AMBALAT AND PENDET ISSUES: DEFAMING MALAYSIA OKAY…COUNTRIES DEFAMING INDIVIDUALS NOT OKAY.
By Mansor Puteh
Some Indonesians seem to think that they can make wild charges against Malaysia and get away with it, like charging Malaysia for ‘stealing’ their culture, etc.
Whereas, we have seen how some individuals habitually file law suits against the Malaysian governments on a host of things, yet, it is okay. It is okay. But how come it is not okay for Malaysia, then, to file law suits for defamation against the certain individuals for defaming Malaysia so openly?
Maybe this is what Malaysia ought to do, so that other individuals won’t resort to unreasonable methods to express their concerns for their own culture?
In this regard, I feel sorry for the well-meaning Malaysian lawyers specializing in human rights and the Bar, whose members have been known to immediately file suits against the government and also the papers in the country for charging that they had defamed them.
In the ‘Ambalat’ and ‘Pendet’ issue, it is clearly, these individuals and groups in Malaysia had neglected in their duty, which is to uphold the integrity of the country, when faced by a small group of individuals and also their media for having defamed the country.
The charges of stealing their culture, or in this case the ‘pendet’ dance of Bali is almost a gone case. The Indonesians who felt that their culture had been ‘stolen’ must ensure that it is so – meaning that it is no more in Bali!
If it is still is, and the same groups of Indonesians are still performing it in their temples and sometimes in Gedung Wuntilan in Ubud and elsewhere, then they cannot say that it had been ‘stolen’.
Even if there are some Malaysians who have been fascinated with this dance, it is still not a crime to perform it in public even in Malaysia or elsewhere for the same reason Indonesians are happy to perform jazz, rap and other sorts of American and western music.
I have heard a group from Indonesia happily singing America’s country-and-western music without shame or admitting where it had come from.
Yet, when there is a mere clip showing an Indonesian woman performing the ‘pendet’ dance in a documentary made by a Malaysian production company which was shown on the Discovery Channel, some Indonesians are angry.
Their anger is not limited to voicing their concerns in the blog or papers and on television, but is taken to the streets where they happily and proudly parade their home-made bamboo spears, stopping vehicles driving through Jalan Diponogoro in Jakarta, and wanting to arrest Malaysian so that they are deported.
And shockingly, the Malaysian government and their ministers concerned are taken by such a threat.
As a regular visitor to Indonesia and one who had traveled by land from Aceh to Bali, I can say for certain that the actions of the few Indonesians do not reflect the many others in the country, some two million are happily living and working in Malaysia, a country that had not managed to find them jobs that give them a better future.
These people have not been known to be supportive of the actions taken by their counterparts in Indonesia or more specifically in Jakarta, who might not have come to Malaysia to work.
So no wonder, they get agitated and angry at the slightest provocation. The reason why this happens is because the can see how their relatives and friends who are working in Malaysia are better off than they are, yet, they are not able to come to Malaysia to work, either legally or illegally, for some reasons or so.
This is how I want to look at it from the psychologist point of view, in the absence or interest of the other ‘qualified’ psychologists that we have in the country who seem to be looking elsewhere. Many of them are, I’m afraid, arm-chair experts, whose views on psychology can be found in many text-books, dealing with issues that are discussed in America mostly. They are narrow-minded psychologists.
And why must Malaysians feel guilty, just because of the criminal actions of a small group of rowdy and media-crazy Indonesians?
It is not a blow to Malaysia-Indonesia relations. And the Malaysian government should not feel sorry for anything.
If there is anyone who should feel sorry, they are the Indonesian president, their police, politicians and the whole country.
Where in the world can any groups of people carry potentially dangerous and life-threatening home-made weapons, such as the bamboo spears or ‘buluh rencong’ and parading in public? Only Indonesia! It is Indonesia Boleh?
Yes, it is.
And where are the Indonesian intellectuals and cultural experts? Why are they not explaining this matter that their culture cannot be ‘stolen’ but can be shared with those who are interested in it?
I have seen an Italian woman living for many years in Bali learning their dance and performing in public. Yet, the Balinese, especially, are very happy with that. They did not charge the woman for having ‘stolen’ their culture.
The other thing that the Indonesians ought to remember is that the ‘pendet’ dance is typically Balinese-Hindu or Hindu-Bali, and it is performed in their ‘pura’ or temples, with their women dancers performing with their bare shoulders.
So no wonder when they get to perform in Malaysia, they have to cover their body, or else they won’t be welcome.
What this means is that there is no way for Malay and Muslim dance groups to be attracted to this sort of dance, simply because it is a grave sin for them to do so; just like to perform yoga, which has been determined by the Islamic authorities to be against the teaching of Islam.
I wonder if the Indonesians had only wanted to highlight their culture and the ‘pendet’ dance and by creating an unnecessary controversy so they can get cheap or even free publicity in the international media.
I know some Balinese very well over the years, and I know for sure that they do not have any issue regarding then ‘pendet’ dance clip; it’s just some of the Jawa (not Javanese!) who seemed to be inflamed by what they thought they had seen – the theft of their ‘pendet’ by Malaysia.
First they had failed to go to Bali or to check with their friends, if they had stopped performing the dance. It is still there.
Secondly, the Indonesian authorities should be blamed for ‘allowing’ their ‘wayang kulit’ to be performed in the streets of Jakarta.
In other countries, they would have been arrested and cordially charged, so no others would want to follow in their footsteps.
I put my blame on the Indonesian authorities and government for not putting in place the relevant laws of defamation and the other civil laws which could define the conduct of their citizens. They have put Indonesia to shame for their misconduct.
Malaysia has nothing to do with them, and Malaysians do not need to be apologetically. It’s all between them.
Most of the culture in Bali is derived from other countries as can be seen with their ‘Barong’, which can be said to have been copied or influenced from the Chinese dragon dance. And their religion which they call ‘Hindu-Bali’ came from India. And being a former Hindu and Buddhist country in ancient times, Indonesians still carry on with their old cultures and traditions despite them having left these religions to embrace Islam which came from Arabia.
And lastly and most importantly, what is happening between Malaysia and Indonesia is due to the poor performances of our leaders, who won elections, but who do not have the real interests of the country and its people.
They are being guided blindly by the poorly-trained economists, who look at mega projects but frown down upon those daily activities of the ordinary folks in the two countries, who are passionately interested in the arts.
No wonder, they had all failed to see how the creation of the New Malay Cinema and New Islamic Cinema can be useful to forge greater ties between the peoples of our two countries.
The world Chinese and Indians are being united by their cinemas which are based in Hong Kong and India, respectively; while the Americans are being united by Hollywood.
Yet, our stupid politicians, think-tankers and economists have all failed to look at this.
Do expect more petty controversies to erupt now and then by the Indonesians. And again the respective ministers will issue the same statements. They get all the publicity. But life will go on as usual after that until the next silly issue erupts.
Some Indonesians seem to think that they can make wild charges against Malaysia and get away with it, like charging Malaysia for ‘stealing’ their culture, etc.
Whereas, we have seen how some individuals habitually file law suits against the Malaysian governments on a host of things, yet, it is okay. It is okay. But how come it is not okay for Malaysia, then, to file law suits for defamation against the certain individuals for defaming Malaysia so openly?
Maybe this is what Malaysia ought to do, so that other individuals won’t resort to unreasonable methods to express their concerns for their own culture?
In this regard, I feel sorry for the well-meaning Malaysian lawyers specializing in human rights and the Bar, whose members have been known to immediately file suits against the government and also the papers in the country for charging that they had defamed them.
In the ‘Ambalat’ and ‘Pendet’ issue, it is clearly, these individuals and groups in Malaysia had neglected in their duty, which is to uphold the integrity of the country, when faced by a small group of individuals and also their media for having defamed the country.
The charges of stealing their culture, or in this case the ‘pendet’ dance of Bali is almost a gone case. The Indonesians who felt that their culture had been ‘stolen’ must ensure that it is so – meaning that it is no more in Bali!
If it is still is, and the same groups of Indonesians are still performing it in their temples and sometimes in Gedung Wuntilan in Ubud and elsewhere, then they cannot say that it had been ‘stolen’.
Even if there are some Malaysians who have been fascinated with this dance, it is still not a crime to perform it in public even in Malaysia or elsewhere for the same reason Indonesians are happy to perform jazz, rap and other sorts of American and western music.
I have heard a group from Indonesia happily singing America’s country-and-western music without shame or admitting where it had come from.
Yet, when there is a mere clip showing an Indonesian woman performing the ‘pendet’ dance in a documentary made by a Malaysian production company which was shown on the Discovery Channel, some Indonesians are angry.
Their anger is not limited to voicing their concerns in the blog or papers and on television, but is taken to the streets where they happily and proudly parade their home-made bamboo spears, stopping vehicles driving through Jalan Diponogoro in Jakarta, and wanting to arrest Malaysian so that they are deported.
And shockingly, the Malaysian government and their ministers concerned are taken by such a threat.
As a regular visitor to Indonesia and one who had traveled by land from Aceh to Bali, I can say for certain that the actions of the few Indonesians do not reflect the many others in the country, some two million are happily living and working in Malaysia, a country that had not managed to find them jobs that give them a better future.
These people have not been known to be supportive of the actions taken by their counterparts in Indonesia or more specifically in Jakarta, who might not have come to Malaysia to work.
So no wonder, they get agitated and angry at the slightest provocation. The reason why this happens is because the can see how their relatives and friends who are working in Malaysia are better off than they are, yet, they are not able to come to Malaysia to work, either legally or illegally, for some reasons or so.
This is how I want to look at it from the psychologist point of view, in the absence or interest of the other ‘qualified’ psychologists that we have in the country who seem to be looking elsewhere. Many of them are, I’m afraid, arm-chair experts, whose views on psychology can be found in many text-books, dealing with issues that are discussed in America mostly. They are narrow-minded psychologists.
And why must Malaysians feel guilty, just because of the criminal actions of a small group of rowdy and media-crazy Indonesians?
It is not a blow to Malaysia-Indonesia relations. And the Malaysian government should not feel sorry for anything.
If there is anyone who should feel sorry, they are the Indonesian president, their police, politicians and the whole country.
Where in the world can any groups of people carry potentially dangerous and life-threatening home-made weapons, such as the bamboo spears or ‘buluh rencong’ and parading in public? Only Indonesia! It is Indonesia Boleh?
Yes, it is.
And where are the Indonesian intellectuals and cultural experts? Why are they not explaining this matter that their culture cannot be ‘stolen’ but can be shared with those who are interested in it?
I have seen an Italian woman living for many years in Bali learning their dance and performing in public. Yet, the Balinese, especially, are very happy with that. They did not charge the woman for having ‘stolen’ their culture.
The other thing that the Indonesians ought to remember is that the ‘pendet’ dance is typically Balinese-Hindu or Hindu-Bali, and it is performed in their ‘pura’ or temples, with their women dancers performing with their bare shoulders.
So no wonder when they get to perform in Malaysia, they have to cover their body, or else they won’t be welcome.
What this means is that there is no way for Malay and Muslim dance groups to be attracted to this sort of dance, simply because it is a grave sin for them to do so; just like to perform yoga, which has been determined by the Islamic authorities to be against the teaching of Islam.
I wonder if the Indonesians had only wanted to highlight their culture and the ‘pendet’ dance and by creating an unnecessary controversy so they can get cheap or even free publicity in the international media.
I know some Balinese very well over the years, and I know for sure that they do not have any issue regarding then ‘pendet’ dance clip; it’s just some of the Jawa (not Javanese!) who seemed to be inflamed by what they thought they had seen – the theft of their ‘pendet’ by Malaysia.
First they had failed to go to Bali or to check with their friends, if they had stopped performing the dance. It is still there.
Secondly, the Indonesian authorities should be blamed for ‘allowing’ their ‘wayang kulit’ to be performed in the streets of Jakarta.
In other countries, they would have been arrested and cordially charged, so no others would want to follow in their footsteps.
I put my blame on the Indonesian authorities and government for not putting in place the relevant laws of defamation and the other civil laws which could define the conduct of their citizens. They have put Indonesia to shame for their misconduct.
Malaysia has nothing to do with them, and Malaysians do not need to be apologetically. It’s all between them.
Most of the culture in Bali is derived from other countries as can be seen with their ‘Barong’, which can be said to have been copied or influenced from the Chinese dragon dance. And their religion which they call ‘Hindu-Bali’ came from India. And being a former Hindu and Buddhist country in ancient times, Indonesians still carry on with their old cultures and traditions despite them having left these religions to embrace Islam which came from Arabia.
And lastly and most importantly, what is happening between Malaysia and Indonesia is due to the poor performances of our leaders, who won elections, but who do not have the real interests of the country and its people.
They are being guided blindly by the poorly-trained economists, who look at mega projects but frown down upon those daily activities of the ordinary folks in the two countries, who are passionately interested in the arts.
No wonder, they had all failed to see how the creation of the New Malay Cinema and New Islamic Cinema can be useful to forge greater ties between the peoples of our two countries.
The world Chinese and Indians are being united by their cinemas which are based in Hong Kong and India, respectively; while the Americans are being united by Hollywood.
Yet, our stupid politicians, think-tankers and economists have all failed to look at this.
Do expect more petty controversies to erupt now and then by the Indonesians. And again the respective ministers will issue the same statements. They get all the publicity. But life will go on as usual after that until the next silly issue erupts.
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