Jakarta, Aug 25 (ANTARA) - After recently claiming the 'reog Ponorogo' dance of East Java as its own, Malaysia is once again under fire for allegedly using the Balinese 'pendet' dance as a promotional means in its tourism advertisement.
The Malaysian move is seen as another attempt to claim the pendet dance, which originates from the Indonesian tourist resort island of Bali, as its own.
While strong protests are being made by a number of quarters, the Indonesian government called on the public not to be provoked by and react excessively to the pendet dance issue. After all, the Malaysian side has said the dance advertisement is not an official production of the Malaysian government.
"We should look into the case first. We should not be provoked easily," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said on Monday. Therefore, he called on the Indonesian people not to be provoked by the presence of the pendet dance in the Malaysia Visit Year ad.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman said he had not yet known in detail about the pendet dance issue, but promised the foreign ministry would follow up the case through its representatives in Malaysia.
In the meantime, the Malaysian side was reported to have said that the Balinese pendet dance in the advertisement was not the official production of the Malaysian government.
"In our meeting with the Malaysian side, they explained that the ad has nothing to do with the official tourism advertisement of the Malaysian government," Indonesian Tourism and Culture Minister Jero Wacik said on Monday.
Strong protests have been launched at home against the depiction of the dance in the Malaysian tourism advertisement broadcast in the Discovery Channel program under the title "Enigmatic Malaysia."
Tens of Balinese artists staged a demonstration in Denpasar over the weekend protesting the Malaysian tourism advertisement suggesting the Balinese "pendet" dance was part of indigenous Malaysian culture.
The artist crowd in front of Denpasar's Cultural Park was led by Prof Wayan Dibia MA of the Indonesian Institute of Arts. During the rally , Wayan Dibia presented a written statement expressing the Balinese artists' sentiments to Ida Ayu Agung Mas, a member of the Regional Representatives Council.
The welcome dance performed by women in Balinese costume appeared in a "Visit Malaysia Year" advertisement that was broadcast many times. Dibia said the dance was a cultural heritage of the Balinese people.
"Based upon our observation, the dancers shown in the Malaysian ad were in fact two graduates from the Indonesian Institute of Arts in Denpasar, named Lusia and Wiwik. The picture was taken by Bali Record two or three years ago," he said.
On Monday, Bali's artist community is urging the government to take appropriate action to defend the Balinese "pendet" dance as part of Indonesia's cultural heritage.
"We hope the Indonesian government will be able to take appropriate measures to maintain the pendet dance as a part of Indonesian culture after the recent Malaysian claim on the dance which has been part of Balinese traditional culture for many generations," said Ida Ayu Agung Mas, a member of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) .
He said the Regional Representatives Council would convey the Balinese artists' demand as soon as possible to the government for further steps to be taken to prevent this nation from another loss in the cultural field.
"We have all heard of some aspect of the Indonesian culture that has been claimed by Malaysia as theirs, such as 'wayang' (Javanese puppet) and 'reog Ponorogo' (masked dance from East Java)," he.
"This is outrageous, Malaysia has claimed not only the pendet dance, but also paintings or Batik designs and several national song copyrights," he said.
A "Visit Malaysia Year" commercial had shown the pendet dance to illustrate the country's attractiveness to the international world as if the dance was something indigenously Malaysian. The ad was broadcast by a number of local and overseas television stations.
Denpasar Art Institute (ISI) Professor Wayan Dibia MA said that based on his observation, the dancers shown in the Malaysian ad were in reality two Balinese women. "The women who performed the dance in the television commercial were graduates from ISI Denpasar named Lusia and Wiwik. Meanwhile the video shooting was done in Bali by Bali Record two or three years ago," he said.
According to Yusron Ihza Mahendra, deputy chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission I for foreign affairs, Malaysia has repeatedly committed similar acts without feeling guilty and a sense of dignity.
The use of an Indonesian cultural product by Malaysia for a commercial purpose cannot be tolerated and hurts Indonesia, he said. "After all, Malaysia has repeatedly committed similar acts. The government should teach Malaysia a lesson to stop its dishonorable behavior," Yusron Ihza Mahendra said.
Virtually, according to Mahendra, Malaysia is not unaware of its wrong acts like when it claimed ownership over the Ambalat Block in the Sulawesi Sea. "That's why we need now a firm and concrete action," he said.
Mahendra suggested that Indonesia should use a political means to settle the problem because legal steps were no longer effective, always complicated and took a long time.
"The government should use a political means. It can exert diplomatic pressures such as withdrawing its ambassador from Malaysia or asking the Malaysian ambassador to leave the country," he said. The government can also reduce investment opportunities for Malaysia in Indonesia or revoke some of its business concessions, he said.
On diplomatic channels, Tourism and Culture Minister Jero Wacik said that he had officially invited the Malaysian ambassador to Indonesia in order to explain the inclusion of the Balinese pendet dance into Malaysia's tourism promotion ad.
On Monday, the minister met with Malaysia's Deputy Ambassdor to Indonesia Amran Mohammad Zin. During the meeting the Malaysian side explained that the advertisement was made by a private advertisement production house. Therefore, it has nothing to do with the Malaysian government's tourism ads.
According to the minister, the Malaysian government has promised to reprimand the production housein question. Indonesia also urged the Malaysian government to withdraw and stop the advertisement immediately.***5*** (T.A014/A/H-NG/A014) (T.A014/A/A014/A/A014) 25-08-2009 11:56:25 |
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