http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/KJ03Ae02.html Indonesia cut from a different cloth
Similarities in culture, language and religious customs should make Indonesia and Malaysia good neighbors. But long-running spats over everything from territorial boundaries to cultural ownership of culinary dishes, dances, instruments and even Malaysia's national anthem have over the years hampered ties.
The staking of claims over each other's culture came to a colorful head this Friday when the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognized batik, a wax-resistant dyeing technique, as part of Indonesia's distinct cultural heritage. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called for a party to celebrate the announcement and asked all Indonesians to wear their best batik garbs.
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A similar cultural flareup between Malaysia and Indonesia broke out in 2007 over the use of an Indonesian folk song, "Rasa Sayange", in a Malaysian tourism advertisement. That dispute sparked a resurgent nationalism among Indonesians, driving a newfound embrace for cultural items such as batik, and moving designers such as Edward Hutabarat to embark on a batik revival that saw a spike in local sales of the fabric.
The revival also saw synthetic batik flood in from China. Although definitions of batik now include cloth that is patterned using a machine, traditional batik is handmade, unlike the mass-market cloth Indonesia imports. With more synthetic batik on the market, vendors at Tanah Abang, Jakarta's largest textile market, have found they could only compete by producing their own machine-made batik, which they also sell to buyers in Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia.
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Some designers say UNESCO's recognition comes too late to give Indonesia a market advantage in commercializing the tradition. "Indonesia has been really careless about claiming its heritage," said Sanchia Hamidjaja, 26, who designs leather bags with a trim and lining made from a rare and vibrant hand-drawn batik whose origins are ironically Chinese.
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Sibling rivalry
Nor will it do much for regional goodwill. Politicians and academics often compare the relationship between Malaysia and Indonesia to that of two brothers always fighting over possessions. Since the batik spat began in August, Malaysia has claimed a host of shared cultural traditions as its own, including gamelan, a percussion instrument, and laksa, a spicy noodle soup.
These came in addition to the pendet, an Indonesian Balinese dance that sparked a dispute when it appeared in a promotional video for Malaysian tourism aired by the US-based Discovery Channel. "This was the last straw," said Yuli Ismartano, editor of Tempo Interaktif, a weekly news magazine. She said because of the Hindu traditions that make Bali so culturally distinct there was no mistaking that the dance originated in Malaysia. But the origins of many other art forms found throughout Southeast Asia, including batik, are more difficult to pinpoint.
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According to an estimate by Indonesia's Industry Ministry, foreign-made batik accounted for 10%, or Rp 290 billion (US$31 million) of the Rp2.9 trillion domestic market in 2008. At places like Alun Alun, local batik retails from anywhere between Rp200,000 and Rp2 million, compared to imported batik from China, which sells for about half that price.
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Whether UNESCO recognition of Indonesian batik acts as incentive for Indonesians to more fully embrace and protect their traditions is unclear. UNESCO, of course, has no authority to ensure that batik and its heritage is protected. But that doesn't matter to people like batik collector Obin. "It makes up what Indonesia is," she said. "Not claiming it would be like disowning your mother."
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wonder if Obin's collection is viewable?
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