Letter: The cultural debate

Having taken a keen interest in the debate on cultural identities of Malaysia and Indonesia, I found that most commentators, whose opinions have been published in this newspaper, have lost the perspective that the peoples of both countries share the same cultural roots.

Long before the political divisions of Southeast Asian countries by the colonial powers - Britain and the Netherlands - there had been a free movement of peoples across Malaysia, Indonesia and Borneo and as far as Indo-China, Sri Lanka and even South Africa, in search of wealth.

My great grandparents came from Jambi, Kerichi and Bukittinggi and brought with them the rich cultural heritage of Sumatra. There were so many Malaysians of Minangkabau, Batak, Bugis and Javanese ancestry, and many retained their cultural heritage of their roots.

So Indonesians of today cannot claim to have cultural exclusi-vity to sate (satay), batik, wayang, rendang, gamelan and "Rasa Sayangeh". These are also the cultural heritage of Malaysia, although they have gone through various adaptations over the years.

Today, our gamelan sounds quite distinct from the Javanese and Balinese gamelan. Our satay definitely looks and tastes different. Our batik and wayang is prominent in the northeastern states of Kelantan and Terengganu.

Even the Malays of Cape Town in South Africa also claim that "Rasa Sayangeh" is their folk song. The African-Asians of Madagascar also adopted and adapted some of the Javanese culture of their forefathers who immigrated to the African island.

In fact, Indonesians should be proud of their heritage and the profound influence they have had in Southeast Asia, parts of Africa and Indo-China, and see the common cultural heritage as a binding force that augurs well for peace and stability in the region.

Malaysians don't have problems with Thailand although Manohra - which has strong Thai influence, is considered a folk dance from Kelantan.

Rusland
Kuala Lumpur