Accepting our Common ASEAN Culture and History
By Farish A. Noor ~ September 10th, 2009. Filed under: TOM_Main.
I am, like thousands of other Malaysians, a product of several generations of inter-ethnic marriages and my family originally came from Java. Despite the complexity of my past and the hybrid nature of my present identity, I am seen and regarded as a Malaysian citizen by virtue of the fact that I was born in Malaysia and I carry a Malaysian passport. But my nationality does not and cannot make up the totality of my identity, and I refuse to allow it to dictate who and what I am.
It is for that reason that since my childhood I have harboured a strong and enduring sympathy and love for Java and all things Javanese. I collect Javanese batiks and wayang kulit figures; I am familiar with the legends and lore of Java; and I have even taught courses on the shared history between Java and the rest of Southeast Asia .
Yet how many Indonesians realise that in many parts of Malaysia today the Javanese language is still spoken, particularly among Malaysians of Javanese descent who wish to maintain their linguistic and cultural links to the land of their ancestors? And how many Indonesians realise that there are literally millions of Malaysians who are of Javanese, Bugis, Madurese, Balinese and Sumatran descent in Malaysia today? The same historical blindness is evident in Malaysia as well, where so many Malaysians fail to see and accept the simple fact that Malaysia ’s history is invariably tied up with the history of Indonesia – and other neighbouring countries like Thailand and Singapore – too.
It is against this backdrop of mutual ignorance and lack of historical perspective that we are witnessing what can be labelled the cultural war in ASEAN at present. Over the past few months, diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Malaysia have plummeted to an all-time low, as Indonesians blame Malaysia and other ASEAN countries of ‘stealing’ ideas and products that are Indonesian in origin.
Now let us be precise about what is being discussed here: There is no-one who would dispute that instances of commercial fraud should be dealt with firmly and swiftly. I for one have no problem with Indonesian companies who wish to take legal action against foreign companies that buy Indonesian products, and then unscrupulously remove the ‘Made in Indonesia’ labels on them and replace them with another ‘Made in X’ label instead. That would be a case of misrepresentation and wrongful labelling, and anyone with a modicum of common sense can see that that amounts to cheating.
However as a Malaysian who shares his cultural and familial past and roots with Indonesia , I am disheartened to read of the round of protests against Malaysia on the grounds that Malaysians (as well as other ASEAN countries) have somehow ‘stolen’ Indonesian cultural practices and customs and adopted them as theirs. As a Malaysian of Javanese origin, am I not allowed to learn the language of my ancestors, appreciate the beauty of Javanese batik, read and teach about Javanese legends, art and architecture; just because of my citizenship? Logic and rationality need to be injected into this debate as fast as humanly possible.
We, the peoples of Southeast Asia, need to understand and appreciate the simple fact that we all share a common history and culture; and it is because we share this common culture we are all the richer for it. Our region has been at the cross-roads of India and China , and it was the early influence of Buddhism and Hinduism that came from East and West that shaped the cultural landscape of the countries we hold so dear today.
If we were to go down the perilous path of claiming some of our cultural practices and values as exclusively ours, where would it leave us? After all, is it not a fact that so much of what we now consider as local and homely also originated from abroad? For instance: the wayang kulit genre is not unique to Java but has always existed in Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Southern Thailand and even further afield all the way to South China, India and Turkey . Which country can lay claim to that? And is it not also true that the epic tales that make up the narratives of our wayang culture are derived from the Ramayana and Mahabharata of India? If that be the case, how would we Southeast Asians react if Indians were to tell us that we have ‘stolen’ their culture? Is it not the case that almost half of the words in Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Malaysia , Thai, Khmer, Lao and Burmese are also derivative of Sanskrit? Do we have to admit that we ‘stole’ the language of India too?
Resolving the current dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia will require some degree of intelligence and less emotionalism and anger. For a start, the politicians of the region will have to do their part to promote a common history of Southeast Asia that reminds all of us of our shared cross-cultural origins and the long history of cultural overlap and borrowing that took place up to the colonial era.
Academics, and in particular political-historians like myself, also have our role to play to remind our students and society at large of the long-standing historical continuities that continue to bind us together. Till today there is no common history text book for all of Southeast Asia , which draws these historical links and connections together. Someone had better start writing this book, soon.
And above all, the political manipulation that has gone into organising these demos and counter-demos need to stop as well. The tragedy of Southeast Asia is that our cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic and multi-religious past is being undermined and erased thanks to a narrow chauvinistic nationalism that is sectarian and divisive.
So while I fully agree with the complaint of Indonesian manufacturers whose goods have been bought, exported and then mischievously re-labelled by foreign companies; I am also calling for the recognition of our common cultural basis and refuting the notion of cultural copyright or patenting. Again, I repeat my earlier point about my common Malaysian-Indonesian roots and my Javanese genealogy. We are, all of us, the products of such a complex history in one way or another. Let us not impoverish ourselves for the sake of a narrow nationalism that is historically blind.
September 10th, 2009 at 05:05
I’ve been following this conflict between us and Indonesia but I still can’t quite believe that the Indonesians are serious about this. The issues seem minor to me …
A perverse part of me admires them somewhat for their jingoism though.
September 10th, 2009 at 09:48
All of this arising now has surely to do with the behaviour and conduct that has sprouted out of the believe in the Ketuanan Melayu rhetoric. There is context obviously when Ketuanan Melayu is propagated. It is supposed to be confined to the Malaysian shores and it has application only over the “pendatangs”, orang Asli and the “others”, who I might say would be the Indonesians we generally encounter in the streets of Malaysia and in our homes too in the form of our maids.
Not satisfied that the target of this supremacy, basically, the non-Malay Malaysians have given them the finger, they next thrust it up the Indonesians.
Economic policies and religious practices are made to sound like as if “we know better”. All of a sudden you hear of Malaysian Halal certification as setting International standards. Malaysia the Halal Hub. And of course when you get people like Khairy Jamaluddin talking about these things, you get the western world listening. Like as if Malaysia indeed knows Islam better and that we would make better bridges that link the two societies.
The non-recognition of Malaysian Issued Halal Certificates by Indonesia probably prompted the sudden surrender of the certification by the Malaysian Halal Development Corporation back to Jakim hardly a year after HDC took over from Jakim. And having awakened the Indonisian Muslim authorities, they now have turned the whole thing around to now certify Halal Certifying authorities around the world. So that if MUIs has not got the certifying authority on its list that that certifying authority must have itself open to MUIS audit and assessment presumably. Not only that, MUIS now also approves the certification by industry or sector. So that there are today certain Halal certificates issued by Jakim for certain sectors that MUSI will not recognise. and who started all this? you said it. Malaysia!! Emboldened by their believe that they were indeed Ketuanan Melayu!!
September 10th, 2009 at 10:19
In simple thought on curry, as in fact, no country or race or ethnical group could claimed and stated it is belong only in one group. The varieties of curry can be found in many country from east to west.
The Japanese curry might be differ in term of ingredients in contra to Thais,which of course also differ from northern India and southern, the same goes to culture. For now, must we bear in mind that we the root is still in archipelago.
September 25th, 2009 at 13:33
Any great civilizations deeply showed the lending and borrowing processes. Zero borrowed by arabs or muslims before it’s rendered to the west. If we start to fight for an item, the gate of hell will open before us. In the case of malay-java spat regarding pendet, terang bulan, batik, kris, wayang kulit, etc it magnified our narrow mindedness to feel superior about nothing that belongs to the people of nusantara. Inside every soul in this region, malaysians or indonesians, you will realise the mixed genetics. Time has come for malays at large to forge together to greater heights - to have veto power in UN for example.
February 2nd, 2010 at 02:13
Dr Farish, you are one of a few Malaysians I’ve met who knows and proudly admits where your roots come from. I really appreciate it. I agree with you that if you have Bugis, Javanese, Minangkabaus, Aceh etc in your blood, you should be able to continue your culture and heritage in the country that is now called Malaysia. But what I think most Indonesians are angry about is that all the things that are inherited are then called, and then sold in tourism ads, as Malaysian. It’s true Indonesians took words from Sanskrit, and things from the Mahabarata as our own, but we never say they are Indonesian. Those things plus the national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika or the Garuda, ask any Indonesian school children, and they will tell you exactly where they come from, and I guarantee you they won’t call them Indonesian or originate from Indonesia.
If the Malaysian Chinese or Indians will tell you their customs and culture are originally Chinese or Indian (even the exact parts of the countries), why won’t the Malays admit the same and give us some credit? We ARE still alive and living in Java, Bali, Sumatra or Sulawesi practicing the culture as we have been for hundreds of years. Some of you will argue when your ancestors came to the peninsula there was no such thing as Indonesia. The same argument can then be said for why they can’t be called Malaysian as it’s a younger country. Some angry Indonesians would say, if you don’t want to call it by country, call it by the island the culture comes from and be proud of it, but don’t call it Malaysian. Maids are not the only things you import.
I’m not one of those people who are angry about this “culture stealing” business because for me it’s plain to see where some things come from no matter what you say they come from. But I have to say the re-labeling of Indonesian goods is very sad and may explain the other accusations.
Now in a few months there’s going to be the Shanghai Expo, where I hear Malaysia is going to open a giant stand with a Minangkabau roof to sell their products. As a Minangkabau from the Minangkabau homeland of West Sumatra where the ancestors of the Minangkabau of Negeri Sembilan came from, I’m proud that your country picked it to represent Malaysia. But a little warning, my fellow countrymen and maybe other Minangs may not agree with me. And we may have a deja vu over this.
February 5th, 2010 at 01:32
,,,i must say that i admire the courage of the foreign workers in Malaysia !. Most are hard working and well mannered plus respectful too. What am not confortable is with some of our Malaysian negative and stupid superior attitude towards these foreign workers !.
,,,lets respect each other as our asean brothers and sisters, needing each others contribution and deliverable. The win/win understanding and appreciation. We need each other to get the job done too. Just stop the blame game and focus on specifics rather than some imaginative subject issue based on hear say or self created out of the blues ? Get down to the core business in hand, period !. Be a friend with each other and start trusting too.
,,, my salute to all the hard working foreign workers in Malaysia and many thanks for your direct contribution in helping to develop this nation too.
February 7th, 2010 at 11:11
,,,what we most malaysian should appreciate dearly, is that not too long ago in the distance past, most of our forefathers were like the foreign workers nowadays struggling to earn a living too !.
,,,my great grand father sailed across as a trader from main land cina and settled down here, married to aceh/malay plus indian mixed, producing the seeds of new malaysians, like some of you and me. So lets all live together and have peace with one and another.
,,,i have sat down and spoken to many foreign workers, listening to their adventures in the high seas and abuses on the main land of Malaysia, their longings of their children back in the village and hunger back home as such the daring travels in search of food and shelter. With no more tears in their eyes as they look up into the sky, wondering why no body matters ?.
,,, But to me, they all matters, as like my great grand father it really matter. These are brave heros, willing to venture out where it matters !.
,,,so next time, you pass by these hard working guys, just say hai !!.
,,.indeed it matters, cos with just a smile…… but it matters !…their dry tears will wet the earth, whersoever and ever.
,,,humanity and care for fellow beings….my tears together with all foreign workers.