REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia will claim Tor-tor Dance and Gondang Sambilan which belongs to Mandailing, as their cultural heritage. But the Indonesian Embassy to Malaysia said it was only a misunderstanding.
"It is just misunderstanding on the definition of heritage and language," the spokesman on Social and Culture in Indonesian Embassy to Malaysia, Suryana Sastradireja, said on Monday.
After calling the Malaysia's Ministry of Information, Communication, and Culture and the Mandailing People United in Malaysia, Sastradireja said that Malaysia dismissed the issue of Malaysian intention to claim Tor-tor Dance and Gondang Sambilan.
"Malaysia will only do acknowledgement over the heritage owned by Malaysian Mandailing people," he said. Malaysia will also write its history, which is from Mandailing, North Sumatera, Indonesia.
He explained that many Mandailing people came to Malaysia hundred years ago. They long for their art and culture to be presented in Malaysia.
"Along this time, Mandailing culture is rarely presented in Malaysia," he said. For that, they want the cultures to be acknowledged in heritage deed 2005.
"If the cultures are cited on heritage deed, it will be conserved and practiced because Malaysia government will pour some financial assitance," he said.
