KUALA LUMPUR and JAKARTA: After last summer's battle over ownership of the traditional Tor-Tor dance erupted into an online cultural fight between Malaysians and Indonesians over which country the dance originated from, Malaysia's Culture Minister Rais Yatim said on Thursday that the dance came from Indonesia. However, he argued that many in Malaysia had a “sense of ownership” over the dance as they shared “cultural roots with Indonesians.” The minister argued that the Tor-Tor came from the Mandailing ethnic group, native to Indonesia's North Sumatra state. He added, however, that some Malaysians were also descendants of Mandailing people who began arriving in Malaysia in the 1920s, “leading to a feeling of kinship with the Mandailing cultural heritage,” including the Tor-Tor dance. “It is the Mandailing people [in Malaysia] who want the Malaysian government to recognize and register their arts. We hope Indonesians will consider this fact, instead of speculating that Malaysia is trying to swallow Indonesian arts," Yatim told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with Asian and European culture ministers in Yogyakarta on Thursday. Culture Wars But in the past few months, 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 in early July in connection with angry anti-Malaysia demonstrations that erupted into violence near the Malaysian diplomatic premises in Jakarta, police said. It was part of the battle 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 in the first week of July, 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 [historical] 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.
