The dispute over the mask dance comes shortly after a folk song used in Malaysia's "Truly Asia" tourism campaign struck a discordant note among many Indonesians who believe the tune belongs to their country.
The protesters on Thursday said Malaysia was promoting a Javanese mask dance, known as Reog Ponorogo, as its traditional art in its tourism campaign.
Malaysia's Culture and Arts and Heritage Ministry is using a traditional Malay dance called Barongan in its tourism advertisements, which is similar to the Indonesian dance featuring men wearing enormous tiger heads and peacock feather masks, accompanied by acrobats.
The rally outside the embassy in Jakarta looked more like a carnival than a protest, with participants dressed in traditional costumes performing the Reog dance.
"Malaysia thief!" read posters carried by the protesters.
Malaysian ambassador Zainal Abidin Zain told the protestors that "Malaysia never claimed that Barongan originated from our country".
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9 comments:
This is yet another shameless Malaysian act. Even other regions in Java would not consider Reog Ponorogo as theirs, even if they have similar dances. Reog Ponorogo is so strongly associated with the city Ponorogo
C'mon stop bashing Malaysia. They didn't claim Reog was Malaysian
Of course they didn't claim it. What they did was plagiarizing Reog and naming it Barongan, hoping nobody would notice the where it originated. Then after showing barongan a hundred times, they will claim it is uniquely Malaysian!
originality originality... well newsflash: It's no secret that reog ponorogo or any javanese/balinese etc dance for that matter, is actually a hindu-india derived dance.
And newsflash: Hinduism originates in India NOT in Indonesia. If you say you know your origin (from India)- then why you get mad and say it is YOUR origin (whatever hindu-derive cultures)?
I know many Indians who are upset with Indonesians claiming that those dances in Bali and by javanese like gamelan etc are indonesians. They said it is from India, not Indonesia. But do the indonesians care? Nope. They turn a deaf ear and pretend they didnt hear those Indian cries.
If confronted, they say yup its from India but indonesians "twist" it to make it "indonesian". Yet, when others like malaysians "twist" it to suit their own environment and climate, Indonesians call them theif and declare those hindu dances/cultures are their creations!
And here's another newsflash: Not only malaysia but the rest of south east asia also shares the hindu-derive dances/cultures and that include Thailand, Brunei, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Philippines and Cambodia. Please don't be so naive and attack them saying they steal INDONESIAN's heritage!
lastly but not least, most of the ethnic whatevers you have in indonesia are actually really from the mountainous people in China. You'll find alot of ethnic chinese in China wearing the same headress and headgear like the ladies in Indonesia, even the same triangle type like the ladies in sumatra.
Look at these chinese ethnic headgears and dresses:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1211/1463893308_e1eaa13f66_o.jpg
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/object/6219236-chinese-minority.php?id=6219236
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/040NeYb4ly1Kb/610x.jpg
http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/nic-and-keiths-wedding-guests-on-standby/2006/06/17/1149964792829.html
http://www.marlamallett.com/miao.htm
http://www.orientaltravel.com/people/E_Dai.htm
http://www.orientaltravel.com/people/E_Li.htm
http://www.orientaltravel.com/people/E_Bougei.htm
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/object/6017049-chinese-minority-girl.php?id=6017049
http://www.orientaltravel.com/people/E_Bai.htm
http://www.orientaltravel.com/people/E_Li_Su.htm
http://www.orientaltravel.com/people/Shui.htm
http://www.orientaltravel.com/people/E_Miao.htm
So originality originality... I guess Indonesia is a thief of India and China. Tsk tsk
This is a classic example of pot calling kettle black. Nuff said.
kush, and how about indonesians doing dances and stuffs hoping that no one would realise where all of that indonesian heritage originate from? (*hint hint* India and China)
Even jamu is from ayurveda, arabic and chinese medicinal traditions.
Bottomline: If you know what's your origin, don't get mad at others and claim it's 100% your original creation.
Tsk tsk I smell Malaysians.
Sure Malaysians are defending Malaysia; that is understandable. But please show me any Indian dances that are similar to Javanese or even Balinese dances?
Dont always say its from India, India, India, just because Hinduism is from India, what the hell, you guys cant even show us which dances or tradition that India has that is/are similar to any Javanese or Balinese dances or tradition.
Sure, Thai has almost similar dance, but the differences you can acknowledge and its been on their cultures for forever already and known worldwide already same as Javanese and Balinese dances/cultures. But the ones that the Malaysians have are like seeing through mirror of Indonesian cultures. Such a small country, doesnt make sense that in recent years suddenly cultures from Sabang Sampai Merauke are surfacing in your teeny tiny area.
Malaysia and Indonesia have Chinese, so it would only made sense that both countries have traditions that are related to the people and the country of China.
Same as Indians. Both countries have Indians descendants, but again, show me, where in India cultures that you can see similarity of Javanese and Balinese dances?
Wahai orang Indonesia , jangan lah kamu terlalu takjub dengan culture kamu itu. Nenek aku datang dari Indonesia...masa kecil ku selalu di dendang kan lagu-lagu seperti Rasa Sayang Ye. Dengan lagu-lagu begitulah aku membesar. Setahu aku lagu itu di ajar oleh nenek moyangku. Bukannya aku belajar dari seseorang yang aku tidak kenali yang datangnya dari Indonesia.
Kita datang dari rumpun yang sama, dan kita semua beragama Islam. Janganlah berpecah belah di sebabkan hal yang sebegini. Kita mesti tolong-menolong dalam membangunkan negara kita...bukannya menjadikan isu sebegini sebagai dinding yang memisahkan kita.
storm in a teacup!
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