REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Malaysia has claimed other Indonesian cultures beside Tor-tor Dance and Gondang Sambilan, the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture says. Indonesian government is still waiting for the official statement from Malaysian about its plan to register Tor-tor on Malaysia cultural heritage.
"We know the claim from Malaysia National Heritage Act," the Vice Minister of Education and Culture, Wiendu Nuryanti, said on Wednesday.
From the Act, she recognizes that Malaysia has registered ice cendol, Zapin Dance, rendang, and gamelan. Zapin is Malay dance acculturated with Arab and popular in Riau, Indonesia. Meanwhle, rendang is known as traditional food from West Sumatra and gamelan is traditional music from Java.
The Coordinator of Malaysia's Cultural Communication and Information, Nor Azli, said to Indonesian Embassy that Mandailing community in Malaysia proposed the cultural register.
Meanwhile, the Malaysia's Minister of Information, Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, explained that the dance and musical instrument did not belong to any country according to Geneva Conventions. Malaysia with its cultural diversity, he continued, could inherit their cultures.
Yet, Nuryanti argues his statement by saying that Geneva Conventions are related to the protection of cultural property and thus it cannot be used to underlie the ownership of a culture. The origin of Tor-tor and Gondang Sambilan should be investigated comprehensively, she said.
