KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Information and Culture Minister Rais Yatim spoke out over the ongoing controversy between Malaysia and Indonesia over what has become an almost “culture war” between the two, saying cultures “must evolve. It comes on the heels of last month's online battle between Indonesia and Malaysia over whose culture was being promoted by the Malaysian government. “Cultures practised by the Minangkabaus, Mandailings or Javanese must expand according to its own evolution,” he told reporters after addressing “The spirit of Islam in the Malay Cultural Heritage” seminar organised by the Malay World Islamic World (DMDI) on Friday. The seminar was opened by West Sumatra Governor Muslim Kasim. Speaker of Melaka State Assembly Datuk Othman Mohamad represented Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam, who doubles as the president of DMDI. Rais said the practice of shared cultures should not be restricted as long as it did not contravene international laws. “The tor tor dance and gendang sembilan must be inherited and practised by the Mandaling community. The Mandaling community in Malaysia also have the right to practice them.” A top Malaysian government official on Tuesday evening said that Indonesian activists misunderstood the move by Kuala Lumpur to register the Mandailing culture under the National Heritage Act. Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin told reporters that the goal was to preserve the heritage and not “to claim it as our own." The registration of the culture in the Act process would take into account Indonesia's views, including mentioning where it originated from, he told a news conference at the end of his visit to Jakarta. “By registering it under the National Heritage Act, it will also benefit Indonesia in the long-run as it is meant to preserve and conserve, otherwise the culture will disappear with the passage of time," he said. The proposal to register the Mandailing's Tor-tor dance and the Gordang Sambilan drumbeat had sparked an immediate and fierce reaction from several Indonesian groups, which misconstrued that Malaysia was making a claim on the culture. Culture Wars But in the past two weeks, Indonesia and Malaysia have been at odds over who has the right to “nationalize" culture in the region. The conflict has led to friction between the governments, but more importantly, it has led to battles, mainly online, between Malaysian and Indonesian activists, who are claiming the traditional dance as their own. Two Indonesians were arrested in Jakarta on Tuesday in connection with angry anti-Malaysia demonstrations that erupted into violence near the Malaysian diplomatic premises in Jakarta, police said. It was the latest event in the past week over cultural disputes between the two countries. “We arrested two men on Tuesday for the violent protests," Jakarta police spokesman Rikwanto told reporters. At Malaysia Hall, they attacked a security personnel who sustained slight injuries, threw large stones and pieces of wood which shattered the warden's windows, apart from damaging the main gate and messing up the windows by hurling eggs. The stones thrown by the rioters also damaged the front roof of Malaysia Hall. Two weeks ago, controversy was sparked when Malaysia wanted to list certain aspects of what it said are its culture, which angered Indonesia, who said that culture is often being stolen from their country and represented by Malaysia as their own. The criticism comes as North Sumatra's Tortor dance and the Gordang Sambilan drums will be added to the Malaysian National Heritage Law, according to Minister of Information, Communications and Culture Rais Yatim. The two countries are known to have a history of political, economic, and cultural friction. Indonesians took to Twitter and YouTube to react to the news, and some politicians are asking Malaysia for an explanation. But Malaysia cultural expert and anthropologist Marit Hassan told Bikyamasr.com that “this cultural discussion is really quite funny, because historically both societies were ostensibly the same and similar depending on geographical location. “And Sumatra was less than 200 years ago part of Malaysia, so this is a very strange attack from Indonesians," he added. Yet, Indonesians disagree and took to social networking sites in attack mode. They have also used the hashtag #TorTorPunyaIndonesia, which means the “Tortor dance belongs to Indonesia." Aman said Malaysia believed that with the strong and special bilateral ties, the Indonesian government would take appropriate measures in addressing the violent acts and provocative statements.
