawa, without having the indons thumping their noses at us,and the world by saying, ‘we indonesians INVENT batik’…ohh please. Give me polyester..

Muslim and non muslim bloggers alike, let me state and declare,civilsed as we all are,I will agree to disagree with bloggers here whose thoughts and arguments differ from mine.

I will have this to say. I have to admit though,I have no idea how many of you bloggers out there that I’m addressing are actually muslims. But,you see, this is a stark reminder to us all about how we muslims will continue to fail to be a great, higly knowledgeable and respected people for as long as we choose to unite the ummah through the identification of ethnicity,creed,colour, culture, nationalism and borders.

Just learn and take a leaf from the arab experience. They have tried and failed, to unite the masses through creed and race. They tried through channels of nationalism,and again they failed. The League of Arabs?.It is just a laughable and incoherent body. Nobody,and I mean nobody, pay them any rspect, it has to be sid. Just ask anyo rdinaray in the street, if you don’t believe me…

What do we do,then..suffice for me to simply say this, let us all go back to the true teachings of our common prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)

Be safe,bloggers, meslims and non,alike…god bless.

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StevenO

October 5, 2009 at 8:58 pm

Hello,

Concern Indonesian, don’t just claimed ownership with empty rhetorics only!! Please come and take it back whatever you claimed to be yours. The batiks, wayang kulit, keris, sarong, Khir Toyol, Ali Rustam, at least half of UMNO.

Fcuk, even our crime minister..he’s from Sulawesi. Please take it all back, thank you.

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bamboozled

October 5, 2009 at 10:15 pm

“On your national anthem “Terang Boelan”, I mean “Negaraku”, probably it is not adopted from Terang Boelan and chances are it is adopted from France’s “La Rosalie” composed and written by.”.. pembela Indonesia decides to retort…

Well,well…’probably it is’..’chances are it’…read your own sweet composition out loud and hear your own voice. You guys are not so sure of yourselves, aren’t you?. And still you guys decide to accuse us. While the overwhelming majority of your countrymen accuse malaysia of stealing your’terang BOELAN’song (.. :-)..your spelling is as funny as your pronounciations..oh well..),suddenly, out of the blue, YOU have to come forward and stating something else altogether.Dear oh dear,oh dear…
One minute, 230 million Indons accuse us of stealing their ‘creative property’,the next,1 indon has to come forward to rebuke his entire countrymen. Gee, it’s all so convenient for you guys,isn’t it?..

If you, who I deemed smart, is wavering in your thoughts and beliefs over this insignificant issue, what hope do we have about those mass multitude of your downtrodden countrymen?. And it applies to many other factors that you guys take isuue with….

Come on, admit it, something must be wrong with you,guys. Nay, many things..
But I guess, this is all part of your exhilirating felings of discovering your newfound freedom,aka democracy. As I see it, this is what decades of living under military dictatorship does to a whole population of citizens. It is sad.

Malaysia’s way of electing her leaders have always passed the scrutiny of the international press and western governments. Serious election fraud charges have never been thrown at our country. Minor complaints here and there are to be expected during election time,in all democracy.Why, even the fight for power between bush and al gore invoked much accusations..so, it’s to be understood.

But no, the indonesians have to live under dictatorship for such a long time. I don’t know,maybe, they missed the ways of their tyrannical dutch masters.

But horrifyingly, after tasting the sweet taste of freedom (democracy), it bemuses us malaysians to see the indons having diificulty curtailing their enthusiasm. And they just do not know how to conduct their affairs and daily lives. We often hear of demonstrations taking place..against this..against that…against everything.

You indons are wasting your energy, time and resources parading through the streets of jakarta, like hunting for malaysians to ‘ganyang’. Go back to your workplace to help develop your vast and rich country.

Indeed, yours is a godsend nation. God gave you vast fertile land, minerals.
and the small matter of oil reserves. Why, you even have a large workforce, to help forge your nation forward. Don’t let all those wealth and strength go to waste.

While many countries the world over,including malaysia, are furiously striving forward to progress in all fields, you choose to take many steps backwards and instead,find yourselves pacing the streets of jakarta,itching for a fight with your neighbour..over ancient dance,ancient food,ancient weapons.. everything ancient…sigh..

We have no intention whatsoever to steal your beautiful heritage. With the migration of thousands of Indonesians(jawa, minang, bugis, banjar, batak, etc)to tanah melayu eons ago,they bring with them their proud cultural heritage,which to this day, they hang on to and they practised earnestly,in their newfound home.

Their numbers are in the millions now,and they are proud malaysians.

Similarly, the chinese and indians arrived in this country, bringing with them their customs and beliefs, and their culture. Amid this assimilation of many races in malaysia,we have a rich diversity of cultural heritage.

Like I mentioned earlier,you don’t find the chinese and indians back in the two great motherlands,do you, up in arms against malaysia, accusing us of stealing their lion dance, dragon dance and classical and traditional indian dances.

It’s an assimilating thing, baby..

This must come as an unwelcome lecture to you guys,but believe you me, if you don’t start real soon and change your archaic ways of thinking and doing things, you will always find your great nation stuck at the bottom of the heap of misery and hopelessness.

One more thing. Please get your people to stop smoking (it hurts the nation’s economy, you know). I think too many of them smoke way too much, don’t you agree?.

Finally,get them to embrace Islam. Seriously, I mean. Let us all, muslims in malaysia and indonesia follow the true path and teachings of our great prophet Nabi Muhammad (peace be upon him).

I have said my piece, and I will rest my case.

Salam and well wishes.

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wahyu

October 5, 2009 at 11:52 pm

@bamboozled oh my god.. you don’t have any argument left.. and then you start preaching..

if malaysian is save for everyone why your policemen beat our karate coach.. please.. how you can condemn a country barbaric action when your country itself legalized barbaric action by rela..

you say we must not unite the ummah trought the identification of ethnicity, race, etc.. when in the other side your constitution indentified islam as malay.. see how hypocrite and narrow minded you are..

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bamboozled

October 6, 2009 at 12:56 am

Oh,I have lots more arguments, don’t you worry about that…

I’m going to sleep,honey….if I die peacefully in my sleep,I hope to meet lots and lots of wonderful malaysians and indonesians in heaven..so long..lights out,baby.

Wait a minute !!!..18 seconds more. One more mistaken belief there.It’s the other way round,dear..,we identify a malay to be a pratising muslim(Islam), not as what you understood..clear about this point,I hope…

Like I said, lights out, baby.

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wahyu

October 6, 2009 at 3:03 am

argument? where is it? what i can find it’s just your preaching..

and what the different about it. it still proof your country identify islam just belong to malay group.. connecting religion with ethnicity and race which is absurd.. so christian malay is illegal in malaysia?..

and if you full of argument just read michael chick articles that suggested to you and argue it here..

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Eurasian Sensation

October 6, 2009 at 6:52 am

@ Bamboozled: Aiyah man, I agree Indonesia has a lot of problems, and in some aspects Malaysia is light years ahead. But can you seriously criticise its political system while holding up Malaysia as some kind of shining light? Both countries’ governments have long been authoritarian in nature; Malaysia is a democracy in name only due to UMNO’s corrupt grip on power.

And regarding Islam, Malays should be looking to Indonesia’s mainstream Islam as an example for modern times. No government-funded religious fascist police busting into peoples’ houses. No draconian 12-month jail sentences for exercising one’s free choice to drink alcohol. The ability of Indonesians to leave the faith if that is their choice. Malaysia on the other hand is a more modern nation stuck in a medieval conception of Islam.

Look, I love both countries. Both are wonderful in their own ways, and both have myriad problems.

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Pembela_Indonesia

October 6, 2009 at 10:20 am

@bamboozled

Huahaha… poor you Malaise. You did not have more solid arguments and you diverted it to other more trivial issues like “you are not so sure of yourself….” “Your spelling is funny as your pronunciation…” etc…. that’s typical inferior Malaise thought. Though I am sure you are more sure than I am that my infos given above are accurate unless you can tell me otherwise!!

Well again…. your inferiority popped up when mentioned many things on something unrelated to the initial issues. You babbled on “downtrodden countrymen….” blaa… blaa… blaa…. far and wide yet so unfocused!

Listen…. I lost my mood in arguing with you, despite your good English you are pretty inferior at everything else, reasoning included. It doesn’t matter what you babbled on my country, I live happily in this country, and I live wealthily and the most importantly I enjoy freedom in my homeland which is impossible to get if I had to live in an authoritarian country like yours. Malaysia enjoys more prosperity only because of its small population but I’m sure if the population grows beyond the mark of 200 millions, oh no it’s million leagues away, 100 millions are the fair figures, the average prosperity will decline and eventually it will come to a full-stop before reaching 100 million mark! Your prosperity will drop way below the current economic indicators of Indonesia! So the only advantage of your country over ours is merely on the meagre population of Malaysia. So don’t hastily and stupidly claim that Malaysia is the place of wealth and safety (let alone freedom)!

But I don’t want to argue on this any further because it has deviated from the initial issues. I don’t hate Malaysians personally but I hate their habit of claiming things which don’t belong to them and that’s that! We don’t mind you enjoy our batiks or our other pieces of culture though I don’t care if the Malaises don’t buy our batiks, it doesn’t have any impact on batik’s stance in the international world, but claiming our culture as yours is of course another thing. Because I know Malaysia is the only nation in the world who is trying to patent culture that don’t belong to them, that’s what separates Malaysia with the rest of the civilised and creative world.

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wahyu

October 6, 2009 at 10:33 pm

@eurasian sensation, finally.. a malaysian with logic and objectivity.. thank you for your comment..

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Eurasian Sensation

October 7, 2009 at 9:02 am

@ wahyu – actually I’m a half-Indonesian Australian with a Malaysian partner. But thanks.

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wahyu

October 7, 2009 at 10:22 am

kriik kriiik.. i think you are malaysian.. stupid me.. hhe..

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Freewill

October 7, 2009 at 5:08 pm

” … if malaysian is save for everyone why your policemen beat our karate coach.. ”

Bamboozled has not responded to this …

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apeirokalia

October 7, 2009 at 11:39 pm

Boy was I not prepared to view the comments here! You all should be ashamed! One is falling under lazy interpretations of culture by a racist imperialist (The lazy racist colonialist modus operandi –British– of classifying people into one single general race–as identified by Blumenbachs Racist generalization of ‘Malay’). The other crowd is knee deep in sophomoric propaganda notes from the Soeharto era.

UNESCO has recognized Indonesia’s Batik, as a distinct motif and cultural technique that originated in Indonesia. But that doesn’t mean that UNESCO has deemed other Batik a non entity. If the dutch wanted to they could press for a heritage trademark from UNESCO for their batik, and UNESCO would find it compatible. In fact most people here need to be reminded of why UNESCO does what it does. It’s not a patent office. All it’s trying to do is raise world wide awareness towards certain cultures to sustain them. Not make them a monopolistic asset.

It is correct that the first known Batik was from Egypt. But it was Egyptian Batik. Differing in style and production technique. And this is the crux of the matter.

Culture becomes something wonderful when it is allowed to roam free in the land of creativity. If it wasn’t for the Egyptians willingness to let other people evolve their Batik, Indonesian Batik as we know it would never have existed as it is. Therefor there is no need to claim culture and pen it to a box that kills it. It needs to roam free to evolve and exist beyond the lifetimes of countries and ethnicities.

By staking claims you are all just killing that very culture.

For Malays (Bamboozled and Sudirman): Stop using the word ‘indon’. It makes you sound like a racist (which I hope you are not) and no one will ever take you seriously if you do. Also, please note that Indonesia has the largest Muslim population but it is not a Muslim country. We value your countries right to implementation of Islamic Law, but we do not wish to implement laws and restrictions that are not wanted by a majority of our people. And the fact that we don’t implement those laws is not because as a whole the country is full of infidels or have no abiding muslims, but because it is the democratic right of each citizen to decide what laws govern them, even non Muslim ones. And as democracy has it, we reserve the right not to implement khalwat (close proximity) or caning, or even the illegality of apostasy. We trust that people have the right to do whatever they want as long as they are not trespassing on others’ legal rights. And making it illegal for others to change religions is a trespass against an individual’s right to freedom of religion and beliefs. At least in Indonesia.

For Indonesians (Wiya, and the rest): it’s plain lazy and prejudiced to ‘hatehatehate’ malaysia. They never did anything to us as a people. No one stole anything since Malaysia has never claimed anything (research the internet and you will see for yourself). As a country they are better off economically than we are. They have better healthcare, public transport, education. There is a lot in Malaysia that we can learn, and vice versa. There is no need to succumb to old prejudices left behind by Soeharto. Ambalat? It was the Malaysian government that sent the navy in. Why not ask the Malay government why? instead of hating the whole people of Malay that most probably didn’t even know about it. Perhaps the government was acting improper. But people aren’t always their government. Or do you think we should all be considered as Soeharto’s ?

I only thank God that most of my Malay and Indonesian friends display more common sense than most of you put together.

Regards,

Putri Indonesia di negeri tetangga

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wahyu

October 8, 2009 at 1:52 am

i don’t hate all malaysian people.. i just hate their government and some malaysian who support their stupid goverment with narrow mind like bamboozled..

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Doff

October 9, 2009 at 12:20 am

Many Malaysian are quite confuse. The Indonesian are keep blaming and hate Malaysia and do riots by burning the Malaysian flag, wanted to Ganyang Malaysia and saying nasty things…yet why the Malaysian and Malaysia government still be bother helping the Indonesian with the recent earthquake in their country by sending aid and all?

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1. Citra
  
  October 9, 2009 at 1:18 pm
  
  Maybe because the Malaysian Newspaper are clipped some of the highlights of our country relationship?
  
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2. apeirokalia
  
  October 9, 2009 at 2:08 pm
  
  Because the government isn’t so stupid… it realizes that 30 people burning a flag do not mean that the other 200 million people are also doing the same thing.
  
  When you start blaming all because of some, it becomes a bit prejudiced and kinda racist. And that is what the Malaysian government is not.
  
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  1. wahyu
    
    October 10, 2009 at 4:10 pm
    
    i’m confused too.. why sometime malaysia government send their aid but in other time their send their navy to our territory when indonesia got the disaster..
    
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  2. apeirokalia
    
    October 13, 2009 at 10:59 am
    
    The Indonesian government should be asking them about it. Not calling up their cultural minister and lambasting him on national tv about an opening title on a tv program that some singaporean idiot screwed up.
    
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BroeryM

October 9, 2009 at 5:43 pm

Thank you very much.

1. You can keep the Koteka, unless my sex life needs additional spicing up (so far so good).

2. A Filipino friend noted in my FB that,”If Malaysia claims to share a common heritage with my Philipino cultural elements, I would feel very proud and not disgusted at all!”. Why should she be angry? Our national borders only existed after 1945, our common heritage when the seas were the highways, went back thousands of years. Why deny these people reference to their roots? Is that wrong?
Somewhere there seems to be plenty of followers of Idi Amin Dada (IDI.OTS)

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1. apeirokalia
  
  October 13, 2009 at 10:56 am
  
  I thought of the Koteka picture as a mere zeitgeist of fun. It is quite hilarious. You can take a joke right? 🙂
  
  I was actually agreeing with the second point of your post. But then you had to go screw everything up with mockery. Personal insults Ad Nausea will do you no good.
  
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BroeryM

October 9, 2009 at 5:50 pm

well, since I’m here, glancing at some of these stupid comments… its endless.

1. malaysians are unaware of Indonesians hatred to malaysians except for bloggers. They dont know what ‘maling’ means, not because they are stupid but because they have different words for it, so Malingsia doesnt mean a thing to them.

2. ‘Indo’ or ‘Indon’ are merely shortening, abbreviations Malaysian use for practicality with NO malice intended what soever. Nor do they understand what the difference is or the big fuss is all about. I Know Indomee not Indon mee, thats about it. They call bangladeshi nationals, ‘bangla’ and Pakistanis, ‘Parki’ with no derogatory intentions whatso ever.

“Biarla bulan bicara…cukuplah sampai disini”…

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1. apeirokalia
  
  October 13, 2009 at 10:48 am
  
  I don’t know your background, so I will just say this:
  
  I know that some ethnic chinese malays don’t find ‘indon’ derogatory (they don’t know or use it) but ask any ethnic malay and their cleaning ladies (pembantu) why ‘INDON’ is racist and you will clearly see why your second point is very much refutable.
  
  I know and I have had ‘experience’ with people such as bamboozled and sudirman who are bigoted beyond belief about Indonesians. They are not representative of common Malaysians. But I have met people like them. INDON and PAKI is the only vocabulary they use… It is not excusable.
  
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wahyu

October 10, 2009 at 4:28 pm

do you know that malaysia government take angklung a sundanese music instrument as their culture.. but because there is no malaysian can play angklung so their send angklung teacher from west java to teach them.. this why make indonesian people are so confused and annoyed with malaysia government.. if there is no one in malaysia can teach you how to play angkung.. how can malaysia government say that angklung is a malaysia culture.. can you understand how pathetic is that..

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1. Citra
  
  October 13, 2009 at 10:47 am
  
  Yuhuuuu… standing ovation from me just for you….
  
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2. apeirokalia
  
  October 13, 2009 at 10:50 am
  
  This is a misunderstanding. There was never any claim towards the Angklung. The Malaysian government merely thought of it as a fine instrument and thought of popularizing it in Malaysia. There was never any claim.
  
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3. apeirokalia
  
  October 13, 2009 at 10:52 am
  
  Additional:
  
  The Angklung is not just a Sundanese music instrument. The philipinos have them too. It is widely used in South East Asia.
  
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  1. Pembela Indonesia
    
    October 13, 2009 at 12:09 pm
    
    You are right, angklung is well known across Southeast Asia, but it originated from Indonesia. Check Wikipedia to make sure. We Indonesians don’t mind Malaysians enjoy our cultural works but please don’t lay any claims on anything which don’t belong to them. ( I don’t say that Malaysian govt had claimed angklung )
    
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abdullah

October 13, 2009 at 11:03 am

to : apeirokalia

please check this link : http://theresiaerni.multiply.com/journal/item/56 how malaysia gov. try to persuade indonesian angklung experts to work there coz malaysia already claimed angklung as musik nasional kerajaan.

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1. apeirokalia
  
  October 13, 2009 at 11:45 am
  
  I think it is Kompas who need to review their articles. It was a cultural convention meant to bridge the cultural gap. Nowhere is there proof that she was sent to Malaysia to ‘teach’ angklung to Malays who have no other teacher. It was a cultural exchange.
  
  Again, about claims, read my above post on UNESCO and then you can come back and point fingers.
  
  This cultural finger pointing has got to stop!
  
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wahyu

October 13, 2009 at 12:23 pm

from the article it’s clear that kompas was interviewing (is it right? interviewing hha)the angklung well known teacher mang udjo.. and he said that he and his student offered by malaysia government to teach angklung in malaysia.. in the article we can see also how mang udjo and his student implicitly try to send a message to malysian that angklung is from indonesia..

angklung in malysia is called bamboo malay.. i mean if you just want to play angklung why you change the name and said it as “malay”..

and angklung is originated from sunda..

and it’s not about the claim, it’s about the honesty of the people who enjoy angklung to mention where the music instrument come from..

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apeirokalia

October 13, 2009 at 2:21 pm

In the end, all I can say is… If they really did lay claim, it’s not for us to hate them or judge them. That would be petty. Let’s just move on with our lives and look at the more important stuff, like the rate of illiteracy still found in the kampungs. The natural disasters. The countless homeless and illiterate. Cause no matter what they claim, the truth will out. But our fury and hotheadedness will only make matters worse.

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1. abdullah
  
  October 18, 2009 at 11:54 pm
  
  I think your comment is OOT… we are talking about cultural issues not natural dissaster. I think it’s typical malaysian always shifting the issues into un-related topic.
  
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  1. apeirokalia
    
    October 19, 2009 at 12:03 pm
    
    maaf ya tapi saya orang indonesia… asli dari tanah minang… my reply was very much to the point of the comment that i was replying to. Bahwa memang lebih penting mengarahkan semua energi ini kepada bencana alam dan kemiskinan yang ada di negara KITA.
    
    Ga usah pake menghina-hina orang lain. Kayak ga ada yang lebih penting aja. Saya bukan orang Malaysia, dan ga ada yang namanya ‘tipikal’ orang malaysia… sama seperti halnya ga ada tipikal ‘indon’. That’s just lazy stereotyping bordering on racism.
    
    This is my last comment on this thread. I know my country, and it is not filled with these types of petty countrymen. And I know Malaysia, and it is not filled with illogical and racist people.
    
    You should all be ashamed of yourselves. You do more harm to your country than your neighbors ever could.
    
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abdulloh

October 19, 2009 at 8:23 pm

Well, ini negara demokrasi… Anda bisa mempersepsi segalah hal sesuai kehendak Anda. Saya hanya menyodorkan fakta berupa artikel dari sumber media yg kredibel dan berusaha agar jalannya diskusi tidak OOT. Tapi yah, terserah Anda juga sih…

Btw, saya suka sekali kalimat Anda yang terakhir kayaknya lebih cocok ditujukan kepada Anda ketimbang saya : “You should be ashamed of yourselves. You do more harm to your country than your neighbors ever could”.

Salam

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apeirokalia

October 20, 2009 at 1:48 pm

This discussion was already OOT when you decided to not ‘debate’ and instead use PERSONAL ABUSE bordering on racial stereotyping by making the accusation that I was Malay and therefor incapable of making a rational argument.

But please feel free to continue debat kusirnya. sendirian.

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Michael Chick

November 17, 2009 at 12:00 pm

I heard my name mentioned…..

You people wanna look at this super “old” article I wrote aeons ago on the same subject:
http://balajoe27.wordpress.com/2007/10/03/who-are-the-real-“malays”/

another related topic is here:
http://goethals1907-2007.blogspot.com/2009/10/origins-klcc-twin-towers.html

And Origins of the Malays-Final COnclusions are found here:
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20090205

You will be reading close to 6 years of research on this topic. I have personally visited every one of the sites spending weeks, and sometimes months with these people, before even attempting to come up with any derrivative conclusions.

Sorry Unspun, for the long leave-of-absence. I’ve been “walking the Jungles”, as you know… hahaha

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1. apeirokalia
  
  November 19, 2009 at 12:41 pm
  
  Really good article Michael! Love the analysis! My comments are on there…
  
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veryoldrem

July 24, 2010 at 1:14 pm

Batik already doing that in all countries.
Perhaps we can say that a worldwide art

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lj

December 13, 2010 at 2:20 pm

The problem is older generation in many countries knows that Batik originally comes from Indonesia, but younger generation in Malaysia is at lost. This is caused by:
a. Malaysia (and Singapore) government teach that all Malays and Indonesians’ ethnic groups are the same race, that is, Malay race. Though they know that Indonesian are having Minang, Bugis and Javanese ethnic groups (which many of them now are Malaysian and Singaporean), they ignorantly considered Minang, Bugis and Javanese as sub-classes of Malays, based only on the similarity of Malay and Bahasa Indonesia.
b. However, the study of anthropology shows a different story. And different languages of Indonesian ethnic groups are the best proves that only Indonesian Melayu is the same race with Malaysia and Singapore Malay. All other ethnic groups in Indonesia are not sub-classes of Malay, because all ethnic groups in Indonesia are having their own languages, and they learn Bahasa Indonesia, only because Bahasa Indonesia was declared as national language. That is why all ethnic groups of Batak, Aceh, Baduy, Minang / Padang, Bantenese, Betawi, Sundanese, Cirebonese, Javanese, Madurese, Dayak, Banjar, Bugis, Balinese, Sasak, Toraja, Ambon, Papua, etc are not Malay sub-classes, but Malay / Melayu also an ethnic group, and a sub-classes of larger race. And a lot of Malaysians and Singaporeans don’t know that Indonesian ethnic groups are not only from Southern Mongoloid race, but also from Polynesian race.
c. The question is how Malaysian and Singaporean got their knowledge to produce batik. The answer is immigration of human resources from Java, and getting them to become Malaysian national and Singaporean national. Not like Singapore who argues that many things are Singaporean heritage because some of their ancestors come from Indonesia, thus acknowledge the origin of the heritage, Malaysia goes further by claiming batik is originally from them.
d. This misconception of Indonesian’s ethnic groups has other effects in many things in Malaysia and Singapore. That is why you will find Padang restaurant in Malaysia and Singapore having food with Java taste, simply because they willingly ignore to differentiate Indonesian’s ethnic groups.
e. For those who lack of knowledge on Indonesian’s ethnic groups please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_groups_in_Indonesia and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayo-Polynesian_languages. Once Malaysian know how different the Malay (Indonesia Melayu) from other ethnic groups in Indonesia, they may start to understand that they cannot claim the originality of the arts from other ethnic groups in Indonesian (example: they cannot claim batik, since it is from Javanese ethnic group, unless they also acknowledge that Malaysia is not Malay, but Javanese).
f. You also cannot claim batik by reasoning of its current universality, like you cannot claim McDonald is from Malaysia, though it exists everywhere in the world.

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donypratama

June 10, 2012 at 2:00 pm

Malaysia oh malaysia,
please stop stealing Indonesian cultures, “saudara serumpun” thingy is rubbish, we dont need malingsial.

Batik is javanese word, why egypt culture using javanese word, the crissis of identity makes malaysia dumber.

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