Kinanti Pinta Karana & Putri Prameshwari
Ni Ketut Arini teaches girls Pendet in Denpasar, Bali. She was a student of Pendet creator I Wayan Rindi, who died in 1967. (Photo: J.P. Christo, JG)
Outrage Over 'Stolen' Pendet Dance Ends Up As a Misstep
It was a burning issue of national pride that stirred up the righteous anger of a nation slighted.
Well,
not quite. A firestorm of Internet outrage over the supposed theft of
the Balinese pendet dance for a Malaysian tourism ad turned out to be
just hot air on Monday, when the Discovery TV network owned up and said
that the dancers had appeared in one of its own TV promotions, and it
was all a mistake anyway.
But not before Indonesia’s government, unaware of Discovery’s action, had already made an official protest to Malaysia.
The
story started late last week, as rumors about the ad and reactions shot
to the top of the social microblogging Web site Twitter’s hot topics
list.
“Pendet is ours! Noordin M. Top is yours!” said one
popular Twitter message, referring to the Malaysia-born terrorist
suspect wanted in connection with the July 17 bombings in Jakarta.
Over
the weekend, news stories had reported, erroneously, that the image of
a traditional Balinese pendet dancer was used in an official Malaysia
Tourism ad.
They were a touchpaper to reignite smouldering and
long-standing antagonism between the two countries over the heritage of
traditional songs and dances, and further stoked the furor on Twitter
and Facebook.
The problem was, it was all wrong — and perhaps a
lesson in the myth-making power of the Internet — as an apology
statement by Discovery made clear: “Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific
regrets that the image of a Balinese dancer, sourced from an
independent third party, was used in the promotion of the series
‘Enigmatic Malaysia.’ The promotional clip has been removed from all
feeds.
“The Balinese dancer was not featured in any way in the
program. Discovery has the deepest respect for the traditions, cultures
and practices of all races and nations, and it is not our intention to
cause any misunderstanding or distress to any party.”
Widyarka
Ryananta, a senior diplomat at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur,
confirmed that the Malaysian government had never made an ad featuring
pendet. “It was all a misunderstanding. A little knowledge is a
dangerous thing,” he told the Jakarta Globe.
By the time
Discovery’s apology had been issued, Minister of Culture and Tourism
Jero Wacik had already sent a letter to his Malaysian counterpart,
demanding the ad campaign be removed. “It happened two years ago with
Reog Ponorogo. We don’t want it to happen again to us,” he said.
He
said a bilateral pact signed in 2007 stated that if both countries
wanted to publicize a culture in a “grey area,” they had to consult
with each other first. But pendet was a different story: “People around
the world would recognize in a glance that pendet is a Balinese dance.
There’s nothing grey about it.”
After the error had been
explained, Jero called on Indonesians to quickly register all forms of
Indonesian cultural heritage to prevent such misunderstandings from
reoccurring.
“We have so much cultural heritage,” he said. “We may
accidentally neglect some of them.”
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Valkyrie
5:36 PM August 26, 2009For those who may not know.
The tune was actually composed by a French lyricist, Pierre-Jean de Beranger (1780-1857). It became a popular French melody and prominent in the French Island of Mahe, Seychelles.
Later the State of Perak (Malaysia) had this tune for their national anthem. Because of its' popularity, it becamse the national anthem of Malaysia with some changes made to the lyrics. It is now known as "Negaraku."
A "petit Francais arome" don't you think so?