It's Worse Than Pedra Branca
Lest you didn't know, there's currently this big hoohaa about Malaysia "stealing" Indonesian culture and making it their own. Things like food, art, traditional dances (and whathaveyous) were claimed to originate from Malaysia and used in their tourism campaign.
If you know me well enough, you'd know I'm obvs with the Indons without a sliver of a doubt. It was really crass of Malaysia to pull a Ctrl+C on another nation's culture and stuff. No question. However, there are certain issues surrounding this hoopla that I really feel should be acknowledged better.
Firstly, Indonesia can't blame anyone. Some of the things that they're angry at Malaysia for stealing are like, obscure. I mean, how many indonesians can truly say that they make Balinese dances or tari pendet or wayang kulit a part of their everyday lives? Some indons I know haven't even been to a traditional dance performance. But one day a neighbouring country comes along and adopts it, and suddenly everyone's a critic.
It's like the poor forgotten Cavalli jacket laying at the back of your closet for years. You could care less, but the moment your sister wants to borrow it, you get all possessive.
"It's mine!!"
"But you haven't even seen/worn it for like ten years!"
"I DON'T CARE!! IT'S A CAVALLI AND IT'S STILL MINE, BITCH!!!"
You get the idea.
And y'know, I think these indons should quit being too arrogant. (90% of the people I love the most are indonesians, or indonesian by ancestry. So don't tell me I'm insulting.) Udah kenapa sih sama kalian? You guys slam the Malaysians for like practically everything, from clothes to lifestyles to politics.
Even the language. I've seen and heard Indonesians criticize Malaysians for messing up the Malay language, for bad attempts at speaking Bahasa, for inventing too many stupid slangs, etc. I've even heard some say they hate Malay but love Bahasa Indo. How is that possible when Malay is the mother of Indonesian?
I mean, like it or not, there would not have been BI had Malay not existed. Sure.. Malay might have originated from an Indonesian island or whatever, but it doesn't change the fact that the variety stemmed from Malay. I'm sorry guys, but that's just how it is.
I frequently lapse into Bahasa when I'm speaking, and I find that I become more animated when using it, but that won't make me think lowly of Malay. Come on. Why so much hate? We're all the same, love. You can't run away from the fact that we're all mostly of the same race, with different nationalities. Our cultures are far too intertwined for us to be claiming ownership of this and that and making harsh distinctions.
And I find it rich of these Indonesians to say that the Malaysians fuck up the language, coz quite frankly, both of them do. I asked one of my indon buddies once, "Are you aware that you guys screw it up just as much as the Malaysians?" And he said "Yeah, but when we do it, we're just being creative."
Now, let me put it for the record that I ABSOLUTELY ABHOR the slang that Malaysian youngsters come up with (I mean, wtfff is "poyo"?) but really.. Who's to judge anyone's "creativity"? Your argument is the other party's argument, too, don't you think? Lets not think too highly of ourselves.
It takes a Singaporean to be objective here. After all, we have also been robbed by Malaysia more than once. We had Singlish first, and suddenly Malaysia come up with this whole Manglish phenomenon. On the flipside, we also have Indonesian stuff going on all over the place. (Unlike in Malaysia, though, we're much too awesome to jack others off). Ergo, Indonesia doesn't hate us, and Malaysia can't touch us.
This whole Malaysia-stole-our-culture thing... I believe there are better stuff for both countries to dwell on. Stuff like their rampant corruption and poverty levels, for instance.
Oh Indonesia. Tari pendet or ayam penyet, everyone knows it's yours. So you need to chill the fuck out. Ain't no use being a yelling hot mess, my indon sisters. Just be calm. Retreat to your 3rd villa and have one of your maids make you a smoothie. And as for you, Malaysia.. just because the other country isn't paying attention, doesn't give you the right to grope their asses and blatantly take their shit. Ngerti ga?
Litigator out.
The Nashty
- Nashe^
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23 comments:
Wah mbak saya suka banget karna kamu ga ngawur segala. Emang benar se, "Our cultures are far too intertwined for us to be claiming ownership of this and that and making harsh distinctions." How true! Saya sbg anak indonesia juga ada prasaan yang sama. Saya juga bingung knapa kita sering ga suka ma orang malaysia pada bila2 masa. kurang pasti...kurang pasti...
Of cos we will feel slightly offended,but at the end of it , the world knows where the dance originally comes from. No stress needed ya kan!
Heard about the news....I agree with you, the cultures are intertwined. Tho Malaysia SHOULD have known better than to jack other people's cultural stuff so blatantly.
What were they thinking?? Litigator...nice touch x)
oh bebe you know us... we can't be separated from our indo ego. but it's cool that you know what you're talking about. at least you know how it feels like to have malaysia grope your ass. wahahahahahahaha. (sorry, i'm amusing myself)
see you later, litigator.
y si, we love singapore ;)
Bener itu apa kata mbak. (Wah inggrisnya gengsi amet yach!) So many indons here and out there "slamming" Malaysia for always doing these things to others, using bad words and insulting. Malaysia will ignore us if we continue. thankful that the problem now solved.
Sayang ya, ngapa bisa terjadi begini. Kita kan patutnya sekongkong!
@ Anon: Ya. And don't think I don't know who you are. :D
@ Ortega: That's just it...they probably weren't thinking. Haha.
@ Putra: Indeed I do know how it feels! Heh. (OMG What are you doing online?? Don't you have forms to fill out or something?)
@ Tirto: And thankfully, too, the matter was resolved tactfully. :)
bahaha. i dont blame ya. some malaysians are just plain 'poseur' ya know.
even though i'm through thick and thin malaysian, some of the malaysian aspects are not very much approved by me. in other words, i find some aspects are rather, lame.
small things become big things, vice versa, ya know.
and i dont know whether you're aware but sarawakian + sabahan are sometimes seen as outsiders by the truly malaysians. (for which i dont understand why). just because we're living in different island doesnt mean that we're not malaysian, so dont blame us if we think that the other malaysians can be rather, lame.
oopps. i dont think it's appropriate to talk racism here bahaha but it's nashe's blog and nashe's (you're) awesome! :P i've been wanting to vent about this for a long time RT semenanjung doesn't seem to accept sarawakian + sabahan. (not all of them but enough amount to get me pissed off)
"Retreat to your 3rd villa and have one of your maids make you a smoothie"
MUAHAHAHAHA I cannot believe how ur mind works sometimes. Nice post, i didn't expect a long one, but it was good, mwahahahha.
Alah...jiran kiter yg seberang causeway tu kan dah memang slalu gitu. Angkut sini, curik sane. Indonesia ni apelah. Buat mcm tak kenal pulak! Patut ikot cara kita, tak suka boleh bawak bebual... Lepas tu upgrade diri giler babs. Diorang complain sini sana, bila mau game beb.
@ Ejannz: I know! Some of the promotions are all "Visit Malaysia".. and "Visit Sabah & Sarawak" will be separated. Zup with that! And this 'stealing' issue... I hate it coz it makes others/foreigners generalize the whole country as this or that, when in fact there are many innocent and awesome people from that place (like you, OBVS). Sheesh.
@ Flash: Can't blame them(the indos) for getting all berserk, I guess. But still... a bit unnecessary. Mepek pun ade.
Diorang dah bawak bebual lah tu, tu sebab hal dah settle. Hahaha.
all this inter-asian conflict you mention is a universal phenomenon, as you know, and has something to do with people's identities, whether a matter of cultural ethnocentricity or ideological nationalism, blah blah blah, which appeals to the worst elements of envy and fear and anger, more blah.
i think u may have meant "It takes a Singaporean to be objective here" but whatevs. you're focused and roaring and feeling better.
Dude, I do watch any cultural shows so well, I'm mad as shit. Although it doesnt mean i bash any malaysians because i do love Jin and Ejannz wholeheartedly.
they shouldnt do anything like it, really. Although I bash indo governments for not making them trademarks first.
@ Uno: Hey! I was just editing it when you commented. Woah.
Anyway yea, it's the whole identity thing. I don't see a clear distinction between the branches of our race; but they'd tell me that's just me...
@ Andhari: They really shouldn't; it was way out of line, I know. I hate this sorta thing, especially coz we'd then label each other with stupid names. I mean, no country can represent individuals and vice-versa. It always takes someone else to DO something before people on the inside wake up and appreciate.
"It was really crass of Malaysia to pull a Ctrl+C on another nation's culture and stuff."
I am SO stealing that.
Wow, what a post, Nashe! *clapz clapz
As an outsider and regular visitor of Malaysia and Singapore, I did not know that there's such a rift between Indonesians and Malaysians. I mean, if there's beef with Singapore, I'd understand. But Mala and Indo? For me, the differences are really sooooo small between these two countries, be it language, religion, history, culture, cuisine. The differences are more regional, for example people in Medan would be closer to those in Peninsular Malaysia than to their fellow far eastern Indonesians in New Guinea. This region is so huge and there's so many different cultures within, it's just amazing. So how could you really say what is whose? And why would you want to do that?
Really great intelligent approach, Nashe, and as always, wrapped into your amazingly funny writing style. You're really an excellent blogger.
"grope their asses and blatantly take their shit"
...
Semua yang mbak katakan disini betul, walopun kalau menurut aq, kita harus marah terus sm si msia. BUKAN utk kasus ini saja. Emang, aq akuin, aq kurang pasti koqq kenapa negara2 kita slalu ngga damai antar 1 sm laen. Tapi selagi msia ngga kenal sm kemarahan kita, mrk mungkin aja nge-claim harta kita terus.
@ LiLu: XD
@ MKL: Well for one thing, people generally want to protect what they deem as theirs, especially if it forms a large part of their national/cultural identity. The issue wasn't so bad until Malaysia used some obviously VERY VERY traditional indo stuff.
I feel that M'sia should have known better, really. And indo also shouldn't be reacting too harshly either (some indo bloggers are hurling profanities and everything), coz come on, half of Malaysia descended from Java/Sumatra/Aceh. They can't help going back to their roots.
@ Wooz: Yes..?
@ Anon: Bener, tapi kan lebih baik kalo kita berbicara secara sipil, daripada terus brantem2 ga jelas.
Aren't Asians supposed to share a common heritage? Filipinos descended from the Malay race, as I supposed the Indons and Malaysians did so what's everybody bitching about?
wow i had no idea about the country dynamics here. and haha, pull a ctrl+C! cute! :D great writing here
Haha! Like Lilu, I love the Ctrl + C part! Very clever.
I was wondering if you'd like to guest blog over at mine? I love your posts so I know you'd write something great!
If you want to do it, then my email address is pinknic_uk@yahoo.co.uk so just send it there!
@ Angel: We do. But I guess sometimes people get sensitive about what originated specifically from their soil.
@ Floreta: Thank youuuu Floreta! XD
@ Nic: Teehee.. Thanks for the invite, I'll see about it! :))
alrite... fair enough :)
=))
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